Park section Southwest Territory Replaced Rolling Thunder Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard Max speed 118 km/h Capacity 1,560 people/hour | Status Operating Height 61 m Height restriction 1.37 m | |
Opening date May 1, 1999 (1999-05-01) Address 1 Great America Pkwy, Gurnee, IL 60031, USA Similar American Eagle, Viper, X‑Flight, Whizzer, Goliath |
Raging Bull is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Built by Bolliger & Mabillard and designed by Werner Stengel, the Hyper Coaster model opened on May 1, 1999. It features a 208-foot (63 m) first drop, a top speed of 73 miles per hour (117 km/h), and over 5,000 feet (1,500 m) of track. It has been announced on June 15, 2016 that Raging Bull will receive Virtual Reality later in the year.
Contents
Location
Raging Bull is located near Viper, one of four wooden roller coasters in Six Flags Great America. The land used by Raging Bull was formerly occupied by Rolling Thunder, a bobsled roller coaster which arrived in 1990 from Six Flags Great Adventure but was later relocated in 1996 to The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom in Queensbury, New York.
Theme
Raging Bull is named after a ferocious beast that terrorized the citizens of the old Southwest Territory until they fled the town and built the courtyard and mission seen today.
Ride Layout
The ride starts with a left turn and a small dip out of the station as riders enter the lift hill. At the 202-foot peak (62 m), the ride drops a very small distance (known as a pre-drop) followed by a 208-foot plunge (63 m) into a tunnel at the base of the drop reaching speeds of up to 73 mph (117 km/h). The train then ascends 155 feet (47 m) into a hammerhead turn to the right, passing over the queue line of the neighboring Viper wooden roller coaster twice. After the turnaround, the train climbs a 141-foot-parabolic hill (43 m) that applies a trim brake near the hill's apex. It then enters a 128-foot hill (39 m) that banks left over the station area, followed by a dip under the lift hill and the 2nd hammerhead turn to the left. Riders then twist up into a mid-course brake run. Upon clearing the block brakes, the train drops into a valley where the on-ride camera snaps photos. Riders then experience a slight hill and a rising helix as the grand finale – a series of low-to-the-ground turns that culminate with a twisting ascension into the station brake run.