Port Aventura Park



Theme Park:Port Aventura Park (since 2016)
Port Aventura (2004 - 2015)
Universal Port Aventura (2002 - 2003)
Universal Studios Port Aventura
(2000 - 2001)
Universal's Port Aventura (1999)
Port Aventura (1995 - 1998)
Part of the Resort
Port Aventura World
Address:Avinguda de l'Alcalde Pere Molas
43840 Salou
https://www.portaventuraworld.com/de
Operated by:Port Aventura Entertainment SAU

Port Aventura Park in Salou is one of the largest theme parks in the country. It is part of the amusement resort Port Aventura World. Originally planned by a consortium of Spanish investors and Anheuser-Busch, the theme park opened its doors for the first time in 1995. During the construction phase, the English Tussauds Group also joined in, taking over 40% of the shares and the subsequent management. In 1997 Universal Studios took over the shares of the Tussauds Group. This was followed by numerous name changes and the expansion into an amusement resort. In 2004, NBC Universal and Anheuser-Busch sold their shares in the park to the Spanish bank La Caixa, which then held almost 100% of the shares. Since the end of 2009, the investment company Investindustrial has held a major stake in the park.

Port Aventura Park is home to some of the best roller coasters in Europe, such as the wooden roller coaster Stampida or the hyper coaster Shambhala. The park also offers a very large number of family-friendly rides, breathtaking water rides and a large number of worth seeing shows.

Fun Fact #1: The site on the outskirts of the city of Salou was one of the possible locations for the European Disneyland Resort, but was rejected due to the weaker infrastructure compared to the city of Paris.

Fun Fact #2: Originally, a roller coaster similar to the Loch Ness Monster from the US amusement park Busch Gardens Europe was to shape the face of the park. John Wardley of the Tussauds Group, however, was able to prevent this from happening, whereupon the Dragon Khan roller coaster was commissioned.

 
 
 

Highlights of the Theme Park

 




Dragon Khan - B&M Sitting Coaster - Port Aventura Park

 

Dragon Khan

A truly intense roller coaster

 


El Diablo • Arrow Mine Train • Port Aventura Park

 

El Diablo

Lifthill: The ride

 


Furios Baco • Intamin Accelerator Coaster • Port Aventura Pa

 

Furios Baco

A great launch coaster; at least in the front row

 


 

Hurakan Condor

A Giant Drop

 


Serpiente Emplumada • Schwarzkopf Polyp • Port Aventura Park

 

Serpiente Emplumada

A very unique Schwarzkopf ride

 


Shambhala - B&M Hyper Coaster - Port Aventura Park

 

Shambhala

A great hyper coaster

 



Silver River Flume • Mack Rides Log Flume • Port Aventura Pa

 

Silver River Flume

An interesting log flume

 


Stampida • CCI Wooden Coaster • Port Aventura Park

 

Stampida

The duelling wooden coaster

 


 

Street Mission

Cookies and a Dark Ride

 




Tomahawk • CCI Wooden Coaster • Port Aventura Park

 

Tomahawk

A fun wooden coaster

 


Tutuki Splash • Intamin Spillwater • Port Aventura Park

 

Tutuki Splash

The ride that can soak you

 



An afternoon in the Aquatic Park

Port Aventura Caribe Aquatic Park

During a stay in one of the hotels of the Port Aventura World you will have the possibility to visit the main park for an unlimited time during your visit, as well as the water park Port Aventura Caribe Aquatic Park. At least this was still the case in 2011, but nowadays the offer is focused on the new theme park Ferrari Land.

The Aquatic Park was created at the same time as the Hotel Caraibe, but is located right next to the main park. Because the temperatures were quite high and the whole coastal area had a rather unpleasantly warm climate, the urge of the visitors to go to the water park, despite the low season, was enormously high, so that the probability of catching a free lounger was very, very small.

Tifón

The offer of the water park Port Aventura Caribe Aquatic Park is not outstandingly large, but not too small either. The Proslide Tifón slides in the covered part of the park were, to everyone’s surprise, extremely fast and featured a really well-done layout.

