After spending a little over an hour at Sesame Place 30 minutes away, Sam and I were at Six Flags Great Adventure (SFGAdv) for the first time since July 2025. While we did get to ride a few coasters that day including Flash Vertical Velocity for the first time, several others were closed. One of those closed coasters happened to be El Toro.
It had been a few years since Sam’s last rides on El Toro. Every time she visited the park it was either closed that day or for extended periods for re-track work. I was lucky enough to get in a couple of rides back in 2024 when I visited with my friend, Karah. I thought the ride rode good then, but I, like Sam, was looking forward to seeing what all the track work this off season meant for the ride. Spoiler… it’s running better than it has in a while. It’s the El Toro we remember from years ago before all the issues that seemed to plague this coaster season after season.
Riding 3 of Our Favorites
When we arrived at the park a few hours after opening, it wasn’t too busy. This was a Monday, but it was the Monday after Easter. Lots of kids were off for Spring/Easter breaks, so we didn’t know what to expect. There also looked to be a Passover event at that park with several signs posted at the parking booths.
Luckily for us, we managed to get two rides on El Toro right away before the park got too crowded. As the day went along, more and more people did begin to arrive, though. Lines grew longer and caused us to skip out on a few rides altogether Those rides included: Flash Vertical Velocity, Medusa, and Justice League Battle for Metropolis. Also, Batman the Ride was closed. Since we didn’t get to ride it last year, I was hoping for a ride this visit. It’ll just have to wait.
Anyhow, here’s an overview of the rides we did do on three of the parks best coasters, which also happen to be three of our favorites at the park:
El Toro
On the day we rode El Toro three times in three different rows. The park only had one train on the tracks, so operations weren’t at their peak. We didn’t see the second train at all, but I’m pretty sure I saw a few cars of the second train off in the grass by Nitro’s lift hill. I’m sure they’re working on it as it’s still super early into the season. Had the park been running two trains, we probably would have rode this a few more times, especially earlier on.
First off, let me say that the locker addition is a good one. Well, as long as people are actually using them. Without metal detectors, too many people are still making their way onto rides at SFGAdv with phones and even backpacks. We saw it numerous times between El Toro and Jersey Devil. While the metal detectors still aren’t 100 percent, as I saw on Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion the week before, I feel like it’s better than taking everyone’s word.
When it comes to our rides, we did our first one in the front row. Our second came in the back row. Our final ride, which took place later that day, was in the second to back row so we could experience a non-wheel seat. Here are my thoughts on each of those rides:
- Front Row: The weakest airtime of our three rides, but that is to be expected being in the front. I could feel some slight bumps throughout the course, but it was definitely a lot better than I remember from two years ago.
- Back Row: The strongest airtime of the three rides with my butt coming off the seat quite a bit. It was a bit chilly and windy during our visit, so I do think there will be even more whip and speed coming my way when I ride this again in June.
- Second to Back Row: We wanted to try a non-wheel seat for our final ride. The airtime was pretty identical to our back row ride. The ride did feel faster, which would naturally be the case with it running for several more hours at that point. Oddly, I feel like my non-wheel seat ride was more bumpy than the two wheel seat rides. It might have just been me being tired, however. Oh, and my butt was sore after riding El Toro a few times from slamming down into the seat on those airtime hills.
Nitro
Nitro was running two trains, but by time we made our way over, more people had made their way into the park. There was a bit of a line, but nothing too crazy. We probably would have rode it again had we not saw that Jersey Devil had finally opened. Earlier in the day it was listed as temporarily closed on the park app. Instead we did one on each before calling it a day.
Of course we elected to ride in the back row. We were curious to see how much airtime we would get with it being in the low 50’s. Thankfully, it was quite a bit. It wasn’t Mako levels of airtime, but it was still those sharper, shorter pops I’m used to with Nitro. I’ve always loved this coaster and although I do like Mako more after riding it last September, Nitro will always be a favorite of mine. I enjoy its layout and have tons of great memories riding this with friends.
Jersey Devil Coaster
For years I was excited to one day ride an RMC Single Rail coaster. Just ask Greg, he’ll tell you how I wanted one at various nearby parks. Then I rode one and it wasn’t quite as memorable as I had hoped it would be. Not bad, but just nowhere near as good as RMC’s other coasters. To date, however, Jersey Devil is my only Single Rail and I hear how much better the smaller, tighter layouts are.
In the years since Jersey Devil’s installment I feel like it has been a mixed bag. Some visits the airtime hits and the ride is quite smooth. Other times, I feel every track joint in the course and that the ride isn’t aging well. This ride was a mix of both those experiences. I was in the second to last row so I did get some good airtime pops. That yank over the top of the first drop was awesome too. I loved both of those things, but I just don’t enjoy the trains, especially when I’m feeling those track joints clanking under that uncomfortable train. Oh, and there’s still that mini-pot hole jolt that has been there from Day 1 that annoys me. Am I the only one who feels that after dropping out of the first turn around?
Final Ride Counts
El Toro (3)
Jersey Devil Coaster (1)
Nitro (1)
Plans to Return in Late June
I should be making my way back to SFGAdv in June. I decided to make my annual workplace trip to SFGAdv as we haven’t been to the park in some time as a group. I’m eager to see the progress of Project Purple by then, which I did get some photos of in the gallery below. They’re moving along quick.
I’m also curious to see if the late Spring announcement for the new Shoreline Pier section of the Boardwalk addition will be met. If so, I’ll get to ride the former Ragin’ Cajun from Six Flags America (SFA) as Barrels of Fun. It’ll be surrounded by the other flat rides moved from SFA, which will be nice to see still living on. I’ll be sure to take pictures of whatever is open, or still in progress.
In addition to all that, I’ll be looking forward to getting back and riding some of the park’s other coasters. Jen will be going for her first visit, so she’ll need all the credits. Greg should also be joining us and needs a few of the credits too. Fun, fun!
Six Flags Great Adventure Photo Gallery - April 6, 2026
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a