Yucatan

A visit to the Crazy Horse

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Cavallino Matto

After staying in Rainbow Magicland near the Italian capital for almost too long, we reached the Tuscan amusement park Cavallino Matto at 4 pm on time. To my own surprise, the visit was a little cheaper thanks to the afternoon ticket and free parking.

In a good mood we went straight to the park of the Manfredi family, who have owned the Crazy Horse, Cavallino Matto, since 2006. However, the park was founded as Parco Gulliver as early as 1967, and was more a playground with pony rides and mini-golf than a leisure park. In the 1990s, more and more larger rides, such as the Colorado Boats log flume, moved into the park. However, the park didn’t gain in attraction until the Manfredi family took over and expanded it.

Rock ‘n’ Roll

I did not become aware of Cavallino Matto until 2012, and thus certainly earlier than most amusement park fans, when the Swedish amusement park Liseberg had its old Rock ‘n’ Roll monster from Schwarzkopf replaced by a brand new one from Gerstlauer, which in turn moved the old one to Tuscany. Here it was given a new environment, whereby the old theme is still used musically. In contrast to the comparable ride in the French Nigloland, the ride here is also very easy to turn thanks to the lack of partitions between the seats, which in combination with the general duration of the ride made for an all-round successful ride.

Topo Zorro

Opposite it is the children’s roller coaster Topo Zorro, a rather rare variation of the Italian long runner Brucomela with a helix instead of a straight downhill run. In contrast to the C&S-built ride Tren de Potosi from the Spanish Isla Magica near Sevilla, the waves in the upper part of the ride are quite round, which unfortunately makes the ride a bit less exciting.

Shocking Tower und Yukatan

Just a few metres further on, the first end of the Cavallino Matto amusement park is reached, where two rides venture beyond the ever-present treetops in a larger square. While the 55m high Shocking Tower from Soriani & Moser easily manages this, the gondola carrier of the Technical Park Typhoon Yukatan only reaches beyond the treetops in full swing. This makes the otherwise rather tame ride a very exciting experience.

Project 1

Passing a children’s driving school, as well as the Baia dei Bucanieri – a splash battle of SBF Visa – in whose courtyard the ship swing Nave Pirata is located, we went to the formerly largest roller coaster of the park: the L&T Systems ride Project 1. Here we also came across the exemplary handling of the park for the first time, according to which the train is sent onto the track immediately with enough passengers or after a certain time interval with only a few willing passengers. Especially on empty days this ensures sufficient rides on all relevant rides without having to pay attention to eventual closing and opening times.

The ride begins with a right turn towards the lift hill, which takes you up to the maximum height of 16m at a fairly leisurely pace. In a shallow right turn above the tree tops, you slowly but surely head towards the ground. Here you immediately pass through a long valley, after which you make your way to the sky with a similar gradient as you did on the descent. This also happens in a right turn, but the tree tops can only be seen from below. A smaller slope takes you to the other side of the ride, but there is now an uphill bend to the left. Parallel to the lift hill there is now another drop, whereupon the station is crossed in another left turn. This is followed by the last descent and a final bend, until the nice, but not necessarily exciting, ride in Cavallino Matto ends.

Wild Mine

Also from here it is only a few steps to the next bigger attraction, which for us was not the nicely designed dark ride Safari Adventures, but the wild mouse Wild Mine, also from L&T Systems. The ride is similar to its counterpart from Mirabilandia, but a bit smaller and has two hairpin bends less. Thus, the upper part of the ride goes through only five serpentine curves just before the funny interplay between steeper gradients and further hairpin bends starts one level below. Due to lack of space, the two successive gradients are slightly smaller, but this doesn’t hurt the funny mouse, especially since we didn’t have to wait an hour or rather a second for the ride this time.

Speedy Gonzales

Directly next door is the small roller coaster Speedy Gonzales, which we also knew from Mirabilandia. However, it seemed to be bigger there. Instead of just one lap through the layout of a simple figure of eight, the train set made its guided way over the track twice.