Mambo, Limbo and the Barracudas

The bodyslides Mambo and Limbo both feature a nice ride with various jumps, tight curves and an overall good pacing. Unfortunately these slides share the same tower as the tube slides of Barracuda and access to the slides is often blocked by the sliders holding their tubes. The slide down Baracuda is a bit on the milder side, nevertheless it is a nice family adventure.

El Torrente

The park’s El Torrente rafting slide is really impressive, where several people in a boat can reach slopes of more than 90°, thus involuntarily approaching each other, as the boat is not stiff but very elastic. Those who are at least afraid of a bobsleigh run should definitely not get on here, but for everyone else this family raft slide is great family fun – as long as you hold on tightly.

Miscellaneous

The park also has WhiteWaterWest’s La Laguna de Woody water playground, where you can stand under a huge bucket, the beautiful and long Lazy River El Rio Loco, and the wave pool El Triangulo de las Bermudas, with rather leisurely waves and water cannons.

 

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

 

          


Benidorm in a different light

Terra Mítica

The Terra Mítica theme park is located on a hillside above the city of Benidorm on the Coasta Blanca. This amusement park, which is now eleven years old, once bore the subtitle “a Paramount Park”, which was the result of the management of the park in the first years, until the group decided to sell its shares to the Valencia region.

Cataratas del Nilo

After paying your entrance fee, you enter the mythological world through an ancient Egyptian gate and find yourself right next to a lake, around which you will find several thematically related buildings, as well as various statues and a monolith. There are not many rides in this area, so you will find a lookout tower, whose gondola once found its use in the Lüneburg Heath, the children’s log flume Akuatiti and a boat ride, as well as the log flume Cataratas del Nilo from Mack Rides.

The latter ride is rather untypical for a log flume, as the first downhill run is also the big shot. The second descent leads backwards back to the same level as the station, which is located at about half the height of the first slope. The boats appear in the form of an elaborately designed sacrophate, but the rest of the ride is less involved in the theme.

Following the path further up, you will find three entrances to various water basins. In the upper one there are a few benches, in the basin below there are some water cannons and in the lowest basin, best to be seen from the rides La Colera de Akiles, there is the deepest basin where some water toys are available. With the temperatures that prevail during the season, a very useful addition to the offer, so be sure to pack bathing clothes. Furthermore, there are always some possibilities to cool down along the paths.

Laberinto del Minotauro

Further up, you will come across the first major highlight of the Terra Mítica theme park, the Laberinto del Minotauro, an interactive dark ride from the Sally company with individual chaises, as used in Walibi Belgium. The ride itself offers a few metres of route full of elaborate animatronics and scenic images that make your mouth water. Although the interactive aspect unfortunately didn’t work properly, this ride is clearly the best Sally dark ride in Europe and a must ride for every amusement park fan.

Synkope

Another highlight in the Greek themed area is the Mondial Revolution Synkope, which can do much more than a HUSS Giant Frisbee. Although the ride time is quite short, it is much more intense, which is also due to the faster rotation of the gondola. The monotonous turning in only one direction is unfortunately also present on this ride.

Titanide

The suspended looping coaster Titanide used to be called Tizona and was located at the other end of the Terra Mítica theme park in the Iberia theme area, which now only has a show stage and two beautiful bumper cars. Due to the land sales, which have lifted the park out of debt, some restructuring in Terra Mítica also followed, which in the case of the SLC was quite positive. This is now less out of the way and was wonderfully integrated into the Greek theme, and the ride now has an inner courtyard, which is quite positive for one or the other photo opportunity. The ride itself is good for a roller coaster of this type, but could be upgraded immensely by the new train generation.

