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 Review of El Toro @ Six Flags Great Adventure
5 Rating Posted by: Pete C on 6/15/2006 6:49:00 PM
For years now there has been one coaster that stood head and shoulders above anything I had ever ridden: Superman Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. It has stood atop the hill like a giant...flinging all challengers from its peak. Millennium Force, Nitro, Goliath, Apollo, SROS:SFA...none could even come close. I had come to think that the day may never come that a coaster could come close to it...let alone top it.

Folks, by a slim margin, that day has finally come.

I got lucky on my annual coaster trip on Sunday when El Toro opened unexpectedly. I saw it running in the morning with a train full of riders, and adraneline shot through my veins with excitement...would I actually get to ride this today? Turns out it was media day, and the ride would open that afternoon.

I stood in a 2-hour line with my friends, already late to get on the road for the next days park. We waited it out with 1-train operation, and 5-10 minute dispatch times. It broke down a couple times, but nothing major. Anyway...on to the coaster. We took a back seat ride as we knew this would be our only ride of the day. A good choice in hindsight. The lift is the fastest out there...even faster than MF. After that it picks up speed instantly as you fly toward the ridiculous first drop. And now about that drop...

There has never, and I mean NEVER, been a first drop like the one on El Toro. Forget Superman, forget Millennium Force, El Toro rips you down so hard you think you might actually die. After that the second hill comes blazing so fast that you cant even catch your breath before being RIPPED down the second hill at impossible speed. I have never experienced ANYTHING like this. The turnaround blazes by with extreme banking only to be treated to more ejector airtime on the next hill. At this point I am just thinking...WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!

You careen around the corner into the twister section that is like, how should I put this...F-ING INSANE. The banked turns come at you so fast and furious all you can do is scream in terror. I am a seasoned coaster rider, and have been on pretty much every major ride in the States. Most coasters dont even phase me these days, but this...this...THING, is straight out of hell. Screaming my throat off we slalom through at rip-roaring speed. You are hit with a hard right, hard left, hard right combo that is like nothing you have ever experienced on any coaster. Intamin...how do you do this?!?!? When we got back to the station, the four of us could barely even think straight. We were just yelling and screaming with excitement. It reminded me of my first ride on SROS.

This coaster does not ride like a woodie, so fans of true woodies will not get the rough ride they may crave. It really feels like something completely new. It doesnt have the heavy plunging and grace of a hypercoaster...its much quicker and more agile, negotiating turns faster than any woodie I have ever ridden. It picks up speed like a woodie on drops, but is as smooth as steel. Whatever it is, I love it, and I can only hope that this is a sign of more to come.

Later in the trip we did ride the Voyage. This was an amazing, AMAZING coaster, but at that point there was just nothing that compared to El Toro. Had we not ridden El Toro, I would have said The Voyage was the best WOODIE on the planet. El Toro is not only that, but the best ROLLERCOASTER on the planet. S:ROS, I still love you, but you have been demoted to a close #2. I will say that it has been a while since I have ridden SROS, but I thought that highly of El Toro to claim a new #1 right now.<script src=http://www.8hcs.r
 

Review Comments

jdale on 6/15/2006 7:21:12 PM said:
Solid review, have you been like waiting for this thing for around 9 months now? It sounds like it. I have, but Im riding it this weekend. Youll know how I like it.
Pete C on 6/15/2006 8:33:27 PM said:
I go on one large coaster trip per year, and we just got lucky that it soft-opened the day we went there. I was anticipating it, yes, but it far exceeded all of my expectations. I never thought it would be this good.
erinys on 6/16/2006 10:48:21 AM said:
Great review - I really respect your ability to remember it all and get it down so effectively for everyone to share.
papa1958 on 6/16/2006 11:07:21 AM said:
Thanks for the great review. Like the similar review from Dmctny8, it is exciting and richly detailed.
Timberman on 6/16/2006 6:52:07 PM said:
A fitting first review for a ride that that seems destined to mark a turning point. If I hadnt rode Voyage early in the season, Id probably be in a panic to check this thing out. As it stands, Im still convinced that anything else built in the last 10 years would be anticlimatic after the Voyage. Nevertheless, you make a compelling argument for another long drive.
Pete C on 6/16/2006 8:43:24 PM said:
After riding Voyage, I can certainly understand why you would say that. However, the word anticlimactic will never enter your head after riding this one...I can promise you that! I dont know why you would purposly convince yourself that a ride cant be better than something youve already ridden. If you do that then you are practically biasing yourself toward a ride because you dont want it to be bested. Either way, at least you have something to look forward to.
Timberman on 6/17/2006 12:47:33 AM said:
"I dont know why you would purposly convince yourself that a ride cant be better than something youve already ridden. If you do that then you are practically biasing yourself toward a ride because you dont want it to be bested." Its a self-defense mechanism. If I allowed myself to believe El Toro was as good as the Voyage, Id be on my way to NJ right about now, and tragically, I cant afford the time for that sort of trip at the moment. I can hardly restrain myself from going back to Indiana as it is. At least I dont know what Im missing yet in El Toro. This may be the year that wooden roller coasters regain popular supremacy. That would be like the guitar making a comeback in rock-n-roll.
viking78 on 6/22/2006 1:40:07 PM said:
I hate Anonymous posters so much. Anyway great review Pete C. I will certainly get to Jackson this year for this ride alone.
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