An El Toro train full of riders, arms up, cresting a hill on the tall wooden structure under a clear sky
Back carriders’ pick, for the airtime

Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey

El Toro

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181fttallest of 80 wooden coastersEl Toro181 ftVoyage159 ftHades 360136 ftAmerican Eagle127 ftShivering Timbers122 ft70mphtop speed176ftdrop
POV
Ride it: back row POV
Back row
pure back row ejector heaven
the wooden jank of El Toro
500lb gorilla giving a headlock
What riders love
  • The cable lift is so fast, and that first drop sends you flying out of your seat.
  • That first drop is the best I’ve experienced, and those first two camelbacks are absolutely insane.
  • The first drop has a big difference between the front and the back on it, and it lasts noticeably longer in the back.
  • The first two camelbacks and the "Rolling Thunder hill" are legendary for trying to launch you into the atmosphere.
  • The ejector airtime over each hill feels like it is going to rip you in half depending on how fast the ride is running.
  • The airtime is unlike any other coaster I’ve experienced and the wooden feel makes it that much crazier.
  • You get this feeling of "I should not be going this fast on a wooden coaster".
  • The twister section is actually absurdly forceful, which is not something I expected from a ride that is always heralded as an airtime machine.
  • It’s just a relay of intensity and rapid fire ejector air throughout the entire layout.
El Toro Watch Performance Should I ride it? Where to sit Specifications Reviews Planning History

Watch POVs and more

El Toro front seat on-ride 4K POV @60fps Six Flags Great Adventure

youtube.com › CoasterForce

El Toro POV 4K Back Car 60fps Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ

youtube.com › East Coasters

Official El Toro POV - 4k 60fps - Six Flags Great Adventure

youtube.com › Six Flags Great Adventure

El Toro Off-Ride 4K Footage (2019) - Six Flags Great Adventure - Non Copyright

youtube.com › ElToroRyan

El Toro Review Six Flags Great Adventure Intamin Pre-Fabricated Wooden Roller Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

Riding El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure! On-Ride POV Reaction | World Class Wooden Coaster

youtube.com › Coaster Studios

El Toro - Review (Six Flags Great Adventure)

youtube.com › XscreamThrills

El Toro Coaster At Six Flags Great Adventure Leaves Multiple Injured

youtube.com › TODAY

El Toro Ride | Six Flags Great Adventure | Nyc Desi Shorts

youtube.com › NYC DESI एनवाईसी देसी

Performance

Vs. other coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure

The first half of El Toro, namely the drop and first 2 airtime hills, is absolutely incredible - all 3 moments provide sustained ejector air.

Kw6sTheater

**This innocent looking hill has the sickest airtime on the planet!

Coaster Critic

Despite its crazy intensity and great ejector air, I found it to rough give a higher score.

Oscar Pinchbeck

The lift hill is quick, the airtime is out of this world, and the ending is furious and not in control.

Amusement Insider

I didnt experience any airtime on those hills, being boring.

Enzo

**Thanks to the prefabricated track, the ride is glass smooth so far and it’s even more apparent during the swooping turn.**

Coaster Critic

It was pretty rough last time I rode it though, but hopefully, the coaster will return from its most recent accident smoother than before.

Justin Ricci

El Toro, while the airtime is extremely powerful, is badly paced, has an annoying rattle, and probably the worst wooden coaster restraints I’ve ever ridden in, that makes the airtime painful.

Eric Esty

I think El Toro is an amazing ride in 2026 and is still one of the greatest coasters due to its amazing ejector airtime and high intensity.

Stratthat

I still love Skyrush to pieces, mostly for said brutality, but I prefer El Toro’s slightly less aggressive but still absolutely insane approach to launching you into orbit.

Heartline Coaster

The rest of the ride I felt the closest I ever had to throwing up or just curling up and suffering (besides Barrels NOT fun).

Sam Valligny

I feel that there is such a thing as too many Gs and this is it.

Steve Dawson

Then it has a super intense turnaround section that packs so much positives before the smaller airtime hills that give even more ejectors.

smacd

I also don’t really care for roughness since it adds quite a bit to the intensity of it!

@mulinhuan8410

the views from on and off, the sound of the wheels scraping on the hills, the speed and thrash, peak.

Alex B

The ending is low to the ground and feels quick because of the terrain interaction.

Amusement Insider

This was an amazing hill because of how fast it went up.

Cindy B

It has great pacing, a very long and relentless layout, and very strong positives actually too.

Lightning Productions

Slightly rougher than it used to be, but not uncomfortably so, and the speed hill and final hill into the brake run are dead-zones, but I think the majority of riders would need those to recover.

Martyn Hunter

It’s a perfect footprint that is very effective. The ride also has a throughput that keeps the line moving at a reasonable pace.

Amusement Insider

The only cons really were the capacity, as they were running 1 train, and that the ride ops essentially stapled everyone, which is however understandable due to the insane airtime.

Penguinos Antartica

Then the capacity is atrocious with one train but it’s okay to ride this masterpiece.

Lightning Productions
Height fear

There was no true anxiety and it was extremely smooth.

Cindy B

It’s super-fast, the fast climb builds up on the anticipation and fear, that drop is near-lethal.

@idogonen3075

Should I ride it?

Organize by

Where to sit

Front of trainBack of train

1
2
3
4
5
6

Car 6, the back: 8 of 10 riders who named a rowFront row: 2 riders

Riders who said why they pick the back: 2 for the airtime.

