Having not been to Great Adventure for some 11 years I was unfamiliar with the parks lay out. After securing my Gold Flash pass, I briskly walked towards El Toro only to make a wrong turn at Albuquerque and end up by Kingda Ka. Rats! I found the nearest Great Adventure worker who told me to turn around and make a left. After walking for what seemed like years I turned the corner and beheld the most beautiful coaster I had ever seen. After more than a years worth of anticipation I was finally here! El Toro looks like some cartoon parody of a coaster with its exaggerated hills and curves. Ive never seen a coaster half as nice to look at. It should get a 10 on looks alone!
In true Great Adventure style the ride didnt open on time. My Gold Flash Pass got me on Ka in 5 minutes flat. Just another credit. I went back to El Toro, and jumped line to the stairs with my best friend the Q-bot. We waited for at least 20 minutes before they teased us with a few test runs, only to shut the ride down again. A few minutes later some random Jersey people left in a mild huff because "the ride is broken". Not even a minute later Six Flags workers let a group of riders onto the train to a decent amount of applause. I was finally going to get to ride this sucker! We walked up the stairs, and moved our way to the queue for the back seat. Six Flags workers promptly shut the ride down again so they could bring the second train online. A few minutes later we finally boarded the train and received our customary El Toro stapling.
The train quietly glided out of the station, and turned around into the cable lift. It rocketed up the lift hill at roughly the same pace as Maverick. I dont know if we were trimmed at the top, but the train slowed down a bit there. The view from turnaround on the lift hill is placid, and I enjoyed the brief moment of serenity before the crazy ride that was about to embark.
El Toros first drop hit me harder than any other drop before. Despite the aggressive staple job by the staff, I felt a bit like I was standing up into the drop. Millennium Force, the 4 B&M hypers, the 2 strata coasters, and the 2 Intamin hypers that Ive ridden have NOTHING on that drop. Before you have a chance to ponder the intensity of the drop, El Toro lays two of the most intense airtime hills on the planet at you. It feels something like your entire body is being shot out of a cannon over those hills. Before you have a chance to blink again, The Bull whips you around through what is perhaps its only rough spot, and then into some weaker hills. El Toros twister finale isnt its strongest point, but it does include one absurdly powerful drop. The speed and intensity of this ride are without peer in my experience. Describing a coaster as having relentless speed is a cliche in the coaster nerd world, but in this case its the absolute truth. Im not sure if Ive ever experienced anything half as intense as this ride.
That Intamin could make such a ride smooth is a testament to their coaster mastery. I only wonder what CRACK theme park operators are smoking to not install one of these rides in every park in the world. The GP loves them. Enthusiasts love them. They dont eat themselves like garden variety woodies do. Everyone wins.
El Toro is now without question my favorite ride. I look forward to getting back out to that southern Jersey swampland in the future.
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