Colorado Boats

In addition to an electric horse-riding track and a 4D cinema, this area of Cavallino Matto also features the large, apparently home-made, Colorado Boats log flume. After leaving the station, you can take a little boat ride through the canal before you reach the first conveyor belt which takes you up to the top. Shortly after that the first shot is taken, whereupon the contact with the cool water is immediately established. Although the run-out area is very short, the boat glides very smoothly into the next curve whereby the speed is somewhat slow. No wonder that it is forbidden to change the natural speed of the boat. Of course we followed this advice written in German with pleasure and so we bobbed with the boat through the further course of the channel. A short time later we reached the second lift and thus the second and also biggest shot of the ride. Now the return to the station could be done properly moistened, but since no photo of the ride has been taken yet and this should best be taken during a descent, we climbed a hill a third time, but this time a remarkably small one. Fortunately, this hill is quite harmless and the boat trip through the forest ends shortly afterwards with a sufficiently pronounced degree of wetness.

Freestyle

On a brand new site, separated by a small public road, the newest and largest roller coaster of the Cavallino Matto amusement park rises to the sky. Although the Freestyle roller coaster is considerably older than any other ride in the park, the former Sky Rider from Canada’s Wonderland has attracted the park’s attention in all the forums. Almost like in 1985, the construction of the Stand-Up Coaster was eagerly awaited, which is the second ride of this type in Europe next to the Shockwave of the English amusement park Drayton Manor. Moreover, it is the only larger roller coaster of the Japanese manufacturer Togo in Europe, which is all the more reason to make a pilgrimage to the small, friendly amusement park in Tuscany.

While on most roller coasters the experience starts with the ascent of the lift hill, the access to Freestyle is already quite adventurous. Admittedly I didn’t understand the whole procedure at the first run, especially as the shoulder bar waistcoat couldn’t be opened completely, but this improved steadily from ride to ride. And actually it’s quite simple, because you only have to pull the nipple through the flap and turn the small crank to the top, then you see an arrow and press on it and it opens or closes. Actually you only have to push the loose harness forwards. But hopefully the person to your right doesn’t do the same at the same moment (which is very likely). When the harness is opened, place yourself onto the seat, close the harness and adjust the height of your seat. The seat is then locked in position and if necessary readjusted by the staff. The staff must be praised for their quick reactions and for allowing even a mentally handicapped and partially paralysed boy to ride in the course of the day.

As soon as the train has been cleared, you can take the lift up to a height of 27m at a leisurely pace. Up there, you take a turn above the green of the forest. In a curve you pick up more and more speed before you plunge down to the ground without hesitation. With extraordinary strong pressure you pass the first valley and immediately afterwards in a similar manic way the loop of the ride. After that you pass the following valley without any regard to losses before the train rushes up a camelback. Here you take off the floor in the front part of the train. However, with the best will in the world, the madness is not over, because the train now pushes through a narrow downhill helix, which is equipped with immensely high pressure. The now compressed legs are brought back into shape on the following hill by the negative forces; but the madness still continues. On a supposed straight line the train is now tilted to the left before it uses a right turn as a turning manoeuvre. Two and a half small hills, which get bigger and bigger towards their end, are the finale of this exciting ride. With the last hilltop the braking distance is reached and after another curve also the station, where you immediately feel the urge for another round.

The Stand-Up Coaster Freestyle is certainly one of the most intense roller coasters in Italy and also in Europe. The way the roller coaster stresses you in the helix is insane and almost uncomfortable, but in combination with the airtime moments during the ride it is extremely worth experiencing. If you can thankfully do without taking off on the first drop, then a ride in the front part of the train is recommended. Unfortunately, the ride characteristics are not the best, but the safety bars are almost negligible because they hardly touch your body; that’s why Dominik, who was rather displeased with the excellent Invertigo from Movieland Park, wanted to take one lap after the other, while one or two laps less would have been enough for me. But one can also be infected by such a passion.

