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Great Bear (roller coaster)

HersheyparkInverted roller coastersInverted roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & MabillardOperating roller coastersRoller coasters in Pennsylvania
Roller coasters introduced in 1998Roller coasters manufactured by Bolliger & MabillardSteel roller coastersUse American English from November 2022Use mdy dates from September 2021
Great Bear (Hersheypark) 05
Great Bear (Hersheypark) 05

Great Bear is an inverted roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, with additional design from Werner Stengel, the roller coaster opened on May 23, 1998, in the Minetown section of the park. Great Bear was the first inverted looping coaster in Pennsylvania and cost $13 million, the largest project Hersheypark undertook at the time. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of 90 feet (27 m), a maximum speed of 58 miles per hour (93 km/h) to 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), and has a total track length of 2,800 feet (850 m). When Great Bear opened, it was the sixth roller coaster in operation at Hersheypark, as well as the fourth steel roller coaster at the park. The layout of the roller coaster was designed to weave through several attractions, including a steel roller coaster named SooperDooperLooper; a log flume named Coal Cracker; and Spring Creek. The ride is named after the constellation Ursa Major, and its major elements represent the number of stars within the constellation. Upon opening to the public, the roller coaster received positive reviews from critics and guests.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Great Bear (roller coaster) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Great Bear (roller coaster)
Park Boulevard, Derry Township

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N 40.286944444444 ° E -76.653055555556 °
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Park Boulevard 34
17033 Derry Township
Pennsylvania, United States
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Great Bear (Hersheypark) 05
Great Bear (Hersheypark) 05
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Coal Cracker
Coal Cracker

Coal Cracker is a classic log flume ride located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The ride was installed by Arrow Development in 1973, making it the oldest water ride at Hersheypark still in daily operation. It has a unique layout, due to the terrain features of this part of the park. Riders are seated in 12-foot (3.7 m) boats for the three and a half minute ride along a water channel over 2,000-foot (610 m) long. Once the fiberglass boat has ascended the first lift hill, riders are only 55 feet (17 m) off the ground. A second lift carries riders above the Twin Turnpike ride, preparing them for the final 35-degree, 49-foot (15 m) drop. Riders' photographs are taken midway through the drop. The Coal Cracker shares space with several newer rides, including the SooperDooperLooper (built in 1977) and the Great Bear (1998). The water supply for the ride is pumped through pipes connected to a 14,000-square-foot (1,300 m2) man-made lake. This lake has the capacity to store 100,000-US-gallon (380,000 L) of water, and the pump system can handle approximately 25,000-US-gallon (95,000 L) a minute. Guests are loaded into the boats from a revolving turntable; as the boats are always in motion this permits a higher ride capacity while providing more stability during loading and unloading.Coal Cracker ride photos are produced and sold by Get The Picture Corporation. Beginning in 2016, the Coal Cracker began operation during Hersheypark in the Dark. The Coal Cracker also begin operating during Springtime in the Park beginning in 2019. The Coal Cracker ride is not in operation during winter events at Hersheypark, such as Christmas Candylane.

Hersheypark
Hersheypark

Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park in the eastern United States in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about fifteen miles (25 km) east of Harrisburg, and 95 miles (155 km) west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906, by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company. It is wholly and privately owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. Hersheypark has won several awards, including the Applause Award.The park opened its first roller coaster in 1923, the Wild Cat, an early Philadelphia Toboggan Company coaster. In 1970, it began a redevelopment plan, which led to new rides, an expansion, and its renaming. The 1970s brought the SooperDooperLooper, an early complete-circuit looping roller coaster, as well as a 330-foot-tall (100 m) observation tower, the Kissing Tower. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the park rapidly expanded. Between 1991 and 2008, it added eight roller coasters and the "Boardwalk at Hersheypark" water park. As of 2020, the park covers over 121 acres (49 ha), containing 76 rides and attractions, as well as a zoo called "ZooAmerica". Adjacent to the park is Hershey's Chocolate World, a visitors' center attraction that contains shops, restaurants, and a chocolate factory-themed tour ride, where visitors can get their picture taken and receive a piece of chocolate at the end of the ride. Prior to the reduction in worldwide theme park attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the park saw an average attendance of over 3.3 million visitors each year. In 2020, the park hosted 1.7 million visitors. It is the most visited theme park in Pennsylvania and the ninth most visited theme park in North America, as well as the largest theme park in North America not located in Ohio, Florida or California.