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Great Bear
Website: Hersheypark Homepage
Ride Type: Inverted Steel Coaster
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 4.0000
TPC Overall Rank: #162 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 103
Last Review: 7/2/2012 9:59:00 PM
In User Top 10: 77 times.
User Tracker Count: 270 times.
 

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5 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Kodadog99 on 7/2/2012 9:59:00 PM - User's Top Ride #3
This is a great inverted coaster. The best part would probably be the helix after the lift hill or the zero G rolls right before its over. The only problem is that the last part of the coaster you just travel back to the station. The only thing I dont like is the way you cant see anything in front of you if you dont sit in the front. But the ride is amazing the loops and like I said the rolls are just insane. Its a great ride dont miss it!!!

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up shag9004 on 9/1/2008 9:13:00 PM
Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1 When dealing with an invert made by famous coaster designers Bolliger and Mabillard, you know what you are going to get. The ride will be smooth, the inversions fun, and a wonderful overall experience. Those expectations are met with The Great Bear at Hersheypark. Here at Coaster Reviews, we try not to review a coaster if we only have only ridden it a few times. Some coasters are instant hits (Cyclone at Coney Island), while others take time to appreciate. However, Great Bear is what it is. It is nothing different from any other typical B and M invert which is a good thing. While it may not jump to the top of the ranking it is still a fun ride with very few, if any weaknesses. The problem with travelling all over the country is that once you have ridden one of these rides, the rest seem very similar. For that reason, Great Bear seems to rank alongside the numerous Batman rides throughout the country instead of at the top along with Montu, Raptor, and Talon. It is a wonderful ride with beautiful landscaping and a smooth comfortable experience. There just isn&#39.t anything that really stands out. When visiting the World of Chocolate, this is still a &quot.can&#39.t miss&quot. attraction. The lines seem to be fairly short here and Great Bear will give you a great experience. If you have never ridden a B and M invert before then you will be in for a great time. If you have, then you know what to expect. And that, coaster riders, is a good thing in this instance. Overall Rating: 8.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up SFne201004 on 8/23/2008 9:19:00 PM
This was a solid B&M invert. The pre-drop was unique and enjoyable. I loved the ride up until after the zero-g roll when it just ran the course back to station.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up ads102 on 6/29/2008 5:15:00 PM
In the early days of the B&M inverted coasters, this one stood out because it was different than the cookie cutter Batman rides. It isn't nearly as intense as other inverted coasters, but still fun.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up ChrisB on 6/27/2008 4:45:00 PM
Great Bear has to be one of the most underrated Inverts I've been on in my whole life. It's a fun, smooth ride and I can't wait to ride it again when I return to Hershey in the future.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up PhantomNik on 2/15/2008 6:02:00 PM
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

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/20/2007 5:42:00 PM
Weak B&M invert, but still its a fun ride and a decent coaster. I liked the helix right after the lift hill because it was really intense and had strong Gs. Following that was only an average drop and then a very smooth vertical loopa and Immelman. However, there were Gs in the inversions, but not as much as I had anticipated. The following heartline roll was my favorite part, as it was fast and had decent Gs. Afterwards came tons of straight-track which I didnt really like followed by a rapid, but slightly rough corkscrew.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up alliu23 on 8/17/2007 12:59:00 AM - User's Top Ride #19
The Great Bear offers a fun thrill ride. Its got some great loops and I love inverted coasters!

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up rocketman23 on 8/14/2007 3:44:00 PM
I really have to preface this review: I, in general, do not like inverted coasters; they do nothing for me. That said, in comparison to other inverts I have ridden, its pretty low on the list. Like I said though, if you like these sorts of rides, dont read much into my opinion on this one. However, if you agree with my preferences, dont expect this one to please you.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up primogen18 on 8/14/2007 4:29:00 AM
very unique layout and I actually loved the pre-drop helix, not the most intense B&Ms but definitely creative in design/layout, along with squeezing it in with the other rides. Not intense, just fun.

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