Guests enter Marvel Super Hero Island via a bridge that passes directly under this green monster. After watching a few trains complete the circuit, I decided to board this high-tech roller coaster. The entrance and exit to the Incredible Hulk Coaster is tucked away in the front left corner of the island. There is a beautiful sign reading "HULK" over the walkway that takes you to the queue.
I am then taken through an industrial-themed queue with grand, transparent pillars containing bubbles you would normally find in a lava lamp. Techno/hard rock music, with a lot of bass, fills the air as I walk past the "gamma ray" accelerator gun. I eventually begin to walk up some ramps which lead to the second floor: Bruce Banner's testing lab.
Guests have the choice of waiting in line for 45 minutes to ride in the front four rows or you can wait about 15 minutes to ride in the other rows. I chose the very back seat of the coaster. This is the seat where riders actually feel the Incredible Hulk's personality... if you know what I mean. The G-Forces are strongest in the rear.
I fasten my safety belts to the harness and I carefully observe the five gigantic circular neon coated lights which hang above the boarding area. After a few seconds, one of Banner's lab assistants gives the "thumbs-up." The coaster begins to move and then turns about 45 degrees in order to enter the launch tunnel.
Lights are flashing all around us. Everything seems to being going fine. The coaster is more than one third up the lifthill. Suddenly, a voice comes over the speaker stating that something has gone terribly wrong... 3, 2, 1... I am julted back to my seat and the coaster is catapulted from 0 to 40 miles per hour in only 2 seconds. 24 rotating tires are the simple instruments behind this incredible blast. This isn't your typical launch tunnel.
As the coaster gains speed, riders exit the tunnel and enter the daylight. But before riders know it, they encounter a zero-G gravity roll over 110 feet high. After this first-of-a-kind introduction inversion, the Incredible Hulk drops his passengers 110 feet. At the bottom of this terrific drop, the creative team at Universal has added a wonderful splash effect. The only downside is that it works only half the time. The censors in the middle of the drop sometime do not catch the train flying by.
Next, the coaster enters a gigantic Cobra roll over the central lake. This inversion can be seen from anywhere in the park. It is taller than Kumba's Cobra roll which travels around a bridge. Then, riders experience a huge vertical loop. One local reporter stated that there was a second of blackout while entering it. I never experienced it the same way, but let me tell you, those G-forces were smokin' in the rear. After the loop, riders travel through a sub-terrainean trench.
The Incredible Hulk then twists us 360 degrees around Bruce Banner's launch tunnel. This short, non-inversion section of the ride surprisingly makes you feel approximently three times heavier than your actual body weight. After this rotation, the coaster encounters a wicked inversion, so compact this it is enough to shake up the mind of the biggest thrillseeker.
Next, riders enter a mild 360 degree loop, an unexpected inversion this late in a roller coaster ride. I begin to relax as the train encounters the brake run. There is no time to relax because it hardly even slows down this wild beast. The first element after the brake run is a vicious drop which will take every rider's breath away.
The coaster goes through two more compact inversions and a terrific helix after the surprising drop. A picture is taken shortly after the brake run, so put on a happy face! Finally, the Incredible Hulk gives up and I have survived what many are calling, "One of the best steel roller coasters in the world."
One great feature of the Incredible Hulk Coaster is that its speed is unrelenting. The creative team at Bolliger & Mabillard combined all of the great elements of a roller coaster into Hulk. There is a zero-G gravity roll, a Cobra roll, a vertical loop, a 360 degree loop, a heartline spin, two sub-terrainean trenches, great drops, and powerful G-forces.
This is the best coaster at Islands of Adventure because of the unbelievable launch, smoothness, and speed.
Rating
Incredible Hulk Coaster A This quite possibly could be the perfect all-around steel roller coaster. Combining all of the greatest elements in coaster history, B&M has produced an unrelenting beast which is difficult to tame.
Incredible Hulk Coaster Description
Incredible Hulk Coaster Photographs
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