Will Six Flags Great Adventure’s El Toro Coaster Ride Again in Jackson, NJ in 2022?
The spring and summer seasons are fast approaching, and if you're dreaming of wind in your hair with stretched-up hands and a drop in your stomach as you brave the roller coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure, you'll want to know what's happening with El Toro.
The GIANT wooden coaster, once named the best in the United States, according to NJ.com, experienced a partial derailment at the park in Jackson, NJ late last June and hasn't operated since.
In that incident, El Toro's rear “up-stop” wheel, which keeps the train from lifting off the track, failed and rolled on top of the rail just before the car reached the ride's de-boarding station, NJ.com reports. Thankfully, no one was injured.
That was enough of a cause for concern to keep the roller coaster closed for the remainder of the 2021 season.
But, good news popped up on the amusement park's official Facebook page today. After 'extensive testing, inspections, and state certification', El Toro is scheduled to reopen this spring!
It's an exciting update because that coaster deserves to be back in action. If you're a wooden roller coaster lover, there are few (if any) that offer a thrill ride quite like El Toro, but you've got to be up for the adventure. It stands at just over 180 feet tall which you climb before being dropped down the steepest hill of any wooden coaster on Earth and careening along a more than 4,000 foot track at 70 miles per hour. It's WILD.
Hopefully, all goes according to plan and El Toro will ride safely all the way through summer 2022. Six Flags Great Adventure is set to open April 2nd.