The Incredible Hulk is a launched steel roller coaster located at the Islands of Adventure theme park in the Universal Orlando Resort, Florida. As the name suggests, the ride is themed after the popular comic book superhero character, the Hulk. The ride opened on May 28, 1999, and has generally been well received. The Incredible Hulk is the only Bolliger & Mabillard roller coaster to feature a launch system; however, this mechanism was subcontracted to another company. The roller coaster is also unique because it features a launched lift hill as opposed to a conventional chain lift or horizontal launch track. This means the train accelerates to 40 mph (64 km/h) in approximately two seconds before speeding through seven inversions. The 3,700-foot-long (1,100 m) ride features a top speed of 67 miles per hour (108 km/h).
The Incredible Hulk is a Sitting Coaster by Swiss firm Bolliger & Mabillard. The 3,700-foot-long (1,100 m) ride features seven inversionsincluding a zero-g roll, a cobra roll, two vertical loops, and two corkscrews. The ride features a maximum height of 110 feet (34 m), and a first drop stretching 105 feet (32 m). Riders reach a top speed of 67 miles per hour (108 km/h) on the 2-minute, 15-second ride. Each of The Incredible Hulk's trains feature eight cars which seat riders four abreast. Riders, who must be at least 52 inches (130 cm) tall, are restrained with ratcheting over-the-shoulder restraints. This train configuration allows the ride to achieve a theoretical hourly capacity of 1,920 riders per hour. The ride features two subterranean dives, is partially built over water, and is illuminated green at night.A unique launch system propels riders up the 110-foot-tall (34 m) hill. The system was developed by Universal Creative and MTS Systems Corporation. A prototype launch system was designed by January 1995. The prototype consisted of a series of boxcars welded together to form a launch tunnel. A track-mounted dune buggy was then propelled inside the tunnel through the use of a weight drop launch mechanism. The designers then experimented with different rates of acceleration, each emitting between one and five times the force of gravity. The final system which was implemented on The Incredible Hulk sees trains launch from 0 to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) in 2 seconds. Riders travel at an angle of 30 degrees through a 150-foot-long (46 m) tunnel, pulling 1 G. To power this launch the designers investigated a variety of systems ranging from hydraulic, pneumatic, cable, steam catapult, and conveyor belt. In the end a drive tire system was selected, where 230 electrical motors power a set of tires that pinch the train's underside to provide propulsion. As this system required eight megawatts of power to launch a train, the park built several customized motor generator sets with large flywheels. Without these stored energy units, they would have had to build a whole substation and risk browning-out the local energy grid with every launch. The park's addition of the launch system to the ride makes The Incredible Hulk the only Bolliger & Mabillard ride to feature a launch.
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