Six Flags Great Adventure · Plaza del Carnaval
El Toro
One of the best wooden coasters on earth — a 76-degree drop and the most violent ejector airtime of any woodie built in this century.
Ride facts
- Type
- Roller coaster
- Height
- 48in (122cm)
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Motion sickness
- High motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Outdoor
- Air conditioned
- No
- Rider Switch
- Available
Last verified July 2026
What it is
El Toro opened in 2006 on the footprint of the park's old Roar woodie and immediately redefined what a wooden coaster could be. Built with Intamin's prefabricated track — engineered beams rather than hand-stacked lumber — it runs glass-smooth where traditional woodies rattle, and its layout spends that smoothness on aggression: a 181-foot, 76-degree first drop and a sequence of hills designed to throw the rider out of the seat.
For most of the two decades since, El Toro has lived in the world's top ten in the major enthusiast polls, frequently top three. Its reputation among people who count coasters is that of a modern classic — the woodie that behaves like a steel ride and hits harder than either.
It is the reason to plan a Great Adventure day. Everything else at the park is a supporting act, and the rope-drop math reflects it.
What riding it is actually like
The lift is fast — Intamin's cable haul, not a chain — so the top arrives before the nerves do. The drop is a wall: 76 degrees means you look at the ground, not the horizon. The train accelerates through the bottom and up into the first airtime hill, and that is where El Toro introduces itself: the lap bar catches you as the seat drops away.
The middle section is a figure-eight of banked turns at speed, each transition crisp because the prefabricated track allows precision wood cannot. Then the rolling hills — the series of ejector pops that make the ride famous, each one lifting, catching, lifting again.
The brake run arrives at seventy seconds and every rider has the same look. Re-ride immediately if the queue allows; El Toro is a ride you understand better the second time, and best of all at night.
Is El Toro scary?
The 76-degree first drop is one of the steepest on any wooden coaster, and the airtime hills eject hard enough that riders rise against the lap bar repeatedly. The ride is short and violent in the specific way woodie enthusiasts mean as a compliment. Anyone expecting a gentle classic woodie should recalibrate before boarding.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Not offered
- Handheld captioning
- Not offered
- Assistive listening
- Not offered
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
Transfer into Intamin-style trains with lap-bar restraints. The restraint is a tight lap bar; use the test seat near the entrance if the rider is at either size extreme.
Tips that actually help
- Rope-drop it and re-ride before the queue matures — the first hour is the whole day's leverage.
- Back car for maximum ejector; front car for the drop view. Both are correct answers.
- Keep the lap bar where the ride hosts set it — riding it lower does not prevent airtime, it just bruises.
- The final hour of operation is the second golden window; the woodie after dark is the park's best experience.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- First hour after open, and the last hour before close.
- Typical wait
- 45–90 minutes midday in season; 10–20 at rope drop.
- line-skip passes
- Covered by a line-skip pass
El Toro: common questions
Is El Toro really one of the best wooden coasters in the world?
By the enthusiast polls that track such things, yes — it has ranked in the world's top handful for most of the time since 2006. The steeps and the ejector airtime are the case, and the prefabricated track keeps it smooth enough to enjoy them.
What is the height requirement for El Toro?
48 inches, with a lap-bar-only restraint. The intensity is well above what the height bar implies — a first-timer at exactly 48 inches is in for a serious ride.
Is El Toro rough?
No — that is the point of its construction. The prefabricated beams make it the smoothest big woodie most riders have ever been on. It is violent in forces, not in rattles.