In an attempt to post original reviews on the various sites that I am on, I decided to wait a little bit before posting something here. However, after riding this thing for the first time about 3 weeks ago and not reviewing it here, I feel it would be keen of me to contribute something, so I will have to post an already used review. Here it is...
I had known about this ride since back in May of 2005 on Kingda Ka Media Day when a "little birdie" whispered into the ears of Joe and I that the park was planning on putting in an Intamin Plug n Play woodie for the upcoming season. I was intrigued by the idea of it, even without any kind of specifics. However, I knew that it was going to be something really special. Now I know the word special is an understatement.
The reason I had bought a Six Flags season pass for the 2005 season was to get on Kingda Ka and experience a new and improved Great Adventure - a place I had a couple of bad experiences at in the past and vowed to never attend again. I watched Kingda Ka grow and I was more than excited for it. I thought it would be hard to find something that would be more interesting for me to watch and have a great amount of anticipation for. Then came El Toro.
All of the news came spilling out about this coaster, it is was mesmerizing to say the least. Even with the big announcement of The Voyage at Holiday World earlier in the year, it did not take away from the magnitude of what was and is El Toro. I had waited so long and finally it was time for me to ride.
In my first walk to the station, I had bad flashbacks of Viper. Once I got over those, it was nothing but excitement.
The station is very nicely refurbished and fits the theme of the ride perfectly. There are still some odds and ends that need to be worked, but it is still early. Once all of the trees and flowers grow and bloom, it will be a very well themed and beautiful area.
The structure of the ride is amazing. It truly is a beautiful ride to look at. The coaster is a welcome addition for sure in terms of the skyline and looks fabulous from across the lake.
The trains look very nice and I especially like the bull sticking out on the front. The trains are long and hold 36 people, which is great because Great Adventure needs more rides with great capacity.
The ride starts right at the lift. The cable lift is very fast. I have to say that this lift is the first time that I have ever felt Gs on a lift. It literally is a ride in itself.
At the top of the lift is a turnaround that is taken at a high rate of speed, and then comes that steepest drop of any wooden coaster in the world. The drop is great and over before it starts. I do have to say that it is not my favorite wooden coaster drop - it is beaten by J2 at Clementon, and actually by a long shot. The drop on El Toro has good air, but nothing compared to the J2 drop in my opinion. The air is not completely sustained throughout the entire plunge and feels like it levels out really early. However, it is still great.
Then come the hills. These are not just any hills, but are potential killer hills. These are the reasons why riders get stapled into their seats in the station. I was a little skeptical at first about the air on the ride, but once you hit that first airtime hill you will know too. This is not airtime by definition. There should be a new classification for airtime just because of this ride. 1. Floater 2. Ejector 3. Pick your butt out of the seat and hold you there airtime (aka El Toro Air). On the second airtime hill I actually counted to about 3 1/4 Mississippi starting from the time that I was lifted out of my seat and then placed back into it, and I count a pretty slow Mississippi. Lets just put it like this - out of the seat half way up the hill and not back into the seat until the very bottom while hanging out of the car and practically standing up at the climax inbetween.
The turnaround is<
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