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Great Coasters International Inc.2627 State Route 890, Sunbury, PA 17801 T: (570) 286-9330


E: info@greatcoasters.com W:www.greatcoasters.com


Great Coasters International B


ased in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, master coaster builder Clair Hain got his start as a 17-year-old in 1985 when Dick Knoebel of nearby Knoebel’s Amusement Resort (Knoebel’s


Grove then) bought the 1947-built Rocket from defunct Playland Park in San Antonio, Texas. Hain helped rebuild the coaster when it was moved to Knoebel’s and renamed the Phoenix. Soon after he went to work for Custom Coasters. While working together on Outlaw at Adventure Land, Altoona, Iowa, coaster designer Mike Boodley and builder Clair Hain began to see possibilities for the future. Hain and Boodley had worked together for two to three years


prior and understood each other’s ability and knowledge. They recognised there was potential to really reintroduce the twister-style wooden roller coasters to the industry. In 1994, having wrapped construction on the Hoosier Hurricane


at Indiana Beach, Monticello, Indiana, for the now-defunct Custom Coasters, Hain and Boodley launched their own company, Great Coasters International, Inc. Soon the company had unveiled its first design, Hersheypark’s Wildcat, in 1996, a dynamic coaster that made an impact from the start.


Clair E. Hain Jr., president and owner


The ride contained many of the elements that would become


GCII’s signature including the tight sweeping curves, paying homage to the early twentieth century coaster designers such as the legendary Harry Traver. The innovative designs by GCII didn’t stop with their tight twists


and fast layouts. Hain & Boodley worked to develop a revolution for the modern wooden coaster industry, their Millennium Flyer trains. Hain and Boodley wanted trains that could smoothly maneouvre


the curves and snappy transitions they were designing. GCII spent much of 1998 designing the trains and debuted them in 1999 on Roar (later renamed Joker) at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. That next level received unparalleled international attention and


critical acclaim with the debut of GCII’s Thunderhead at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2004. The wild ride was the first coaster to feature a station flyby, with riders literally passing through the loading station, further wetting the appetites of guests waiting to board. 2005 also saw Boodley retire, handing the title of GCII’s lead


designer to Jeff Pike. Pike’s first coaster as lead designer, the Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend, Bowling Green, Kentucky, continued the company’s traditions of quality, reliability, smoothness, and comfort in their designs as well as maintaining the curved first drop their designs had become known for.


2005 – present: Rides of note The Prowler at Worlds of Fun, Kansas City Missouri; Mystic Timbers at Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio, and in 2018 Wicker Man at Alton Towers, Alton, Staffordshire, England. In addition, the company has produced effective refurbishments


Wicker Man, Alton Towers


PARK WORLD Handbook and buyers guide 2019


of popular older coasters that benefitted from GCII’s TLC, including work on Lake Compounce’s Boulder Dash, Bristol, Connecticut, Knott’s Berry Farm’s Ghost Rider, Buena Park, California, and Holiday World’s The Legend, Santa Claus, Indiana. Great Coasters International has two new rides launching this year, one in July in Europe and another later in the year, in the US.


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