Pictures Cavallino Matto

Conclusion Cavallino Matto

Cavallino Matto was the most sympathetic amusement park on the tour, so despite only two hours in the park we really had a lot of fun here. All in all, we had quite a few repeat rides on Freestyle and were able to ride everything without any problems due to the good waiting time management; only the strict approach to the Yucatan swing prevented a final ride on the stand-up coaster, which we had grown to love until then. So the ride just above the tree tops was the crowning glory of the tour through beautiful Italy.

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Cavallino Matto / Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 6

Under Shock in the Rainbow Magicland

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Rainbow Magicland

The Rainbow Magicland is once again one of those theme parks designed on the drawing board, where the initially expected visitor numbers cannot be linked to reality and will probably never come together in the future. The operating company Alfa Park probably had similar experiences with Miragica, which opened two years earlier, so that some projects were probably saved from realisation. In 2011 the theme park, which is based on children’s series by the Italian animation studio Rainbow, opened and what looked very promising from the vastness of the Internet already turned out to be untenable by visitor reviews in the second year of operation of the park.

I don’t like to hide the fact that Rainbow Magicland lives up to its bad reputation; after all, we expected nothing less. As soon as we enter the car park, the previously consolidated picture is confirmed, as a large part of it has been taken over by nature in the meantime. But that doesn’t matter, because you can’t expect visitors here anyway, so without hesitation we went into the park to let the playful, meanwhile very run-down decoration take effect on us. While the Cinecittà World has been built with quality in mind right from the start and the park looks as if it had only opened yesterday, Rainbow Magicland looks like a fairytale park opened in 1970; only with the one, but very fundamental difference that in an old fairytale park there is often a very high level of attention to detail.

Shock

But what the park hardly lacks is an extensive range of rides and so we headed straight for the launch coaster Shock, built by Maurer. With its unparalleled forest of pillars and the very present location directly at the central lake of the Rainbow Magicland, the ride is an extraordinary eye-catcher, which in combination with the very impressive water spectacle forms a harmonious ensemble.

The trip begins with a short dip out of the station. This is followed by several ascents and descents in a slight serpentine movement, which are all interrupted by a short block brake section in between, probably simulating the darkride part of the ride. After having passed this unharmonious curve, the car falls down another slope and is accelerated in the following launch section. The car then goes over a hill in which it takes off quite well before it hits the ground for the first time from a lofty height. Very powerful and with a breakneck speed you cross the following valley. The main element of the ride is the non-inverted loop, where you shoot up a loop, but without standing upside down. On the top of the hill you experience another airtime moment of the very first order, just before the car bends to the left again and plunges into the depths. At the lowest point of the ride you experience once again an exemplary power play, which is soon topped by a brilliant steep curve. After a curvy ascent you reach a block brake and lose some energy, so that the next curvy shot is quite comfortable. In a light Bayernkurve a long corkscrew is introduced, where you are allowed to hang in the bar a little bit before the braking distance is reached.

Shock surprised! Especially in comparison with the other X-Car Coasters the ride is convincing all along the line. Here, the bar does not pull on the body unpleasantly during the ride and exceptionally allows a very free ride without the urge to leave the ride on the fastest way. The curve radii are also very wide, so that the massive car hardly feels the need to bump over the track. The strong forces and distinct airtime make this ride the best roller coaster of Rainbow Magicland and one of the better ones of the country.

Isola Volante

In the immediate vicinity, the Vekoma Sky Shuttle Isola Volante transports its passengers towards the sky, while the view of the park, car park and the nearby designer outlet Valmontone is not very exciting; however, the technology itself is worth experiencing, above all because of the easier implementation compared to the competing product.

Planeta Winx

Rainbow’s most famous children’s series is probably by far the Winx Club, which was primarily designed for little girls and even has its own magazine on the magazine shelves here in Germany. Although the Castello du Alfea, a large building complex with a 4D cinema, is dedicated to the series, halfway to the artificial castle is the dark ride Planeta Winx. Similar to the Disneyland classic Peter Pan, you fly through the series’ sceneries. The ride itself is nicely designed and from time to time you will meet the main actors of the series, who always introduce the scenes from their element.

