He started with a jigsaw, his father's screwdriver, and many drawings made during classes; years later, the young man who built a roller coaster in his own backyard went viral on the internet, was hired by Cacau Park, and now coordinates Brazilian and foreign professionals in the installation of an attraction weighing 737 tons, 55 meters high, one kilometer long, featuring moments of zero gravity and a speed of 120 km/h, in a journey that turned curiosity, calculations, and persistence into a professional career.

He started with a jigsaw, his father’s screwdriver, and many drawings made during classes; years later, the young man who built a roller coaster in his own backyard went viral on the internet, was hired by Cacau Park, and now coordinates Brazilian and foreign professionals in the installation of an attraction weighing 737 tons, 55 meters high, one kilometer long, featuring moments of zero gravity and a speed of 120 km/h, in a journey that turned curiosity, calculations, and persistence into a professional career.

Written by Caio Aviz

Published on 21/06/2026 at 01:47

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Gustavo Machado’s journey began with drawings made at school, advanced to a homemade project, and reached the installation of the main roller coaster at Cacau Park in Itu

Engineering student Gustavo Machado, 23, turned a project built in his backyard into a profession.

Videos showing the construction and testing of the roller coaster reached millions of views on social media.

Gustavo currently works as an attractions supervisor at Cacau Park, in Itu, in the interior of São Paulo.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Interest in roller coasters began in childhood

The fascination with attractions arose during Gustavo’s childhood in Caieiras.

Memories of trips near the old Playcenter in São Paulo remained vivid even without a visit to the park at that time.

A trip to the parks in Orlando at age 7 further expanded the young man’s enchantment with roller coasters.

At 14, Gustavo discovered videos by American Will Pemble, who also built attractions in his backyard.

Pemble’s experience showed that a similar project could be developed outside of large parks.

The first track drawings emerged at age 15, alongside studies on calculations and structures.

The interest in roller coasters also contributed to improving math grades during this period.

Homemade project began with simple tools

Gustavo decided to transform his drawings into a functional structure at 17 years old, after entering college.

A jigsaw from his father and a battery-powered screwdriver were the first tools used in the construction.

Merchants, friends, and family also contributed with materials and knowledge throughout the project.

The cart represented the most complicated part of the development, as it needed to complete all the curves without locking.

At least ten prototypes were tested until a configuration capable of transporting a person was found.

The growth of the videos attracted commercial partnerships in 2020 and allowed Gustavo to expand his studies in mechanical engineering.

Safety and G-forces guide the construction

A roller coaster needs to combine safety and fun during all stages, according to Gustavo.

The development begins with the mental creation of the route and progresses to the drawing of the path.

Curves, ascents, descents, and changes of direction are defined in the next stage.

Technical calculations then indicate the vertical and lateral forces applied to the passengers.

The weight of the carts, screws, axles, wheels, and tracks also need to be correctly dimensioned.

References from ASTM, ABNT, and EN provide parameters related to the force limits considered safe for the human body.

Meeting with Alê Costa paved the way for hiring

Gustavo met Alê Costa, founder and CEO of Cacau Show, during an event at Yupie Park, in Barueri, two years ago.

The projects developed by the young man sparked the entrepreneur’s interest.

An invitation for a meeting came a few months later and ended with Gustavo’s hiring.

The current work includes overseeing Brazilian teams and international representatives involved in the installation of the attractions.

Parts like tracks, columns, carts, and panels arrive at the park almost ready, mainly from Europe.

Tracks over ten meters long, however, require extremely precise adjustments during assembly.

Cacau Park’s roller coaster features gigantic numbers

The construction of the attraction began in March 2025 and lasted approximately one year and five months.

The manufacturer Vekoma developed the equipment, which reaches 120 km/h in just three seconds through magnetic launch.

The structure is 55 meters tall, with a one-kilometer track and sections with a zero-gravity sensation.

The set weighs about 737 tons and consists of 90 track pieces.

Two trains, with 16 seats each, can transport up to a thousand people per hour.

The drawings made during his teenage years took Gustavo from his backyard to assembling one of the main attractions of Cacau Park.

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Gustavo Machado’s journey began with drawings made at school, advanced to a homemade project, and reached the installation of the main roller coaster at Cacau Park in Itu

Interest in roller coasters began in childhood

Homemade project began with simple tools

Military uses cardboard to approve Jeep in vehicle inspection in Japan after failing due to a difference of only 3 centimeters

Safety and G-forces guide the construction

Meeting with Alê Costa paved the way for hiring

Cacau Park’s roller coaster features gigantic numbers

Libya built over 4,000 kilometers of underground pipelines to bring water from the Sahara to coastal cities in a project that the government itself called the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Chinese woman planted trees for decades while sand buried part of her house, received $5,000 from an American in 1999, and helped transform the desert into a forest of 8 million trees in China.

Almost 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland. Houses form a continuous row, and behind them, narrow agricultural strips emerge, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

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