La Furia de Triton

For the water enthusiasts in us there is the spillwater La Furia de Triton from Intamin, which has two slopes of 10 and 17m. The design of the ride has been successful and if the timing is right, it is the wettest ride in Spain, otherwise the degree of wetness is on the same level as the Cataratas Salvajes from Parque Warner, although the boats displace the water to the side rather than up. If the timing is correct, one boat must be immersed in the pool while the second boat is on a quarter of the lift, the water that manages to hit the gaps between the decoration now floods the boat to be carried on the lift in its entirety.

Templo de Kinetos

If you have always wanted to test a Maxi Motion Seat Simulator from Intamin, you can do so at Templo de Kinetos. The single rows for four people moving have quite a high degree of movement and the film they moved to this year was outstanding, albeit absolute trash. In that sense absolutely recommendable.

Los Icarus und Alucinakis

Next to the wave swinger Los Icarus, which offered a pretty good ride with a beautiful view and a pleasant breeze, is the children’s hybrid roller coaster Alucinakis in Terra Mítica. After the great downward helix first drop, the rest of the track is only oval, but since the ride produced by Zamperla is quite fast, the whole thing is even fun.

Magnus Colossus

After leaving the Greek area, one finds oneself in a Roman fort. Here you can see the big roller coaster of the Terra Mítica amusement park, which can be seen from far away. To get to it, however, you have to climb a few metres, as Magnus Colossus is located at the highest point of the park. The ride, built by the Roller Coaster Corporation of America (RCCA), takes you up one more level and then down again with a double drop. This is followed by a few turns and slopes and there is also airtime until you are released into the brakes after the Big Helix. The ride itself is not bad at all, only the trains are anything but suitable for a wooden roller coaster. The upper body swings back and forth in the last row between bar and backrest in such a way that the whole thing, although you hold on to the provided bar, is not as funny anymore. In terms of ride quality Parque Warners Coaster Express is better, but the ride in Benidorm has the better layout.

Inferno

Passing a few children’s rides, we descend to the entrance of the Intamin ZacSpins Inferno, only to climb the mountain again immediately afterwards. After you have taken a seat in one of the two groups of seats, the ride is already going uphill. What follows is a fun and crisp but short ride, in which you can make your rollover on the last hill or before, depending on the load. Basically the smaller Zac Spin rides are the second part of the bigger brother, but here not braked to death. Concerning the turnovers, I think it could be much more intensive, however for most people the ride is probably good enough the way it is.

El Vuelo del Fenix

Next to the Circo Maximo, another show theatre, is El Vuelo del Fenix, a beautiful Giant Drop by the company Intamin with three tracks and a height of 54m. This tower is in a kind of dead end since the connection between Rome and Iberia was lost. The Spaniards themselves, however, do not seem to be averse to the free fall, as there were longer waiting times here, mainly due to only one open lane.

La Colera de Akiles

If you follow the path now downhill, you will enter the Las Islas themed area. Here you will find not only another show theatre on one level, but also the carousel Mythos and a Mondial Supernova called La Colera de Akiles. The latter ride is the first of its kind I have come across and I have to say I am thrilled. The ride programme is quite well done for a park, only the swing could be a bit higher.

Rapidos de Argos

Furthermore, there are two rafting rides in close proximity to each other, while the Intamin ride is intended to get you wet, the Hafema ride called La Rescate de Ulises functions as a dark ride, which unfortunately was closed at the time of the visit. The Rapidos de Argos, on the other hand, ran without any problems and can wet you quite well, which was mainly due to the continuous waves sloshing into the boat. The concrete channel, as with the park’s spillwater, shines in a strong shade of blue, which reduces the visual impact of the rafting, which in itself is quite beautiful.

Pictures Terra Mítica

Conclusion Terra Mítica

In general, Terra Mítica looks like new paint everywhere, everything is well maintained and clean. Except for the lack of interaction during the interactive dark ride, everything is in more than good condition, the atmosphere in the park is top notch, the dispatch is surprisingly fast and at every corner there are opportunities to cool off, which by the way could not hurt a certain park in Salou. If you are ever in the vicinity, you should definitely visit this park, the airport of Alicante is not far away.

 

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