Category: Portugal

Great Shows and a Rapid River

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Zoomarine

After leaving the water park Slide & Splash nearby Lagoa, I reached the animal and theme park Zoomarine around noon. It exists since 1991 and should not be confused with the Mundo Aquático park of the same name near Rome. Like similar parks, Zoomarine is characterised by a large number of shows, so that despite the manageable size of the park, you can easily spend a whole day here.

When I entered the park I knew from the beginning that I wanted to see at least one of the shows, because the entrance fee is by no means low in this park either. Since the show called Flying Colours was supposed to start in about 20 minutes the time was enough to explore the park a little bit. Soon I noticed a peculiarity of the park, because the attractions in the back of the park opened staggered one after the other and so did the only roller coaster of the park.

The parrot show then turned out to be very entertaining, instructive and quite well produced. The transitions were fluid, the story was stupid, but parrots who destroy a flat are just very funny and more or less reflect reality. It’s a bit strange that Zoomarine attempts to deal with the dangers of the shrinking habitat, only to sell some animal welfare bracelets shortly afterwards. Last but not least, the tree that has been impressively chopped down is hydraulically lifted back up into the sky.

In general, animal welfare activists will not be very satisfied with the animal husbandry in this park, so a visit is not recommended for this group of people. The few animals that are shown here in the enclosures, however, have enough space for their needs. The animals shown for the presentations have just as much space in generous aviaries or basins and even the dolphins can have it worse elsewhere with their lagoon. Of course, with the best will in the world this is definitely not ideal, especially as the dolphins’ lagoon can also be visited as an up-charge attraction.

Buffalo Coaster

As a roller coaster, Zoomarine offers small Zamperla Powered Coaster called the Buffalo Coaster. The ride with the Twin Helix layout is beautifully designed and is a lot of fun due to its lateral forces during the two helices; luckily it was only a three laps special.

Harakiri

If you follow the path further on, you will come to a junction where you can either continue up the mountain and see this year’s novelty, or go down to the Harakiri dinghy slide or the almost non-existent rafting, which should open at 2 pm. At that time I had basically achieved my goal, but I decided to take the Rapid River as well. Because the Era T-Rex was not supposed to open for half an hour I took a closer look at the front section of the park.

Aceanus

Passing some animal enclosures I went into the aquarium Aceanus, which is quite inconspicuous from the outside. It is very close to the Sea Life centres, apart from the missing design and the very dark and exclusively blue corridors. The aquariums were all large and well populated, but the highlight here is the huge tank towards the end of the run, which can be seen from three sides. This is where you could spot some sharks.

Era T-Rex

Back in the daylight I quickly looked at the other enclosures before I decided against the pirate-style sea lion show called Wonderland and walked towards the rapid ride. Prior to this, I took a closer look at the tent of the Era T-Rex, which looked rather unsuitable from the outside. The inside turned out to be a quite solid museum with some animatronics in which guided tours take place regularly. Since I didn’t want to wait for the next group I joined another group that was already advanced in the guided tour.

Rapid River

Next, I headed straight towards the Rapid River, whose entrance is located halfway down the dinghy slide. You can only find it through the signs in Zoomarine, but not on the notes of the individual opening hours of the rides, nor on the park map. Nevertheless, the ride was actually open and so it didn’t take long until I was sitting in one of the round boats.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much and the waterfall visible from the outside only looked as if it would, like in other parks, wet the boat a little bit, if at all, by splashes. But as it turned out after the first few meters of the ride, this was a very wrong estimation, because in fact this small passage is enough to wet at least half of the passengers due to the rotation of the boat. The following curvy stretch is then unfortunately free of any rapids and surprises, but nevertheless, the beautiful design and the rather less beautiful foam tunnel provide enough elements to distract you and shortly afterwards to introduce the great finale. The similarities with the dark ride Bubbleworks from Chessington World of Adventures are not to be denied, but the water jets end here all inside the boat. Shortly afterwards the lift and the end of the ride is reached.

The ride, built by L&T Systems, is a magnificent and, above all, wet pleasure which, once you are in the park, should not be missed. A bit annoying is the late opening time of the ride and the resulting time spent at the park.

Zoomarine Beach

Apart from the individual shows, of which I unfortunately didn’t watch any more, you can also visit the small water park Zoomarine Beach and test the two water slides and the large wave pool. In addition to that, the park also offers a 4D cinema with a film about turtles, a nicely designed carousel, a small boat swing and a Ferris wheel.

Pictures Zoomarine

Conclusion Zoomarine

Zoomarine is a park that looks quite expensive in the first place, especially if you visit it just for its roller coaster. However, if you take the time to see the shows, the aquarium and the attractions that open later, Zoomarine is a good park where the price/quality ratio is good.

 

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Zoomarine Algarve

Sliding & Splashing in the Morning

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Preface

When I planned my Something with Portugal tour I knew from the start that it would not be dominated by theme parks or even roller coasters. A little bit of culture and the one or other water park was allowed. As so often in Portugal, the number of such destinations is manageable, but a look at Parkscout helped to find out at least the names of these parks. A little research later the water park Slide & Splash near Lagoa turned out to be especially interesting to start the day there.

Slide & Splash

Banzai

Shortly after the opening I went into the park, changed my clothes and together with some English people I searched for an already opened waterslide. Whilst the other slides were being prepared, I grabbed a mat and climbed up the rather impressive hill for the first time, only to slide down the rather steep section of the Banzai slide on my belly and then hop over the water surface of the landing pool.