Bombo

Directly opposite is the roller skater Bombo, part of the series Monster Allergy, a co-production with ZDF, which runs on the Kinderkanal and has no special drawing style; accordingly, the standard model from Vekoma fits in quite well. After a short bend and the following lift hill, you immediately take a steep bend with a subsequent upward helix to the left, complete a short valley and then go through a wide right bend near the station. Over a hill you cross the course of the track that has just been cleared, whereupon you descend a little in another helix. A left turn follows, whereupon the braking section is waiting for you. After one lap the ride is already over. Despite the modern train, the driving characteristics are not the best.

Maison Houdini

If you follow the tour, after a few metres you will come across the Maison Houdini, a modern witches’ swing from Vekoma, which, for whatever reason, was built underground. The main building, as it appears, contains only the preshows of the ride and the lift that takes passengers downstairs. A few meters further on, there is a second building in a similar style, which contains the lift, which transports the passengers back up. In between there is a square with skylights and ventilation shafts, under which the actual ride is located. Since the ride opened quite late we could not test the Mad House; the idea of the underground attraction is great, but the implementation is space consuming and probably also quite cost-intensive, the gained space also defies any logic and aesthetics.

Amerigo

Adjacent to this is the children’s area of Rainbow Magicland, which belongs to the second type of modern children’s paradise in amusement parks. Compared to the nicely designed areas in Gardaland or Port Aventura, everything here stands quite naked on a concrete slab. In doing so, an attractive overall design as well as any vegetation was avoided. Unfortunately, the local Big Apple Amerigo was not supposed to open until late afternoon, so that we had to do without a ride in order not to throw the rest of the day overboard. I don’t really know why this simple children’s roller coaster is the only ride in the park that opens so late.

Mystika

Past the Battaglia Navale, the nicely designed Splash Battle by Preston & Barbieri we went to the freefall tower Mystika by SBF Visa. This Italian manufacturer is known for its toddler roller coasters and lots of junk, which is mostly ordered by park managers without any experience; the best example is the Ankapark (Wonderland Eurasia) currently under construction near the Turkish capital Ankara. Also in Rainbow Magicland they probably wanted to offer a big freefall tower, but at the same moment it was not allowed to cost anything. Otherwise the tower with a total height of 70m, of which at least 50m already serve as braking distance, cannot be explained. The drop itself is bad, in addition there is a very unpleasant restraint system installed.

Cagliostro

With the right seat you have at least a view of the two neighbouring roller coasters, whereby the entrance to the spinning coaster Cagliostro is closer. Admittedly, you can’t see much from the spinning coaster outside the abstractly designed hall. Inside, too, you’re really only looking at darkness, although all efforts in this respect were ruined by the outside turn.

After the lift hill and the already mentioned detour out into the daylight there is a steep curve towards the hall floor after a gently descending straight section. Hereupon the car shoots up an Immelmann turn, whereupon the following valley and the ascent to the block brake is made in a wonderfully sweeping S-curve. After the block area, however, not much happens. Over wide curves you cross the whole hall and then approach the ground. In pure zigzag manner a straight section is taken, whereupon you are again at the front end of the hall. After another short curve you reach the second and larger lift hill of the ride, which brings you back to the station level.

Cagliostro is a nice spinning coaster, at least in the first part of the ride, but then it loses all inspiration and comes crawling towards the end of the ride like no other coaster of this type. Probably a more elaborate design with larger scenes was intended here, because there is still enough space in the hall, but without all this the ride with this layout is quite senseless and not very exciting.

Huntik 5D

Right next to the Gran Teatro, where the musical Romeo & Juliet by Gérard Presgurvic is shown in a 35-minute performance, is the dark ride Huntik 5D, based on the series of the same name. As seekers, we join the team around Dante, Lok, Sophie and Zhalia to fight against the organisation. For this we use guns to shoot our way through elaborately designed scenes with successful animatronics and well embedded screens through hordes of titans. What is confusing, however, is that our team also uses titans and these appear on the screens at the end. If you are not familiar with this series, this is rather unnecessary, as it spoils the otherwise perfect impression. The series reference is very well done, but you don’t have to know the series to enjoy this great shooting darkride from Alterface. Huntik is definitely the best ride of the Rainbow Magicland and one of the best dark rides of this kind in Europe.

