El Toro
Specific Type: Wooden Prefabricated
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Many people have tried to tame the bull and failed, can you take the bull by its horns? In 2006 Six Flags Great Adventure decided to put its guests to the test with El Toro an extreme new record breaking wooden roller coaster by Intamin. When the ride first opened it held a trio of superlatives; it had the steepest drop of any wood coaster in the world, the fastest top speed on a wooden coaster, and it is the first wooden coaster to use a cable lift instead of a traditional chain lift. El Toro means the bull in Spanish and the coaster resides in the Plaza del Carnaval a Mexican themed area of the park. El Toro sits on the plot of land used by defunct coaster Viper and reuses the pre-existing station that fits in perfectly with its Spanish architecture typical of colonial buildings in the southwest.
The ride begins when guest take their place in a train complete with a bull’s head and long horns on the lead car. The train exits the station and makes a left turn to line up with the lift hill. The train glides up the hill and loses momentum and the lift starts to take over slowly hauling the train up the lift as expected. Observant riders may notice they don’t hear the usual clicks of an anti-rollback dog, and then suddenly a jolt of speed catches first time riders by surprise as the cable lift silently and swiftly gains speed to 13 MPH as if the bull is ready to run. At the top of the lift there is 180 degree sweeping turnaround giving guests great views of the safari area and most of the amusement park from 181 feet in the air. The first drop catapults riders out of their seats as the train tumbles down the 76 degree drop at 70 MPH. The train touches down and then leaps skyward for the first airtime hill, at 112 feet tall this second drop is taller than many wooden coasters, and guests are launched from their seats again. The train flies over two more giant hills seemingly never losing speed. On the third hill the track tilts riders to the right and dives down cutting through the structure. Then it ascends to the left and drops again on the far side of the lift hill along a lagoon. The ride tears through two small airtime hills cutting through the structure twice providing some excellent head chopper moments. The track banks hard to the left and up over a large hill. The track drops into the twister section where the ride’s agility is shown off as it enters a series of serpentine turns that have riders on their sides holding on to the bull for dear life. A final jump up out of the twister section finally brings the train into the break run, and concludes the 4,400 foot journey. Riders are returned to the station, but the question is who is the champion? The rider or El Toro? |
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