A new generation of thrill machines, the exhilarating, adrenaline-fueled, time-filled, silky smooth, El Toro is among the best wooden coasters on the planet, except it may not be completely accurate to characterize it as a wooden coaster. . Regardless of what El Toro is or is not, there is no denying that it is an incredible achievement and a joyous rush to drive. Roller coaster fans will want to take this bull by the horns and shout “old man!”
- Emotion scale (0 = Wimpy!, 10 = Yikes!): 7.5
- The roller coaster doesn’t have any investment, but its high altitude, wild speed, and extreme G-forces make for a thrilling experience.
- Mountain type: Plug-and-play hybrid wood with a round-trip design
- Top speed: 70 mph
- El Toro is one of the 10 fastest wooden roller coasters.Â
- Height restriction to ride: 48 inches
- Lift hill height: 188 feet
- First drop: 176 feet
- First angle of descent: 76 degrees
- Travel time: 1 minute, 42 seconds.
- Location: Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey
If the sight of the massive El Toro runway wasn’t a sufficient clue, the actions of the tour operators at the charging station should have alerted us to the madness that followed the journey. They “stapled” us (a wonderful term roller coaster fans use to describe the excessive tightening of safety restrictions) us and our fellow travelers within an inch of cutting off our respiratory and circulatory functions. The extra precautions may be due more to the balk sensor from the ride the day we ride than sadistic operations.
But we didn’t have much time to worry about our labored breathing as the train pulled out of the station, rounded a curve, hooked on the lift mechanism, and went up the 188-foot lift hill with a surprisingly fast clip.
Bull-Shout
Unlike most roller coasters (especially wooden ones), El Toro uses an elevator cable lift instead of a traditional elevator chain. Once the entire train is on the lift hill, the cable accelerates to about 14 mph without any hesitation or noise from a lift chain. It’s almost unsettling how fast and quiet the cable takes the train to the dizzying apex of the journey. The subsequent screams, however, quickly break the silence.
At 176 feet, El Toro’s first drop is among the longest for a wooden roller coaster in the United States (and the world, for that matter). Its top speed of 70 mph also makes it one of the fastest wooden coasters. At the time of its debut in 2006, its 76-degree descent angle was the steepest for any wooden coaster. Hence the screams.
The first drop is immediately followed by three substantial hills of 112 feet, 100 feet, and 84 feet. This creates wild, prolonged air time (that giddy butterflies in the stomach that roller coaster fans crave). Even with our lap bar snug, the airtime on our ride was glorious.
Prefab fabulousness
The train leans into change and cruises through some rabbit hills for a more intoxicating airtime. A fifth drop is still surprisingly powerful, but produces a spasm of ejector air, rather than the softer floating air of the initial drops. El Toro then mercilessly, but somehow smoothly, tosses its passengers with a series of extremely inclined twisting elements before heading back to the station.
We knew the statistics. We even knew about the ride’s unique pre-made wooden track. We were prepared for height and speed, and anticipated decent airtime. However, we were not expecting the silky smoothness of El Toro.
It was unlike any wooden coaster we’ve ever ridden. Rather than the rickety, harrowing woodie feel epitomized by the classic Cyclone at Coney Island, El Toro was as rock solid as Great Adventure’s wonderful Nitro or other stellar examples of steel roller coaster engineering. Not that we would recommend it, but a surgeon could probably safely perform a circumcision while driving El Toro.
On the way to roller coaster stardom
Why is the ride so smooth? Like two other thrill machines from Intamin of Switzerland (Balder at Liseberg in Sweden and 196-foot Colossos at Heide-Park Soltau in Germany), the manufacturer laser cut the ride tracks to the most exacting standards at its factory. Instead of nailing pieces of wood like a conventional roller coaster, he joined and laminated them to create the track sections. Rather than cutting and assembling lumber on site, the builders put the track sections together like puzzle pieces.
Technically, the ride is made of wood, but it is unclear whether it is appropriate to consider it a wooden roller coaster.
The boundaries have been blurred for roller coasters. It used to be that a thrill machine could be perfectly identified as a traditional wooden coaster or a steel coaster. Steel coasters generally use tubular steel for their tracks, while wooden coasters use piles of wood with a thin strip of metal on top for their tracks. (Interestingly, in most cases, steel roller coasters have steel frames and wooden roller coasters have wooden frames, but that’s not always the case. The famous Coney Island Cyclone, for example, features a steel frame, while Cedar Point’s Gemini steel coaster incorporates a wooden frame.)
Amusement maker Rocky Mountain Construction has confused the entertainment industry with the introduction of its hybrid wood and steel roller coasters. They marry an I-beam shaped steel track with a wooden frame. Less common plug and play wooden coasters, such as El Toro, are closer to conventional wooden coasters, but the unique method used to design and build them sets them apart from their wooden brethren.
By reducing characteristic raucous buzz, El Toro can focus on its considerable strengths in speed and airtime. The wonderful ride is there, high up, with any roller coaster, wood or steel, and that is not a bull.
We include El Toro among our list of the best roller coasters. We also included it in our roundup of the 11 scariest roller coasters.
