El Diablo

The Home of Woody Woodpecker

itemprop="discussionURL"1

Port Aventura

At the edge of the 4* high-rise Salou, not far from the city of Tarragona and about 100 km from the Catalan capital Barcelona, is the Port Aventura theme park, founded by the English Tussauds Group, which has since been taken over by the parent company Blackstone and therefore operated under the Universal brand. Today the park is 100% owned by the Spanish bank La Caixa.

Furius Baco

When you enter Port Aventura through the official park entrance you will find yourself in the Mediterranean themed area, which is beautifully situated by a lake. Over the lake, the newest roller coaster of the park, Furius Baco, makes its last turn and is looking pretty good. Also the winery, which serves as a station, fits very well into this area. But don’t look at the ride from the position of a passenger.

After you have overcome the queue full of litter, you are divided into a row, whereupon you ask yourself the quite justified question of the seating position, because whether right or left, inside or outside, all seats have their own “driving pleasure” to offer. Shortly afterwards the train starts moving and a pre-show is shown. At the right moment the wonderfully intense launch follows, which is all the more beautiful thanks to the slightly different seating position. After the ascending launch track follows a valley and therefore a lot of airtime on the top of the hill over which you are currently riding. What comes now is absolutely brilliant on the left inner seat in the first row, but on all other seats it is an ordeal of varying proportions. The curves up to the roller are e.g. on the right outer seat with enormous blows, which has nothing in common with the word vibration anymore. The roll is great on all seats and the final curve fortunately follows a large radius and is bearable for the outer seats.

After leaving the station, you arrive at a shop where you can buy wines in style. The ride itself is either absolute rubbish or really ingenious, in between there are basically no other possibilities. The inner left seat is highly recommended, preferably in the first row.

Sea Odyssea

Apart from one station of the park railway and the Intamin Guided Boat Tour, there is not much else to find in this area. Similarly equipped is the highly praised Polynesia area, where you can ride the HUSS Kon-Tiki Wave swing boat and the Sea Odyssea simulator and the Intamin Spillwater Tutuki Splash. The area itself is reminiscent of a large part of the Isla Magica theme park in Seville, beautiful to the eye, but nothing more.

Tutuki Splash

Tutuki Splash, a ride that is often described as very wet, unfortunately turned out to be dry and so the only place to get wet was the area where the water guns at the side of the path were located. Particularly worth mentioning in a negative sense is the chewing gum tunnel before the first drop, which not only looks disgusting but also perfectly reflects the visitors’ level, despite an entrance fee of more than 40€. Considering all points one of the weakest spillwater installations in Europe.

Tami Tami

Formerly part of Polynesia, the Vekoma roller skater Tami Tami now belongs to the children’s area Sesamo Aventura. This area is basically well done and has a good number of suitable rides, which are accordingly well received. The roller coaster itself only makes one lap, which is due to its capacity.

Dragon Khan

Since Sesamo Aventura is a dead end, we will go through Polynesia and take the circular route to the most beautiful themed area of Port Aventura. Passing a Zierer mountain and valley railway in the proven dragon look, beautifully designed tea cups from Mack Rides and a, albeit somewhat hidden, Zamperla Baloon Race, the route continues up the slope to visit the dragon enthroned on the mountain. Dragon Khan is a colossus that cannot be overlooked and has a wonderful layout.

Maybe it was because of the high expectations I had since Parque Warner’s Superman, the really well thought out layout or the general opinion of the ride, but I didn’t think that such a roller coaster could be beaten by the Intamin Wing Rider of the same park.

The ride with its eight inversions could be so good, if the ride would not jerk uncomfortably without interruption. Here the ride comfort equals the driving pleasure. Next door, by the way, a Zierer wave swinger is doing his rounds and luckily it offered a good ride.

El Diablo

Walking down the mountain along the circular route, you will run directly towards the El Diablo Arrow Mine Train. The riding characteristics of this hybrid 0surpass those of the two big steel roller coasters by far and especially the first and the last part of the course is a lot of fun. The nickname “Lifthill the ride” is apt but not disturbing at all. Compared to other European mine trains El Diablo is surprisingly different.

Hurakan Condor

The Giant Drop Hurakan Condor is often mentioned as another highlight of Port Aventura. The drop height of nearly 86m is quite impressive and the view from up there is quite nice, but the actual drop is disappointing. Where the smaller Giant Drops are still intense and Gyro Drop Towers automatically fall more intense due to their larger mass, the fall on Hurakan Condor was rather lax. Also at this ride the behaviour of the guests was again very negative, because they simply spat on the floor of the station.

Templo del Fuego

Not far from the Musik Express Yucatan is the entrance to the Templo del Fuego, a special effects show with a clumsy archaeologist who triggers one curse after another, making the show visitors feel warm and comfortable. The effects are all good and some are quite surprising. In the main room the effects follow one after the other, so it is worth to see the show more often.

