Raging Bull is a steel roller coaster located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, United States. The ride opened to the public on May 1, 1999, as the first hyper-twister roller coaster, the second Hyper Coaster model built by Bolliger & Mabillard, and the tallest and longest coaster in the park.
The ride is themed to a bull and is located in the park's Southwest Territory land. It reaches a height of , dropping at a 65 degree angle into a below-ground tunnel to reach a maximum speed of . Raging Bull has been well received by guests and critics, frequently ranking among the top fifty steel roller coasters in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards.
History
Premier Parks, the owner of Six Flags parks at the time, identified Six Flags Great America as a park that "needed [a] new thrill ride". Raging Bull was announced on October 21, 1998, set to become the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster at Six Flags Great America, and the first hypercoaster to feature a twister layout. Although it retained the titles of tallest and longest, the 'fastest' distinction was later surpassed by Maxx Force, which opened in 2019. Raging Bull was the park's most expensive roller coaster at the time, introduced as part of a $25 million investment into the park. Raging Bull would be manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, designed by Stengel Engineering, and themed and integrated into the park by Bleck & Bleck Architects. All three companies had previously worked with the park on other projects.
Raging Bull is located in the park's Southwest Territory. Raging Bull now occupies part of the space formerly used by Rolling Thunder.
The coaster's construction process required 40,000 man-hours of work, and its design and construction process spanned 18 months. The coaster underwent inspections by the park, the manufacturer, and the state of Illinois before being deemed ready for operation. Members of the press, American Coaster Enthusiasts, and Professional Bull Riders attended the ride's media preview on April 29, 1999, before the ride opened to the public on May 1.
In 2007, Raging Bull was repainted by Baynum Solutions, a company that specializes in painting roller coasters. The repainting process, as outlined in a CNBC feature on the company, involves cleaning the structure, applying primer to key areas, then using brushes and rollers for the final coat. Raging Bull was the first of multiple rides Six Flags Great America worked with Baynum Solutions to repaint.
On June 15, 2016, Six Flags announced plans to introduce virtual reality headsets on Raging Bull. This addition aimed to make the coaster more thrilling by integrating immersive visuals. However, the headsets were ultimately implemented on Demon, another roller coaster at the park, instead of Raging Bull.
thumb|left|An overview of Raging Bull in February 2026 with refreshed paint colors.
In 2025, Raging Bull was closed to be repainted once again, refreshing its original colors after they had faded since its previous repaint. Million Painting was contracted to paint the coaster. According to the park, approximately ten painters use aerial work platforms and spider baskets to first clean the track and supports using a pressure washer, then use rollers and brushes to apply the Sherwin-Williams Sher-Loxane 800 polysiloxane paint. The project required of orange paint for the track and or purple paint for the supports. The coaster closed on August 19, the day after the park moved to weekend-only operations, to allow the repaint to be completed ahead of winter weather. After being painted and tested, the ride reopened on October 3.
Ride experience
thumb|left|A top-down diagram of Raging Bull's layout
thumb|left|Raging Bull's twister layout as seen from [[Sky Trek Tower]]
Raging Bull features a twister layout which the park describes as similar to a "wooden 'cyclone-style' roller coaster", The coaster's layout consists of two camelback hills and several banked turns, some of which the park marketed as "inclined loops", though they differ from true inclined loops as they do not invert. The ride additionally features a , 65-degree drop from its chain lift hill, Marketed as a novelty upon the coaster's opening, the side-less design of the trains was intended to create a sense of vulnerability and make the ride more thrilling.
Each train is designed to be long and wide. When empty, the first car of each train weighs , while each subsequent car weighs . The trains feature polyurethane wheels with a diameter of . The trains are primarily black with maroon seats, while the lap bar restraints are colored teal, red, or yellow, depending on the train. The front of each train displays the coaster's logo. Raging Bull's chain lift hill is long, angled at 26 degrees, powered by a 247 kilowatt motor, and reaches a height of .
Raging Bull uses heartliningbanking the track around a point approximately level with riders' heartsto provide a smoother ride experience. Heartlining reduces torque and abrupt acceleration on riders during turns, providing a smoother and more comfortable ride. Raging Bull's heartline is located above the track.
Theme
Raging Bull is located in the park's Southwest Territory, a themed land based on cattle towns of the American West during the 19th century. The coaster's station is designed to resemble a ruined southwestern mission. The narrative behind the coaster centers on a bull, the coaster's eponym, which forced residents to flee their town and construct the mission and courtyard now featured in the park. After being assisted out of her seat, a ride supervisor trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) attempted to revive her for approximately ten minutes. Emergency medical technicians from the Gurnee Fire Department arrived shortly before 12:30pm and continued CPR. She was transported to St. Therese Medical Center in Waukegan, Illinois, where she was pronounced dead at 12:57pm. Initial reports suggested she may have choked on a piece of gum or candy; a coroner noted she was carrying both, and the supervisor who performed CPR reported removing a "bluish, greenish" substance from her throat. Following the incident, the park added additional ride signage explicitly warning against gum and candy. In December, an investigation determined that choking was not the cause of her death. Instead, she was found to have died from cardiomegaly, a condition about which she had previously consulted a cardiologist. Paul Ruben, editor of the amusement park magazine Park World, commended the ride's speed, likening the experience to "a dog with its head out of a car window". In 2002, Joseph Lopez of the Northwest Herald described the ride as "smooth as silk" and noted that he, along with several other guests, regarded Raging Bull as the park's best coaster at the time. However, others have since criticized the ride in comparison to newer coasters of the same model. Some riders report a preference for the coaster's experience in the back row, noting enhanced sensations during the initial drop; in the back row of a roller coaster, riders typically crest the lift hill at a higher speed, resulting in increased airtime.
In Raging Bull's opening year, Six Flags Great America's attendance reached 3.1 milliona seven percent increase over the previous year, boosting the park from nineteenth to eighteenth most-visited amusement park in North America. Connie Costello, the park's public relations manager, reported "a phenomenal reaction" to the coaster, describing it as the park's most successful ride since Batman: The Ride opened in 1992. She additionally commented that the coaster was drawing large crowds from across the Midwest.
From 1999 to 2022, Raging Bull consistently ranked among the top fifty steel roller coasters in Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards every year the poll was run. It debuted at position fourteen in 1999 before peaking at number nine in 2005.