Hersheypark is a wonderful amusement park to visit, and part of the reason why is because of their eclectic coaster collection. They have a rocket with some body to it, an excellent wooden collection, a classic looper, and even a mouse. With all of these coasters and rides, it is often amazing watching them continue to find ways to add thrills in spots where you wouldn’t think they’d have the room. When it came time for them to hop onboard the inverted coaster craze from the 90s, Hershey reached into their bag of tricks again, to wedge in an outstanding invert from B&M called Great Bear. This bear emerges every year from its winter hibernation with one goal in mind – to thrill park goers and coaster fans to the core! Well, I for one say that this bear deserves a treat, because it delivers a ride that is very much in line with its name – a great one.
Having ridden Great Bear over two separate visits to the park, it honestly puzzles me why it tends to often be referred to as a "weak" inverted coaster. In my humblest opinion, I don’t think that could be any farther from the truth. Great Bear packs a formidable punch into its tight layout, and I applaud it for being so different from many of the B&M inverted coaster installations across the country. Maybe I’m just a sucker for uniqueness, or maybe the bottom line is that I really do love inverted coasters that much. When you first enter the park (and swear that you can smell chocolate everywhere) and head down Comet Hollow, you can see Great Bear playfully intertwined amongst a host of other rides, most notably the park’s log flume and classic Sooperdooperlooper steel coaster. It is visually stunning, if for no other reason than the incredible and precise placement of the ride’s support structure. It yields a mess of steel, but in an artistic way that reminds me of a Picasso. Hershey’s space management will certainly never come into question! The colors are slick, and this bear has a wonderful roar, made famous by these B&M creations. This whole area of the park is Great Bear’s, and it lets you know that each time it whisks riders along its course. Lines can tend to be pretty variable on this coaster, but the crew works briskly and keeps things moving along. The station is simple but effective and the ride just fits in very nicely in its location. The front seat tends to be my favorite on inverts, but I highly recommend the front on Great Bear especially, thanks to some stunning visuals that await the riders. Before long, this bear is let out of his pen to play, and those aboard are in for a treat.
With no real room after the 90-foot climb for a "standard" first drop, B&M and Hershey got wonderfully creative to adjust to the limited space. At the top of the lift, the train dips down to pick up some speed, and then maneuvers through a tight helix from nine stories up! This is an awesome way to kick things off, and a helix taken that high is a fantastic sensation. Coming out from this unique start, the train is now positioning towards the river, and it then plunges right down towards it. This larger 124-foot first drop is excellent and forceful, as this bear roars into the hollow to start tackling some inversions. First up is a great one-two punch of a vertical loop followed by an Immelmann. These initial inversions are strong and well placed, and the train is humming along at a good clip by now. Next up is an amazing zero-g roll, which is probably my favorite type of inversion on a roller coaster. This one is exceptionally quick and forceful, and leads to a banked curve into the final inversion, a corkscrew. Now comes the point where I am forced to dock a point off of Great Bear – the ending. With a good bit of speed left over, the final inversion is followed by just a straight run of track leading to the brakes. It’s a minor gripe for me, but in that last run I would’ve loved to have seen the coaster hop back up and maneuver a helix or something before heading back. Al
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