Serpiente Emplumada

Shortly before leaving the area, a Schwarzkopf fan should watch out, because otherwise he will miss one of the last built rides of the manufacturer. The ride on a Schwarzkopf sombrero is like a mixture of HUSS Take Off and a polyp, unfortunately the ride is quickly monotonous. Nevertheless, the Serpiente Emplumada is the best ride in Port Aventura and should definitely be honoured with a ride.

Tomahawk

In the western area opposite the HUSS Flipper VolPaiute, which obviously had an absolutely lame ride programme, is the wooden coaster Tomahawk. Unfortunately, the queue moves very slowly on this ride, which is partly due to the fact that only one adult per row fits into the PTC cars. So while you can listen to the wonderful sounds of Vultrix, the coolest animatronic figure ever built, you are defencelessly exposed to the sun. The ride itself is quite funny, offers enough speed and power. It is very well suited for the intended target group and a wonderful entry roller coaster for the amusement park fan of tomorrow.

Stampida

Around Tomahawk, in places also above and below the ride, both tracks of the roller coaster Stampida are running. To get to the station you have to walk through a few metres of queueline, which luckily is very shady here before choosing a side. The waiting area of the blue side is better visible, so that the red side is emptier in the morning. After you have been directed to your seat you can start your journey in the quite comfortable KumbaK trains.

What follows is a wooden roller coaster as it should be and that twice next to each other. The track is long, the speed is high and the racing aspect is very successful. The red side is crawling around a bit before the helix with the encounter of the other train, which happens on the blue side only afterwards, but there with a much higher speed. The numerous gradients are a dream made of wood and the Out of Contol feeling is high. The one or other curve might be a little less brute, but this aspect doesn’t make the track worse than it is. Despite the often and completely trivial criticism of the KumbaK trains, it is damn good.

Silver River Flume

In addition to a carousel, a bumper car and a Break Dance, there are two water attractions in this area. The first ride you will come across is the Silver River Flume log flume offering a very strange course whose highlight is the last drop. The level of wetness is not more than mediocre and the handling is a bit slow, even though there were quite a lot of boats on the way and they tried to fill all the boats properly. Unfortunately also here some things are glued with chewing gum…

Grand Canyon Rapids

The second water attraction in this area is the Grand Canyon Rapids, an Intamin rapids ride with an artificial rock look. Unfortunately, the degree of wetness is only the European standard, i.e. it simply does not exist, which is why the ride was simply not convincing despite all the optics.

Pictures Port Aventura

Conclusion Port Aventura

Port Aventura unfortunately only leaves a picture that can neither make the park look bad nor outstandingly good. The rides themselves are not bad. The biggest point of criticism is that the park was the only dirty one in Spain. Nearly everything is scribbled here, something that shouldn’t be on roller coasters trains. Everything is covered with chewing gum in the most inappropriate places and the litter on the paths and in the queues just shouldn’t be there. Port Aventura also has a big problem with its visitors who often don’t know how to behave or couldn’t follow even the simplest instructions of the staff. Furthermore, Port Aventura is the only park that does not pay attention to the fact that the upper part of the body is covered at all rides and in the park itself, which leads to very unpleasant insights.

 

What is your opinion about the Spanish theme park Port Aventura? Just write it here below the report in the comment field or visit or our social media channels:

 

          

Port Aventura

Visiting Mickey Mouse

itemprop="discussionURL"1

Disneyland Park

Having arrived in Disneyland Park, it feels as if you have been transported back a few decades, since you are now in an American main street at the beginning of the twentieth century. Oldtimers and carriages are waiting for their guests and also the park railway has its main station here. There are also some shops and most of the parade route runs along this path, which is fairly long and leads to the entrances of the remaining four themed areas.

In addition to the tramway we also tested the park railway in this area. It runs along the edge of the park and belongs to one of the more crowded Disneyland Park rides, where you can queue for up to an hour. As we got a good opportunity we didn’t have to wait. The 40 minute round trip is definitely worthwhile.

Fantasyland

If you walk down Disneyland Park’s main street, you are walking towards the landmark of the Fantasyland. The castle, inside which you can see the story of Sleeping Beauty, is not as big as it seems from some angles.

If you cross the castle, you find yourself on a place with a horse carousel – where it was quite difficult to climb the horses –, as well as the two dark rides Pinocchio and Snow White. The second one reminds of a very trippy ghost train, while the journey of Pinocchio was wonderfully staged and belongs to one of the best dark rides of the continent.

Nearby are the Dumbo carousel and the teacups. Two lanes which can show an incredibly long queue quite fast. An influence on the rotation of the teacups is unfortunately hardly possible, but the ride remains a wonderful attraction to avoid a very heavy downpour.

The labyrinth next door shares the same theme as the tea cups. Like Alice in Wonderland, you pass through this somewhat bizarre labyrinth, whose exit is unfortunately quite easy to find.

Peter Pan’s Flight

You can also find the most popular attraction of the park in this area. It is Peter Pan’s Flight, a dark ride with too few scenes and a very bizarre ride system. If you are planning a ride, you should get a Fastpass-Ticket, as this is the weakest ride in the whole park and the capacity is simply too low.