Specifications

181 ftHeight
230 Nitro 181 El Toro 172 Flash:VerticalVelocity 142 Medusa 130 JerseyDevilCoaster 120 Joker
176 ftFirst drop
215 Nitro 176 El Toro 132 Medusa 122 JerseyDevilCoaster 100 Superman -UltimateFlight 80 Batman TheRide
70 mphTop speed
Nitro80 El Toro70 Medusa61 Flash:Vertical Velo…59 Jersey DevilCoaster58 Superman -Ultimate Flig…51 080 mph
76°Drop angle
87°JerseyDevilCoaster76°El Toro68°Nitro59°Batman TheRidedashed line: straight down, 90°
0Inversions

What riders say

Praised for

Rider favouriteStrong airtimeHuge first dropEjector airtimeIntenseFeels fast

Criticised for

Rough or rattlyPainful or bruisingRider fit issuesToo intense for some

This aptly-named ride starts fast, ends fast, and never has a dull moment.

Amusement Insider, published review

It was digging into my stomach the entire time and made the experience very uncomfortable.

Jlovescoasters, Captain Coaster review

I really think El toro is the most overrated coaster on the east coast I Was a Very disappointed on my back row rides How ever it is my 3rd Favorite coaster at Great Adventure

Thrill time 17th, Captain Coaster review

I’ve ridden this coaster over 100 times to I’ll be as accurate as possible but this is genuinely one of the best rollercoasters in the world.

CoasterKing, Captain Coaster review

This bull doesn’t quit from start to finish, its one of the best coasters in the world.

Amusement Insider, published review

It bruised my upper thighs and shook me around very violently.

Thomas Mackin, Captain Coaster review

Photos

El Toro in 2023
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0
El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure. The only requirement of this license is that you give me credit, otherwise the image is free
Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
El Toro, Bizarro y Rolling Thunder desde la noria
Pablo Costa Tirado (…, CC BY-SA 3.0
El Toro, Kingda Ka y The Runaway Mine Train
Pablo Costa Tirado (…, CC BY-SA 3.0
El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure
Pablo Costa Tirado (…, CC BY-SA 3.0
El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure
Dusso Janladde, CC BY-SA 3.0
Kingda Ka and El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA
Christophe95, CC BY-SA 3.0
El Toro, Sky Ride, and the now-defunct Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in August 2023
Jeremy Thompson, CC BY 2.0

8 photographs. Swipe or drag sideways.

Planning your ride

History and awards

June 12, 2006Opened

A wooden coaster (prefabricated track), built by Intamin, designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel.

Recent issues

  1. August 2022On 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.

Past incidents

  1. June 2021On June 29, 2021, a train partially derailed after the rear car's up-stop wheels - which sit underneath the train and below the track - moved out-of-place to the top of the track.
  2. August 2013After suffering a malfunctioning lift motor in early August 2013, El Toro was closed for several weeks.

Golden Ticket Awards, top wood coaster: ranked in 20 polls, 2006 to 2026

13th2006, its first poll
1st2012, its best placing
3rd2026, most recent
3incidents blamed on the ride

Sources

Restraint types: Captain Coaster. History, incidents and awards: Wikipedia. Height requirement: Six Flags Great Adventure. Specifications and status: Coasterpedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Also read: Captain Coaster (converted to feet and mph). Rider sentiment and performance scores: rider reviews on Captain Coaster, coastercritic.com, amusementinsider.com, heartlinecoaster.com, disboards.com, read and scored by AirtimeFever.

Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Novanut35 at en.wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0), Jeremy Thompson (CC BY 2.0), Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0), Pablo Costa Tirado (… (CC BY-SA 3.0), Dusso Janladde (CC BY-SA 3.0), Christophe95 (CC BY-SA 3.0). Video thumbnails remain the property of their channels and link back to them.

Live wait times: Powered by Queue-Times.com.

What riders love, by theme (themes in the order riders pick them most on Captain Coaster): Christian Ortiz, rider review on Captain Coaster: “Even though it's 76 degrees steep, it legit feels…”; Matt K, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The cable lift is so fast, and that first…”; Michael Causi, rider review on Captain Coaster: “That first drop is the best I’ve experienced, and…”; Jesse, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop has a big difference between the…”; Erik C., rider review on Captain Coaster: “Every single hill in the first half was a…”; Sam Delany, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first two camelbacks and the "Rolling Thunder hill"…”; Keystone Coasters, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The ejector airtime over each hill feels like it…”; Evan Gauthier, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The airtime is unlike any other coaster I’ve experienced…”; Rob W., rider review on Captain Coaster: “This has got to me the most intense ride…”; Brendan Keller, rider review on Captain Coaster: “You get this feeling of "I should not be…”; MapleFlakes, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The twister section is actually absurdly forceful, which is…”; Mike, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It’s just a relay of intensity and rapid fire…”; Josh Ragotskie, rider review on Captain Coaster: “The first drop and following two hills are pure…”; Beau, rider review on Captain Coaster: “I love the wooden jank of El Toro, I…”; Dave Scott, rider review on Captain Coaster: “It has particularly extreme negative G, which when running…”.

The photo slider at the top and the fading stills: East Coasters's back row POV, El Toro POV 4K Back Car 60fps Six Flags Great Adventure, NJ (YouTube), and the page's Wikimedia Commons photographs.