Rio Rapido

Right next to the mat slide Banzai is the relatively inconspicuous tube slide Rio Rapido. On this slide you race down the mountain in a straight line. But Rio Rapido wouldn’t be Rio Rapido if the slide wouldn’t have a hill on which – thanks to the pronounced airtime – you are almost thrown out of your tube. Shortly afterwards and after a small jump you reach the landing pool of the slide.

Escorregas Grandes

The Escorregas Grandes start from the highest point of the Slide & Splash water park, seven slides, each with creative names, all of which are characterised by a multitude of curves and jumps. Unfortunately, these body slides are all a bit older, so you can unfortunately feel the joints a bit. Furthermore, the speed of the slides is not high enough to take off during the jumps. Nevertheless, the Escorregas Grandes offer an extremely solid sliding pleasure for the whole family.

Rio Turbulento

The Rio Turbulento is another tube slide that starts at a similar altitude. The beginning of the slide is a credit to its name. Unfortunately, before the final and quite steep shot, there is no speed at all, so that one struggles a little through the channel.

Kamikaze and Tornado

The starting point for the kamikaze slide and the Tornado funnel slide are located on an annex. While Kamikaze precisely reflects what is to be expected, the Tornado turns out to be a rather boring slide. The speed is just enough to make one lap in the funnel and let yourself drift in the direction of the exit by the water jets.

Black Hole

At the back of the mountain, next to the show arena, where a parrot, reptile and bird of prey show takes place, there are also the black hole slides, which I could not test. Two persons are required to ride in the mandatory double rings. Too bad that nobody ever gets around this part of the Slide & Splash water park. In addition, the park was generally very empty.

Pistas Brandas

Next to a spacious restaurant, you will find the small and large wide slide Pistas Brandas. As I have already ridden a similar ride in the Danish Djurs Sommerland, I was very curious to see how quickly one loses one’s footing here and was surprised to find the wettest slide in the park due to the spray coming up during the slide.

Saltos

Nearby are the small Saltos slides, which you should not underestimate. The speed here is relatively high, the jumps accordingly pronounced and at the end the fall into the cool water is waiting. With the right technique, a rollover is possible at least on the left slide, which initiates the fall during a turn.

Pictures Slide & Splash

Conclusion Slide & Splash

Slide & Splash is a really good water park, which is not only nicely designed, but also has a lot of good slides. Due to the emptiness of the park I could slide everything interesting several times, so that the slightly higher entrance fee was definitely worth it. On the way to the next destination of the day, the zoo and amusement park Zoomarine, I also passed Aqualand Algarve, but I skipped this one because of budget and time reasons.

 

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Slide & Splash

A place without magic

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Magikland

On a mountain near the town of Penafiel is Magikland, the country’s northernmost theme park. The calendar of the park indicated an opening time of 10-17 o’clock on the days I could visit, but with the addition of “mediante marcação previa”, which means “by appointment” according to the Google translator. Said and done, and I wrote to the park in English. Shortly afterwards I received the answer that the park was closed on that Monday. A change in my plans and another e-mail later I at least had the certainty of being able to visit the park the following Friday.

After I picked up my rental car at Porto Airport, I immediately went to Magikland, which is barely 40km away, but even this distance was enough to make the underbody of the rented Fiat Panda come loose and start swinging, necessary screws are simply overrated, as well as additional insurance. So my mood was not very good when I reached the park.

While the park management spoke quite good English, the language skills of the other employees turned out to be non-existent. It doesn’t matter, because one is used to it from many other European countries; especially compared to the rest of Portugal, where only the old people didn’t know the language, this is a rather weak performance. There is also a considerable lack of attractions, which had probably only recently been reduced further.

Montanha Mágica

In return, however, there were plenty of school children who actually enjoyed themselves in the park. Especially when queuing for the rides and hence also for the roller coaster Montanha Mágica. The waiting area was very manageable in itself, but it took about half an hour to get past the two short zigzags and stand in front of the station’s turnstile. Apart from the children jumping the queue, this was also due to the very slow speed of the lift.

When you finally get on the train, the train heads towards the lift hill, where you spend some time. In the shape of an eight you now complete the first drop and a subsequent turn, before approaching a longer straight in another right-hand bend. The transition is surprisingly rough, but the straight itself is quite nice due to the increased speed. Another right turn later a camelback is indicated, but it doesn’t ride particularly well. After another bend you reach the braking track of the ride, whereupon you slowly approach the station.

For a park like Magikland, such a ride from L&T Systems is certainly the right choice, especially since it was taken over from the former Bracalândia. However, I don’t really understand how one can let the ride deteriorate like this – despite the existing rush of visitors. The ride is a bit jerky due to the condition of the train, but basically not bad. Due to the long waiting time, however, I didn’t have another ride, be it on the roller coaster or the other sparsely seeded attractions of Magikland.

Pictures Magicland

Conclusion Magicland

Magikland itself is by no means a small amusement park with a rock-solid design. Unfortunately, many corners of the park are simply not maintained or even accessible. Why they tore down their log flume and simply did not operate a small children’s log flume in a closed-off area remains a mystery to me. The remaining attractions of the park are a ghost train, a Ferris wheel, a trabant, a western railway on elevated tracks and a few smaller children’s rides and thus basically nothing that justifies the somewhat higher admission price.

 

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Magikland