- "Do you have what it takes to tame the bull?"
- ―Slogan[src]
El Toro (Spanish: The Bull) is a wooden roller coaster located in Plaza del Carnaval at Six Flags Great Adventure. It opened to the public on June 12, 2006, with a soft opening on the previous day, June 11.
The ride replaced Viper, and uses the same station structure from the former roller coaster.
History[]
El Toro was announced on September 28, 2005 along with Bugs Bunny National Park, a new themed area for children. It was also announced El Toro would be part of a new themed area known as Plaza del Carnaval.[1]
Viper closed in 2004 and all of the former coaster was removed except for the station. The station was gutted, and an entirely new platform was built.
The lift hill was topped off on December 20, 2005.[2] The ride started testing during Memorial Day weekend in 2006.[3]
The ride had a surprise opening on June 11 then held its grand opening on June 12.[4][5]
El Toro suffered a malfunction with the lift motor in early August 2013. The motor was sent to Maryland to be fixed. [6] El Toro reopened on August 30th after it had been down for several weeks.
In 2021 and 2022, El Toro suffered two major, but non-fatal, accidents. The first incident happened on June 29, 2021 when one of the trains on El Toro partially derailed near the final brake run and caused major damage to the track due to the severity of the derailment. Following this, the ride was closed for the rest of the 2021 season for an inspection and some major repairs. The second incident recently happened August 25, 2022 when 14 people were reported to be injured after riding El Toro due to a jolt in the track. As a result of this, the ride is once again closed for further inspection to determine when and if it's safe for the ride to reopen back up again. The cause of the second accident is currently under investigation. The ride finally reopened in 2023 and is still considered one of the best rollercoasters in the world.
Ride experience[]
After departing from the station, the train makes a turn to the left, passing through the ride's structure. It then begins to climb the 180-foot tall cable lift hill. Once the entire train is on the lift the cable increases its speed to 13 mph. Once at the top of the lift the speed of the cable gently slows down, but it is barely noticeable on the ride. After cresting the top of the lift, the train briefly travels forward and makes a 180 degree turn to the left. It then drops 176 feet at a 76 degree angle, at which you feel as if you're being forced towards the ground, reaching a top speed of seventy miles per hour. As the train reaches the bottom of the drop it comes close to the track above, creating a headchopper-effect. It then travels up a 112 foot camelback hill passing the on-ride camera. It then goes up a second camelback hill at 100 feet and then travels through a 180 degree downward-banked turn to the right, and up another banked turn to the left. The train goes through a small second hill that speeds past the station and the lakeside. The ride then makes another turn and up a smaller hill where riders experience ejector airtime. After coming down the drop, the ride snakes through twists and turns. After coming out of the twister section, the train slows down as it moves through small S turn hills and into the brake run.[7][8][9]
Characteristics[]
Theme[]
As El Toro is Spanish for "The Bull", El Toro has a heavy Spanish theme. The cars are themed as "bulls" with bull heads on the front. 2 out of 3 trains are now sponsored by the 2012 KIA Soul. The ride's queue is surrounded by the Southwestern-style buildings of Plaza del Carnaval, and also has abandoned "wagon wheels" and Spanish posters along a wall separating the queue from the ride.[8]
Trains[]
El Toro operates with two trains with six cars per train. Riders are arranged two across in three rows for a total of 36 riders per train. It has a capacity of 1,200 guests per hour.[8] The trains are simply known as "Train A" (light brown) and "Train B" (dark brown). The trains have padded "wings" at shoulder level to prevent riders from being thrown too far to the side in the final twister section. El Toro's lapbars are U-shaped.
In 2010, one of the trains was re-themed to endorse Stride Gum. The train was wrapped in Stride Gum advertisements, showing a different flavor of Stride gum on each car.[10] The advertisements remained on the train for the entire 2011 season, but were removed before the start of the 2012 season and replaced with Kia Soul advertising.[11]
2021 & 2022 incidents[]
On June 29, 2021, the coaster partially derailed after the rear ear car's up-stop wheels—which wrap around much of the track in order to prevent derailment—moved significantly out-of-place to the top of the track. The cause of the incident was not released publicly after it took place but all riders were able to safely exit the ride. It was closed for most of the 2021 season. Although the park was not fined for the accident itself, the park was fined $5k for failing to immediately notify the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs post-incident. In early 2022, it was announced that El Toro would reopen on April 2. However, on August 25, 2022, a malfunction occurred near the end of the ride, causing minor injuries to 14 riders, with five taken to a nearby hospital. The park closed the ride indefinitely, pending an investigation into the incident. An anonymous ride operator alleged that issues from previous incidents had not been fixed, saying in an interview with WCBS-TV. It was reported that on August 30, 2022, El Toro's safety systems were working properly and that the ride would reopen after it had been repaired. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) said El Toro was "structurally compromised", which would force El Toro to remain closed indefinitely in September 2022. The DCA said it would also conduct an engineering review of El Toro and consult with Intamin. Six Flags officials said they expected to reopen the ride for the 2023 season and reopened on June 17, 2023
Awards[]
| Golden Ticket Awards: Top Wood Roller Coasters | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Position | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
El Toro has been awarded #1 wooden roller coaster in the world in both 2012 and 2017, and has stayed in the top 10 since the Golden Ticket Awards began the Top Wood Roller Coasters category in 2007.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Images[]
References[]
- ↑ Six Flags Great Adventure Will Debut Monstrous Wooden Roller Coaster in Newly-Themed Area and New Looney Tunes Kids' Section In 2006. PR Newswire (September 28, 2005).
- ↑ Six Flags Great Adventure Tops Off New Roller Coaster. Ultimate Rollercoaster (December 20, 2005).
- ↑ Davidson, Josh (May 29, 2006). Six Flags Great Adventure wooden coaster runs. COASTER-net. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015.
- ↑ The gate is open for a new coaster!
- ↑ Run With the Bulls at Six Flags Great Adventure as the Monstrous 'El Toro' Wooden Roller Coaster is Unleashed
- ↑ http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/228238
- ↑ El Toro at Coaster-Net
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2
El Toro at the Roller Coaster DataBase
- ↑ El Toro POV
- ↑ Design I like- Stride Gum takes over El Toro (May 9, 2010). Retrieved on January 28, 2013.
- ↑ Kia Soul train
See also[]
- Plaza del Carnaval
- Raging Bull, a similarly themed hyper coaster at Six Flags Great America.
External links[]
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