White Lightning

White Lightning is a wooden roller coaster located at Fun Spot America amusement park in Orlando, Florida. Manufactured by Great Coasters International (GCI), White Lightning opened to the public on June 8, 2013, as the first wooden coaster to be built in Orlando. Unlike traditional wood designs, the support structure is made of steel to reduce maintenance costs, and it was the first time GCI incorporated the design into one of their coasters. White Lightning has also been well-received, consistently ranking in the top 50 among wooden roller coasters in the annual Golden Ticket Awards from Amusement Today. History Fun Spot of Florida, Inc. announced that they purchased adjacent to the north of their Fun Spot Action Park on December 30, 2010, with plans to triple the size of the park adding a number of new rides. The land purchase was necessitated as Fun Spot of Florida faced local competition and to keep up development with its sister park, Fun Spot USA. In the early planning stages, the park explored a Skycoaster, splash pad, and roller coasters as possible additions to the expansion lot. In April 2011, Fun Spot Action Park surveyed park guests about what types of attractions they would like at the park. Consensus published by the park indicated guests wanted water rides and roller coasters. The Orlando Sentinel reported that three roller coaster representatives met with Fun Spot of Florida's chief operating officer, John Arie Jr., in August 2011. The report further stated the company planned to break ground in 2012 on the land purchased previously, which would include "at least one new roller coaster" among other attractions. Fun Spot announced it would rebrand its Orlando location as "Fun Spot America" and confirmed plans for the $20 million expansion. The expansion planned to incorporate a variety of attractions, as well as a steel and wooden roller coaster. Fun Spot officials reasoned to build two roller coasters to better establish themselves as an amusement park and to attract more guests. Mark Brisson, director of marketing at Fun Spot, described the wooden roller coaster in a December 2011 interview as having a height less than , designed and built by Great Coasters International (GCI), and located next to a road in an "L shaped" configuration. In March 2012, the Orlando City Commission approved the project, and the park released concept art of the expansion; in addition to a computer animated video of the GCI-designed roller coaster.