Six Flags Great America Roller Coaster Reviews
Name: Jeremy Ross
E-mail: webmaster@coasternews.com
Ride: Raging Bull
Date of visit: 9/99
Review: Heading out to Great America (Gurnee, Illinois) in the summer is a quiet drive north from Chicago. After leaving the city on the north side, take I-95 to Gurnee - and you can't miss Great America, especially because of a new huge structure added this year, one of the greatest coasters ever built, Raging Bull. At first site from the highway, you see the lift hill towering in the air. When you get closer and around the massive structure of the park's giant dueling woodie, American Eagle, you can then see the amazing drop. It's big, orange, mean, and amazing, and its a ""Steel Beast in a Bad Mood"". The entrance to the park is on the opposite side as Raging Bull. To avoid lines, as soon as you enter, head straight past the fountain and hit the path to the left. You'll pass several appetizing coasters on the way including the world's first inverted coaster, Batman: The Ride, installed in 1994 by Bolliger and Mabillard. You will also pass a great Arrow Mega-looper, Shockwave, a clone of the Great American Revolution at Six Flags Great America in New Jersey. You'll then pass Iron Wolf, the very first coaster from Bolliger and Mabillard. This short, but excited standup features two inversions, a vertical loop and a corkscrew, and very intense G-Forces (be sure to keep those knees bent!) As you make a right turn at Iron Wolf, what you are waiting for comes into perfect view, Raging Bull. If you're like most, you'll stop and stare. You won't want to, but it's just stunning. Rising up 203 feet into the heavens, this beast creates the greatest scene I've ever seen on a coaster. It's so far away from you, yet so close - almost within grasp - you MUST ride this incredible machine. Beginning to run, you pass the park's Free-fall attraction, a pit-fall style giant drop, and you are there. The world closes in on that one sign at the entrance. ""Raging Bull"" with those eyes just glaring at you. It's mouth watering, and you grab a ride ticket and hop in line. The ride tickets are numbered (ex. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) so that everyone stays in their rightful place in line. The ride op at the station takes the tickets, and if they are not in order they know you've tried something. The trains are beautiful. As you climb in you slide into the seat and your feet are lifted off the floor, where they'll stay for the rest of the ride. You pull the coolest harness down, (I mean, THE COOLEST) - and await your journey. Everything is go-go-go for launch and the brakes release. You head around a turn and up the lift. Looking upwards, all you can see is orange track extending into the sky - ""Will we ever make it up there?"" When you finally do you peak over the edge and head down a little air-time inducing hump before the drop. If you are in the front seat (much recommended) you get the most amazing view of anything EVER after the hump. You see the 10 feet of track ahead of and then, nothing - you can't even see the decent - the track just disappears. And as you fly down the drop, the airtime is amazing in every seat, but the back is INDESCRIBABLE. You are lifted very forcefully into the top of your restraint and whipped straight down. It's B E A U T I F U L. Down the 208 foot drop and through the tunnel. Back up into the glaring sun, you spin around a turn and the airtime continues as you are whipped down the second drop and up another few hills until the brake run - which is never on. The two final hills are just as great before you inter the twister part of the ride, several helixes/turns that create great positive Gs to even our all the negatives from the final turn and onto the brake run. You breathe a sigh of relief. It's all over, but...you must challenge the bull again. This ride is addictive. If you want to ride anything else at this great park, don't ride Raging Bull first or you'll be on it all day despite the lines which exceed 2 hours at peak times during the afternoon. This ride is AMAZING. It's B&M perfection - and it makes you glad to live at the time you do. TAKE ON THE BULL TODAY!