I must admit, the main purpose of my recent trip to Great Adventure was to conquer Kingda Ka, so most of my research into the park before arriving seemed to focus on this ride in particular. Little did I know what a fantastic ride was in store for me - from El Toro.
Knowing little more about El Toro than it being a wooden coaster record holder for speed and steepest drop, I boarded the coaster not knowing what was in store. I dont think my expectations were even very high intially either, because my previous experiences with wooden coasters up to this point were not good ones either. Lets face it, riding the Predator at Six Flags Darien Lake, is hardly a comparision!
I think I knew almost immediately however, this one would be unique, when the cable lift hill began to brisk me away up the hill very quickly. Once at the top you will experience something you will likely never forget until the day you die, that quick, smooth U-turn at a height of 188 feet, and then a pulse pounding, extremely steep drop at 70 mph. Honestly, that drop was so intense it was mostly a blurr for me! The head chopper at the bottom of the drop was fantastically done, as are many others throughout the ride, that are so convincing I wouldnt dare put my hands up. In fact, the wooden beams that you travel under at the end of the first drop actually caused me to duck down! That turned out to be a funny circumstance, because the G-forces on the way back up the next hill were so strong, I had a lot of trouble straightening my head and back! My head actually ended up being forced down for a few seconds, until the first air time opportunity presented itself, which allowed me to float back into position. Yes, its really that intense!
I think the best part about El Toro is that it has really got me excited about what types of coasters are possible now, and what we are likely to see in the future! I am hoping we will see more of these new prefabricated wooden roller coasters to come, but for now, El Toro is more than enough to hold us over!!
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