It’s a small World

A little off the beaten track, but always present, lies the wonderful dark ride It’s a small World. Remarkable and somehow strange is the number of boats which give this ride an enormous capacity and very short waiting times. The happiest cruise of the planet should therefore not be missed, even if the music is one of the greatest catchy tunes in the world.

Adventureland

Pirates of the Caribbean

If you follow the paths of the Fantasyland, you will find the entrance to another dark ride in Adventureland. Even the queue is a feast for the eyes, which is rarely trumped. Of course we are talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride using the same boats as in It’s a small World, which leads to a fantastically high capacity among other things. The music is a catchy tune that gets you in the mood for binge drinking. The only point of criticism is the way too loud chain at the lift, but this can be overcome during such a great ride.

The area itself is beautiful, but also unfortunately somewhat underpopulated by rides. Therefore we visited the temple of fear. A very beautifully themed queue prepares one for the following experience. In the station of the roller coaster, we get into the wagons in which we take the route.

Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril

During the curves of the Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril you often get to know the shoulder restraints when you are sitting in the front car. The rest of the track is as great it should be: Intense with a touch of airtime in front of every block brake, which is great for blowing mouse ears into the air. From the outside this Indiana Jones ride also looks very attractive and should be ridden in any case, even if it gives some people a different picture of the manufacturer Intamin.

In addition, you can find a long suspension bridge, some caves and Robinson Cruseo’s tree house – a walktrough where you can queue a little longer –, in this area of Disneyland Park.

Frontierland

Big Thunder Mountain

If you follow the circuit of Disneyland Park, you will at some point enter the Wild West with its landmark the Big Thunder Mountain. The size is trivial, but the ride is as loud as a thunder roll. The Big Thunder Mountain offers a station for normal visitors and fast passers. For this reason it can take quite a long time until the next train appears on your side. The ride itself doesn’t offer many daring curves, but a lot of beautiful straights, strange lifts and cool tunnels. Everything is rounded off by the harmonious and always present theme, which makes the ride together with Colorado Adventure of Phantasialand and El Diablo of Port Aventura one of the best mine trains in Europe.

An attraction that goes around the island and over the first and last tunnel of the roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain is the three-storey steamer. It is recommended to look in the direction of the Big Thunder Mountain, as the surrounding area is beautiful but offers little variety.

Phantom Manor

From the steamer you can see an old manor house. It looks deserted, just like the garden you have to pass through to approach this house. In the house itself one is greeted by strange figures who are able to speak languages that no Frenchman or Englishman would describe as grammatically correct. They send you into a room that turns out to be an elevator with nice pictures on the wall. After you have left this part of Phantom Manor behind, you enter a corridor, which you have to walk along in order to take a seat in your doom buggy. The ride is harmonious and offers a continuous storyline. A scary beautiful melody accompanies you to the cemetery, where it is briefly replaced by the Grimm Grinning Ghosts and you finally come to the end of the ride which is clearly one of the best dark rides out there.

Discoveryland

The final theme of Disneyland Park is Discoveryland, which is largely based on the work of the French writer Jules Verne. As a contrast to this, Star Wars is here too – something that really doesn’t fit in here.

Space Mountain

The Space Mountain hall is a visual feast for the eyes. On its second mission you fly to the supernova and back again. The Columbiad cannon shoots the train towards space and a completely mad route is taken. The cars are similar to those of the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, comfortable and well padded. The launch is noticeable, although not particularly intense due to the location. Inside the building some curves and inversions appear where you wouldn’t expect them. The ride characteristics range from very good to well, depending on the time you get on the ride and how loaded the train is at that time. In any case this is an experience not to be missed, especially as this concept coaster is still unique.

Star Tours

One of the older attractions of this area is Star Tours. A beautiful large-capacity simulator where, starting from an intergalactic airport, you can experience a tourist flight through space. Of course with an inexperienced pilot, who brings you into very risky situations. This simulator is just a cult classic.

Honey, I shrunk the Audience

In the cinema next door you can watch the movie Honey, I shrunk the Audience, a very old 3D movie with some predictable effects. A negative aspect is the poor quality of the image, which takes some time to get used to. Even the cinema itself is not the best due to its flooring, as you can quickly fall if you don’t pay attention.

Autopia

Also to be found in this area is the multi-lane car ride Autopia, which can be controlled very poorly from my point of view. Perhaps it was also due to the fact that I had to drive on the right lane and thus had the steering wheel on the right. However, it could also be simply due to the fact that I am used to drive other things. However, it is a ride worth driving.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast

The last major attraction of Disneyland Park is the interactive dark ride Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast by Mack Rides. In this highly recommended attraction you travel to planet Z to put a stop to the evil Zurg and bring back the energy sources (in the form of batteries) and score some points. Thanks to the rather unfavourable capacity due to all the intermediate stops, a fast pass is definitely recommendable here.

In addition to the submarine attraction, which was closed at the time of the visit, and the mostly crowded ride next door, there is also a musical show theatre in this area, which unfortunately did not host any shows due to the low season and instead showed some cartoon classics.

Pictures Disneyland Park

 

What are your thoughts about the French theme park Disneyland Park? Just write it here in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Disneyland Park