Nitro1118 Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 Pre-El Toro: Arrived at park at 9:50, got dad in with bring a friend free coupon, and as we were walking to fountain rope drops and everyone is off. I RUN through middle of park and arcade, and 3rd person at El Toro! Let me just say this was my first time in PDC, and it looks fantastic. Very nice theming, clean, good atmosphere, and love the beast hovering over it. When I get to entrance, what am I greeted with? "El Toro won't be open for a few hours..." FU*K! Ok, so we run over to KK. IT isn't opened yet, but queue opens at 10:15. 2nd train with people's horn goes off, but brake fins go up, which means breakdown. They let us into station, and we wait for 3rd row on I believe GAK. We were gonna be on 3rd ride. They reset ride, blah blah blah, and it is back up and running. At 11, we are on. This was my first ever pulse launch, and it wasn't very good. Loses tons of intesnity. Anyway, we walk into PDC, and ther eis a line forming for Toro. I didn't see it test, so I thoguht that would be pointless. Asked police guy, he said earliest would be 12. So we walk to Medusa, and ther eis absolutely no one in station. Waited an unecassary 10 minutes for front row, despite 2 train operation and only 2 trains in front of us. These are by far the worst ride op's in park. Anyway, while going up lift hill, something catches my eye.....Toro climbing lift hill with people, and it's only 11:40!! So, after out great front row ride, we run to Toro, and go into the entrance..... El Toro- The queue: Queue started right between first and 2nd set of switchbacks. 10min later it would be out of entrance. The queue for the ride is nice. It has a beach feel to it, with sand, those posters on fence, and of course the ride going right over the queue. The queue is basically 2 switchbacks, and at the end of the 2nd they stop you, and let about a trainload into the station at a time as station is fairly small width wise. It gets HOT in the queue as ther eisn't much shading and no misters. Anyway, while waiting there was a DJ playing decent music, and there was the SF party patrol, which were pretty funny and entertaining. After about 45min wait, we were going up the stairs to the station. The station is MUCH nicer than when it was Viper's station. It is VERY long and cleaned up from its past, along with fans that really cool you down. We went to 2nd to last row, and waited a train to get on.... El Toro- The Ride....Ole! After an hour wait in total, we were finally on the ride. The trains themselves are very nicely detailed, with the bull head on front car, and some nice touches to sides of trains. The wings themselves aren't as bad as I thought, and are between shoulder/elbow. It is more of an armrest then anything else. The lap bars are different than the T-bars....a little bulkier, and fit much better to your body....it fit perfectly with hips/thighs. Anyway, i buckle seatbelt, move up in seat an inch, they staple me with lap bar (not as bad as people say, though), then i move back the inch so I got a tiny bit of space and am comfy. All clear, and we make the 180 degree left turn out of the station. The cars in front of us start to rise upward, and soon we do, too. Click....click....BAM! Once back car is on incline, the train rises upward SO fast!!! It felt much faster than MF's lift. When we were at bottom of lift, Medusa was at middle of lift. When we were at top, the Medusa train was just dropping! Once we get up to top, we make the 180 degree left turn into what is, IMO, the 2nd best drop in the world. Hands up! The first quarter of it is floater, and then it just throws you out of your seat, even if you are stapled. It is pure insanity, and just a taste of things to come. The pullout is very intense with a nice headchopper. We then ride upwards yet again into the first camelback. I cannot speak for front rows, but in back row the pullin to the apex of the camelback is on the line of floater and ejector, while the pullout of the apex is INSANE ejector airtime!! You are literally tossed out of your seat for a good 5-6 seconds throughout the whole hill. Next hill is exactly the same, and for a reference of how good it is think S:RoS at SFNE's 3rd camelback, but even more sutained and at bigger height. And at bottom of the hill are even more great headchoppers. Next up is the turnaround. I was sitting on right side, so the railings and catwalk were both sort of head/side choppers, and very cool effect. The turnaround is extremely fast, very smooth, and the positive and lateral G's are fantastic. Next up is a tall, curving hill into straight drop, which is also fairly intense with some great floater airtime on drop portion. Next up is the small bunny hop, which also gives great floater airtime. The 2nd half of the bunny hop is engulfed in heachoppers. Next is a sharp left hand turn, which throws you to side of trains, and with an insanely close heachopper midway through it. Next is the infamous hill over RT. The airtime on this is insane, and one of best airtime moments I have ever experienced in terms of intensity. The pulout of the hill is interesting, as it is sharp and with the airtime makes you sort of pushed forward. Next is the twister section, which is FULL of heavy lats and positive G's. I can't even really remember it, it was just a blur. Next is the first S-curve, which gives some borderline ejctor in back seat, and 2nd which is gentle, then brakes.... El Toro- The review: For the 1st time since....well, first time in a LONG time, I said "WOW....just wow!" after this ride. For the first time in a LONG time I was blown away by a coaster. It is now sitting in my #1 spot as my favorite coaster, edging out the amazing S:RoS at SFNE, and totally distancing itself from MF and Boulder Dash. While S:RoS has 6 moments of fantastic airtime, El Toro has 4 spots that are better than S:RoS' single best moment (the 3rd camelback). The airtime moments are just amazing. I found the trains to be way more comfy, yet more secure, than MF's and S:RoS', and I like them generally as much as PTC trains. The layout itself is just fantastic, the ride N-E-V-E-R loses speed or intensity. Whenever it is not throwing you out of your