Yucatan and Le Rapide

At least from the outer facade, the Spillwater Yucatan presents itself to its passengers on an equal level. With its two shots, the water ride is one of the driest rides of its kind in Europe; however, there is something for the eyes, especially during the second turn. If you want to get wet, however, you are in good hands at the neighbouring Rapid River Le Rapide. Here too, the design is impressive, which is why the ride is one of the best of its kind in Europe.

L’Olandese Volante

The last remaining roller coaster is the L’Olandese Volante, i.e. the Flying Dutchman; appropriately built by the Dutch roller coaster specialists Vekoma. The ghost ship flies noticeably and now even with VR glasses over the track of the standard model based on the prototype Calamity Mine of the Belgian amusement park Walibi Belgium.

The ride begins with a right turn and the following lift hill, which unfortunately takes you up in a very straight line, just like in Gardaland; nothing remains of the accentuated cross slopes of the original in this version. At the top, the train immediately throws itself into a left helix and alternately into three 180° curves before reaching the first intermediate brake and the second lift hill. This hill is also passed just as trivially as the first one. At the highest point of the track you cross a short hill and immediately approach the ground again in a wide right helix. In a left-hand helix you build up again in metres of altitude before you take it down again in another downhill helix. After a further left turn, you immediately reach the braking distance and shortly after that the station.

When Rainbow Magicland and Vekoma were looking for a way to square the circle on this ride, they succeeded. There is simply no other way to explain this bumpiness – unusual even for the manufacturer – which the train reproduces to its passengers over the entire track length. Well, even Mammut in Gardaland was not really smooth, but L’Olandese Volante simply tops everything in this respect. I have rarely ridden such an unpleasant roller coaster, which is why I really have to advise against a ride on this coaster.

Pictures Rainbow Magicland

Conclusion Rainbow Magicland

The Rainbow Magicland blinds like no other park with its opulent, but already quite disintegrating facades, but it can also show some rays of hope. Apart from the dark ride Huntik 5D and the roller coaster Shock, Rainbow Magicland lacks some highlights that encourage you to take more than one ride. With the extremely ugly children’s land and the Big Apple, which was closed until late afternoon, the park also offered a low light par excellence. It is no wonder that the park is the way it is.

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Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 6 / Magicland

A lot of bling about Shambhala

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Port Aventura

After the Spanish resort Port Aventura, consisting of four hotels, the water park Port Aventura Caribe Aquatic Park and the theme park Port Aventura Park, was bought by the Italian Investindustrial from the Bank la Caixa, a lot has happened on the outskirts of the tourist city of Salou. Long overdue investments in the area of amusement park maintenance, as well as the expansion of the water park, bear witness to this, as do new investments in the coming years.

Compared to the last visit the amusement park Port Aventura Park was in a much better condition, which was mainly due to the only slightly scribbled trains and queues, as well as a much higher level of cleanliness in the park. But the view of the queue was clouded, after all the express entrance was used most of the time.

Although the purchase of the Express Premium wristbands was not profitable at all on the first day, after all there was a waiting time of 0 minutes at most of the attractions, it proved to be a necessary investment on the second day to avoid waiting for an average of 90 minutes. The advantage, with a few exceptions, to always pass the queue without waiting and to get your turn right away was actually worth the money, even though the 15 minutes waiting time at Dragon Khan seemed like half an eternity.

It would be wrong to say that the system is fair for everyone, but at least it is affordable for everyone. The situation is different for the food, which is simply not affordable. By not selling single tickets, you save yourself too much of a crowd at the express queues, and in addition, as a normal day passenger, if not too many people pay the extra cost of a one-way trip in the first row, you have an increased chance of a seat in that very row.

