NJ fan-favorite coaster re-opens at Six Flags but another major ride goes down

🔴 A fan-favorite ride at Six Flags Great Adventure reopens Father's Day weekend

🔴 Another roller coaster, meanwhile, is offline

🔴 The park celebrates Pride Month Friday night

JACKSON — While Six Flags Great Adventure has a number of events planned to start the summer, the biggest news of all could be the return of the El Toro roller coaster.

The ride with the steepest drop of any wooden roller coaster in the world has been closed since a coaster car hit what was described as a "pothole" on Aug. 25. It will reopen Saturday.

"We will offer exclusive ride times both Saturday and Sunday from 9:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. for season pass holders and members. The ride will open to the general public at 1:30 p.m. each day and thereafter," Six Flags Great Adventure spokeswoman Staci Wheeler said.

Department of Community Affairs spokeswoman Tammori Petty-Dixon said that after repairs to the ride were completed by the park to manufacturer recommendations and reviewed by the department's engineers, a permit to operate on June 14.

The ride also passed an acceptance inspection by department engineers and an annual inspection.

Bad news for another coaster

The news is not good for Kingda Ka, the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster, after an incident on June 5.

"The department was notified of an incident occurring on Kingda Ka, involving a mechanical failure of a component of the launch system during the launch of one of the trains," Petty-Dixon said. "Due to this failure during launch, the train did not accelerate to the adequate speed to transition over the apex and returned back through the launch track and to the load/unload station for evacuation. No injuries were reported."

The ride was closed by the department and is currently under investigation to determine the cause of the failure.

The park has announced several special summer events kicking off with Friday's Ride with Pride night featuring guest DJ’s, live performances, a collection of Six Flags pride merchandise and fireworks.

Other planned events for the summer at Six Flags

June 23 – August 13: Flavors of the World Food Festival — Visitors will be able to enjoy food, drink and entertainment highlighting seven countries Friday through Sunday.

July 1 – September 4: Gaming Fest — Visitors who pre-register online will be able to participate in the "ultimate gaming experience" at the park.

July 1 – July 4: July 4th Fest — The park will celebrate the Independence Day holiday with fireworks at 9:30 p.m. each night.

July 7 – August 26: Summer Nights Spectacular — The fireworks continue at the park every Friday and Saturday night

Wednesday, August 16: National Roller Coaster — The park, which calls itself "the World’s Ultimate Thrill Park," offers nine roller coasters to celebrate the "holiday."

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