seat for 5-6 seconds at a time, the forces of the ride are pushing you down into the seat, and in almost every section of ride there are headchoppers that add to excitement moreso than tunnels do. And for those saying Toro is a "short ride"- I thought it was a little short too from the POV, but when you are on ride it doesn't feel short at ALL. It has every type of force you could want and is most thrilling coaster I have ever ridden for a ride over 20 seconds. It's spice is that it is non-stop intensity, and dragging it out would make it lose some of that experience. To those of you who say it's not a true wooden coaster- You guys have to ride it before deciding this. It is very smooth, but not same smooth as an Intamin mega. It is like Lightning Racer smooth. Because it rides differently on tracks than Intamin megas, it has a little shake to it, but glass smooth. Hard to explain. It uses its wooden structure to its fullest advantage, with headchoppers everywhere. It also has the intensity and out of controlness of a wooden coaster, despite riding very smoothly and no PTC trains. I was buying the it is a steel coastera rguement until I saw it and hear dit making WOODEN coaster noises and when i rode it and felt, for the most part, like a smooth WOODEN coaster. Overall, El Toro is one helluva coaster, and my new #1. It is just intensity personofied, and uses its wooden makeup to fullest advantage. GADV, post-Toro: After my stunning ride, I headed to other side of park. Went into Nitro's queue, expecting a huge line since it was around 1:15, but there was no one there. We waited around 10min for a back row ride....despite riding El Toro right before it, it still was great, and airtime it gives is always fun. We then were tired from heat and left park around 1:45. Overall, great day, and riding KK and Toro in under 3 hours was awesome!
Nitro1118 Posted June 21, 2006 Author Posted June 21, 2006 Nope, riding Voyage this August, though....
coasterbilly Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 people underestimated this thing, i went on it too nick and boy i have the same review, total insanity with NO NO NO letup, it really is riding a bull, Intamin built a winner
dougstanton Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 If this is your second best drop, what is your first?
Nitro1118 Posted June 21, 2006 Author Posted June 21, 2006 MF, only because it is sustained for longer. Toro's drop is far more intense, though.
dougstanton Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 S:ROS is currently my #3. Voyage actually took over my #1 spot, and I will be up there in about 2 weeks to ride El Toro. Hopefully, it can take over my #1 spot again haha. I have Dragster as my #2 which not too many people like. I actually wish that I could put S:ROS over that, but for some reason I love Dragster...I rode it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was just so addicting. Front seat only though....every other row sucked.
tngdiablo Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 I also rode El Toro last week and absolutely loved it. I'll need to ride it and S:RoS again in close succession to decide which of the two is better. Thanks to the ejector air on El Toro though, it has now become my favorite coaster at Great Adventure. However, I rode the Voyage a little over a week before riding El Toro and I can't help but place Voyage over El Toro. Both rides gave me a sense of euphoria and a natural high but Voyage just blasted that feeling to 11 whereas Toro left me begging for just one more hill or one more element to push it past 10. If only Six Flags didn't care so much for safety and ordered trains with buzz bars like they have on the Phoenix. I feared for my life and the lives of everyone on the trains when riding Phoenix, especially those who just barely made the 42" height requirement. For wood right now, I have Voyage, Phoenix, and El Toro at the top, in that order. Phoenix is #2 just because it was insane ejector air without any safety whatsoever. We'll see if El Toro can give me an even better ride the next time I go.
Nitro1118 Posted June 21, 2006 Author Posted June 21, 2006 Make sure next time to wait for a few hours after it's opened to let it warm up, and ride front row/3rd row/back row.
tngdiablo Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 I rode it 3rd row about two hours after it had opened. Not waiting sweetened the deal though!
J.R. Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 If only Six Flags didn't care so much for safety and ordered trains with buzz bars like they have on the Phoenix. Six Flags didn't have a choice in what kind of trains El Toro had. Intamin woodies come with Intamin trains. The El Toro trains are quite a bit different than those on Colossos and Balder, which are more open and don't have the sensors that will reject a larger rider if the lap bar doesn't go down far enough. Given the past incidents involving larger riders on Intamin coasters, you really can't blame them for being extra cautious. The airtime on El Toro is so extreme (based on my night rides) that the snug bars are almost a necessity. I didn't think they detracted from the ride much and at least they don't ratchet down farther while riding. -Janna
Rider117 Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 Phoenix has airtime, but not El Toro airtime. Its like a whole different category.
deguy123 Posted June 22, 2006 Posted June 22, 2006 If only Six Flags didn't care so much for safety and ordered trains with buzz bars like they have on the Phoenix. I feared for my life and the lives of everyone on the trains when riding Phoenix, especially those who just barely made the 42" height requirement. This is soooooo true, my daughter just made it at 42" and she actually almost came out of her seat....i really held onto her! I cant wait to ride El-toro, havent really heard a bad thing about it yet!
tngdiablo Posted June 22, 2006 Posted June 22, 2006 Phoenix has airtime, but not El Toro airtime. Its like a whole different category. Touché. I guess for me, El Toro was doing too much to me all at once for me to properly assess the We'll see how it goes next time I ride.
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