Stampida

If you stay at the Hotel Gold River, you can enter the spacious western area through its own entrance and enjoy the slightly different view of the dueling wooden coaster Stampida. Although the two tracks usually run parallel to each other, the middle part, introduced by a tunnel each, is completely different. In this part the two tracks meet each other, which is a great effect, which is sometimes enhanced by the small wooden coaster Tomahawk. The racing effect is quite distinct, which is mainly due to the well calculated track. However, the two trains should have about the same weight.

As the tracks of the ride are almost continuously bent in the wrong direction, the ride is quite special and mostly of the rougher kind, which is what a wooden roller coaster should be. The used trains are not disturbing at all, even if the bar sometimes closes quite tight.

Silver River Flume

Passing a merry-go-round, a bumper car and a beautifully designed break dance, we immediately arrive at the entrance of the Silver River Flume log flume, one of the best and strangest rides of its kind. Since you can wait here for half an eternity in a full queue, despite the very large capacity, it was always a pleasure for us to take a seat in one of the boats through the Express Pass entrance and without any waiting.

After leaving the station, the first lift hill is reached within a few metres. The following shot brings you up to the plateau on which a large part of the track leads and where the El Diablo mine train shows up from time to time. After the front side of the boat has been well moistened, a short time later a second lift takes you up to the top of the trees. Through the second slope, which now prefers to soak the rear part of the boat, you get back down to the plateau only to cover some more metres. Here you are float around for a longer time and even start to wonder how long the track actually is. Then you climb another lift and after a short turn you can start the impressive, but not wet, final. Back at ground level the track leads to the exit where you get out more or less drenched.

Furios Baco

Over a bridge with artificially attached rivet heads and along the Grand Canyon Rapids ride, which is unfortunately hardly worth mentioning although it is rather stylish, the path takes us towards the entrance area of the Port Aventura Park, where, apart from some transport rides, the catapult launch coaster Furios Baco is located. The prototype of the Wing Rider Coaster, which is definitely worth seeing, is a real wonder bag in terms of theming, but also in terms of ride characteristics. Notoriously and quite rightly the ride is considered to be a shaking machine of the more extreme kind, which at the time of our visit also cost Martin his mobile phone.

However, Furios Baco is quite rideable, as long as it is in the first row on the left inner seat, where the vibrations of the train vanish into thin air in an interesting way and the best launched coaster from Intamin shows up. It looks different on almost every other seat, where the pleasure is on a rather medium level or is only felt by people with a sadomasochistic disposition. But what is always in common is that the straight sections of the track are absolutely brilliant and the direct gradient after the launch creates a lot of airtime. No matter how much you are shaken in the curves, the Inlinetwist always provides a short moment of joy, even if another curve is passed immediately afterwards. After all, the train then goes into the final brakes and the rapid ride comes to an end.

Furios Baco is without equal a very brute roller coaster, but a very interesting and fun at the same time. The launch and inversion are rarely found in this form and should be tested during one or more rides. The storyline at the attraction is original and just as bizarre as the range of the too experienced ride characteristics. The rear part of the train on the right hand side is indeed the worst possible seat, which makes the ride oscillate strangely between “absolutely brilliant” and “absolute nuts”.

Sea Odyssea

The Sea Odyssea simulator shows similar behaviour, whereby a strong distinction must be made between the theme and the film currently running. The hardware in Port Aventura Park, as well as the general design of the ride, is on the highest possible level, but the software, i.e. the film, is no good here. Why of all places in an amusement park with a multitude of roller coasters a 4D film with a roller coaster is shown, although a water roller coaster is still missing, remains a big mystery, just as why the film, whose preshow is still shown before loading, was stopped a few years ago.

Tutuki Splash

In addition to the Kon-Tiki Wave ship’s swing, as can be found in Flamingoland, and a small children’s train, the Spillwater Tutuki Splash also shares the area known as Polynesia.

