Status Operating Type Steel – Inverted Designer Werner Stengel Height restriction 1.37 m Park Hersheypark | Cost US$13,000,000 Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard Height 27 m Max speed 93 km/h | |
 | ||
Opening date May 23, 1998 (1998-05-23) Address 100 Hersheypark Monorail, Hershey, PA 17033, USA Similar Storm Runner, SooperDooperLooper, Lightning Racer, Wildcat, Sidewinder | ||
Great Bear is an inverted roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Designed by Werner Stengel, the roller coaster was built by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and opened in 1998 in the Kissing Tower Hill section of the park. Due to surrounding terrain and proximity to other attractions, the coaster was one of B&M's most difficult installations. The supports weren't permitted to be built in nearby Spring Creek, and the limitation resulted in an unusual support structure design for a B&M coaster.
Ride experience
Riders exit the station and climb a 90-foot (27 m) hill. Unique to Great Bear, there is a helix immediately after the lift, swinging riders around into the 124-foot (38 m) drop into The Hollow. After the drop, train enters a loop, followed immediately by an Immelmann loop, and then going into a zero-g roll. Riders continue through The Hollow over midway areas, making a sharp turn over Spring Creek. After a short straightaway, the train goes into a corkscrew, and then up a hill with two wide turns. For the 2014 season, the on-ride camera's location was changed to just after the corkscrew inversion, on the same pole that houses the on-ride camera for SooperDooperLooper. The train then enters a short brake run; after the brake-run, riders return to the station. Great Bear was the first inverted looping coaster in Pennsylvania.