El Toro opened at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, on June 12, 2006, and immediately redefined what a wooden roller coaster could do. Standing 181 feet tall with a 70-mph top speed and a 76-degree first drop that borders on vertical, it hits harder than most steel coasters in the same park — and does it on wood.
The key is Intamin’s prefabricated track system, which replaces traditional hand-built laminated strips with factory-machined wooden sections bolted together to tight tolerances. Designed by Werner Stengel, whose portfolio spans Millennium Force and dozens of other celebrated coasters, El Toro uses that precision engineering to carry enormous speed through nine airtime moments without the rattle that ages most wooden coasters into irrelevance.
Quick Answer
El Toro is a 181-foot Intamin prefabricated wooden coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, reaching 70 mph with a 76-degree first drop and nine instances of ejector airtime. It has ranked in the top three wooden coasters in the world nearly every year since opening, placing first in the Golden Ticket Awards in 2012 and 2017.
Stats at a Glance
Park: Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, New Jersey. Location within park: Plaza Del Carnaval. Manufacturer: Intamin (prefabricated wooden). Designer: Werner Stengel. Opened: June 12, 2006. Height: 181 feet. Drop: 176 feet at 76 degrees. Top speed: 70 mph. Length: 4,400 feet. Ride duration: 1 minute 42 seconds. Zero-gravity moments: nine. Inversions: none. Minimum height: 48 inches.
Two trains operate simultaneously, each with six cars seating riders two across in three rows — 36 riders per train. A cable lift hill carries each train to the 181-foot peak faster than a traditional chain lift, and then gravity takes over entirely.
What Makes Intamin’s Prefabricated Track Different
Traditional wooden coasters are built on-site: thin strips of wood are bent to shape and layered up by crews working section by section. It is craft-built and site-dependent, which means small inconsistencies accumulate. As the structure settles and seasons cycle, those inconsistencies become felt as vibration and rattle — the characteristic roughness that many riders accept as part of the wooden coaster experience.
Intamin’s prefabricated system takes a different approach. Large laminated wooden sections are precision-machined in a factory, then shipped to the site and bolted together with tolerances closer to how a steel coaster is built than how a traditional wooden coaster is built. El Toro benefits from this on every run: the track holds its profile consistently, which allows the ride to carry real speed through each hill and deliver forces cleanly rather than in chaotic jolts. Six Flags bills it as combining ‘the aesthetics of a classic wooden ride with the smooth thrill of ultra-modern technology’ — that is not marketing overstatement.
The Ride Experience
After the cable lift delivers you to the 181-foot summit — nearly 19 stories up — El Toro pitches into its 176-foot first drop at 76 degrees. The structure frames overhead as you plunge, creating a pronounced headchopper effect in the early sections of the descent. By the time you reach the bottom, the train is traveling at 70 mph.
What follows is why enthusiasts travel specifically for this ride. A sequence of camelback hills — measuring 112 feet, 100 feet, and 82 feet — produces sustained negative G-forces on each crest, lifting riders forcefully out of their seats in rapid succession. This is ejector airtime: not a gentle floater, but a sharp, repeated shove skyward that catches first-timers completely off guard. Six Flags counts nine of these zero-gravity moments across the 4,400-foot out-and-back layout.
The ride finishes with banked turns and a twisting section before the final brake run. Total saddle time is 1 minute and 42 seconds. The back row amplifies every airtime moment — you get yanked over each hill rather than pushed over it. The front row delivers an unobstructed view down the near-vertical first drop with a half-second of anticipation before the train commits. Either seat rewards the wait.
Awards, Records, and Rankings
When El Toro opened in 2006, it held the record for the steepest drop angle on any wooden roller coaster in the world at 76 degrees — a record it held until South Korea’s T Express surpassed it in 2008. El Toro also held the title of world’s fastest operating wooden coaster at 70 mph for a period between November 2012 and June 2014. Among wooden coasters today it ranks among the top in speed and drop height.
The ride’s lasting reputation comes from the Golden Ticket Awards, administered by Amusement Today and widely considered the benchmark poll in the enthusiast community. El Toro claimed the top spot for best wooden coaster in 2012 and again in 2017, and has appeared in the top three nearly every year since opening, placing third as recently as 2025. USA Today’s 10 Best Awards named it the best wooden coaster in the country in 2022. For a coaster approaching its twentieth year of operation, that consistency at the top of multiple independent rankings is a genuine distinction.
Closures, Incidents, and Track Upgrades
El Toro has had two significant operational disruptions. On June 29, 2021, a train partially derailed near the final brake run. No riders were injured, but the coaster was closed for the remainder of the 2021 season and did not reopen until April 2, 2022. The following summer, on August 25, 2022, a separate on-track incident injured 13 riders when a train encountered a section of damaged track. New Jersey’s Department of Community Affairs subsequently found multiple wooden support columns to be structurally compromised, and the ride remained closed through the end of that season and into 2023, finally reopening on June 17, 2023 after extensive repairs.
Ahead of the 2026 season, Six Flags installed new sections of track on El Toro as part of an ongoing maintenance program aimed at delivering a smoother ride experience. For a prefabricated wooden coaster in its twentieth year of operation, periodic track replacement is expected practice — and the park’s continued investment signals that El Toro remains a priority attraction. It is currently operating.
Tips for Your Visit
El Toro requires a minimum height of 48 inches (4 feet). It consistently draws some of the longest lines in the park, especially on summer weekends and holidays. Arriving at park opening and heading directly to El Toro is the most reliable strategy for a short wait. Late evening in the last hour before close can also see queues thin as families exit for the day.
Seat selection matters here more than on most coasters. The back row delivers maximum ejector airtime — every hill yanks you out of the seat more aggressively the further back you sit. The front row gives you a clear view down the 76-degree plunge with just enough time to appreciate how steep it is before the drop begins. For the smoothest experience overall, avoid the wheel seats — the first and last row of each individual car — as those positions sit directly over the wheel bogies and transmit more vibration.
El Toro FAQs
What is the height requirement for El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure?
Riders must be at least 48 inches (4 feet) tall to ride El Toro.
How long does the El Toro ride last?
El Toro runs for 1 minute and 42 seconds from the crest of the lift hill to the final brake run.
Is El Toro rough or smooth for a wooden coaster?
El Toro is unusually smooth for a wooden coaster. Intamin’s prefabricated track system uses factory-machined wooden sections assembled to tight tolerances, resulting in a ride quality closer to a steel coaster than to a traditionally built wooden coaster. The smoothness is part of what lets it sustain high speed through nine consecutive airtime moments.
What records has El Toro held?
El Toro held the record for the steepest drop angle on any wooden coaster in the world — 76 degrees — from its 2006 opening until T Express in South Korea opened in 2008. It also held the title of world’s fastest operating wooden coaster at 70 mph from November 2012 to June 2014.
Where is the best seat on El Toro?
The back row delivers the most intense ejector airtime, yanking riders off the seat over every hill. The front row offers the clearest view of the near-vertical first drop. Avoid the first and last row of each car (wheel seats) for the smoothest ride overall.
Was El Toro closed for a long time?
Yes, twice. A partial derailment in June 2021 closed the ride for the rest of that season; it reopened in April 2022. An August 2022 incident that injured 13 riders kept it closed until June 17, 2023, following structural repairs. New track sections were installed ahead of the 2026 season and El Toro is currently operating.
Get More from El Toro
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate El Toro, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.