If this ride is not running at its best capacity, there is a real chance of getting wet, and this in a rather nasty way. If, however, the best possible capacity should be run, due to the high rush, then on the one hand you get a cold while waiting for the return to the station and, apart from a few drops, you hardly get wet due to the two slopes, but with a little luck the water cannons are occupied in this case.

After you have been assigned to a row in the double loading station and have boarded your boat, your journey starts quickly. After a few meters of distance you find yourself inside a volcano, whose ceiling is covered with chewing gum. After passing a second, interestingly less glued tunnel, the first shot follows. Unfortunately you hardly get wet, but this can change very quickly when you climb the first lift hill. If at the same moment, when the boat reached the beginning of the lift, a boat shows up on the slope of the second descent, you can assume that you will be showered properly from the side in the next moment. But the level of wetness is less than when the same thing happens at the spillwater La furia de Triton in Terra Mitica, Spain, where you actually get soaked down to your pants. Either you continue to climb the lift hill dry or now refreshed and moistened. Afterwards you will race towards the double drop in a turn. The double drop, however, is not quite as smooth and basically only ensures that no big waves are formed during the subsequent splashdown which could cool down the spectators on the bridge from the exit of the ride. During this drop you get at least a little wet, so that the trip can be worthwhile even without the wave from the falling boat. The subsequent shower from the cannons will then make for smiling faces on both sides.

Dragon Khan

Since last year, you can reach the two big coasters of the Port Aventura Park much faster than before through the children’s area Sesamo Aventura. At the same time the way allows completely new perspectives on the roller coaster Dragon Khan, which is now incredibly photogenic and brings movement into the picture due to the short handling time.

Although Dragon Khan was long considered to be the worst steel roller coaster for me, a lot has happened to the ride since my visit. Not only does it shine in a beautiful new colour scheme, but the ride has also not been affected by the neighbouring construction site. Without sand on the tracks, the ride still runs very brute, but this is due to the continuously high forces, which are generated by the clearly too high speed. Dragon Khan just races down the track and is not really regulated, which doesn’t really help when the block brake is released, but makes for an interesting driving experience.

After the train has climbed up the lift, after a short bend, the way goes downhill. Meanwhile the train experiences positive forces for the first time, which it doesn’t really want to give up until the block brake. Shortly before the valley you get a little bit wiped from the right and left side, which affects the ride a little bit, but supports the overall picture of the ride. Full speed ahead you go up the loop, the top of which is not at all reminiscent of a hangtime. Shortly afterwards you pass a diveloop, whereupon the hardest element of the ride awaits you with the Zero-G Roll, whose name should have a much higher number. It is easy to get in contact with the restraint during this inversion. By means of a Cobra Roll you make a turn above the final brake only to take the drive up into the block brake with full speed, which of course does not brake you, but releases you rapidly into the next curve. The following loop is much more powerful than its big counterpart within the track. Through a turn you screw yourself to a higher level and then you are turned upside down by two interlocking corkscrews. Shortly afterwards you reach the final brake and can finally take a deep breath.

Dragon Khan is one of the few rides that really demands a lot from its passengers without harming them, as long as you’re not that crazy and try to ride it permanently. Although the inversions elsewhere are even more powerful, it is the length of the track that makes the ride very stressful.

Shambhala

In the background, and unfortunately not so photogenic, the latest roller coaster Shambhala towers up. The Hyper Coaster from Bollinger & Mabillard is only the second ride of its kind in Europe, but it mercilessly lets the first, and previously highest roller coaster in Europe, sink into oblivion. Silver Star had never been a real danger to other comparable roller coasters, but Shambhala is.

The experience does not have to start positively in order to end positively. Therefore, it is advisable not to be served by certain persons when the train is being handled and to close the hanger properly from the beginning. After a short bend, the train climbs up quickly, with a much better view on the right side of the train, unless you want to look down on ugly hotel complexes and a construction site. Shortly afterwards the train descends rapidly down the 78m slope, where you have lost most of your contact with your seat, and then descend into a tunnel underneath a magnificent head chopper. This is followed by a high but hardly eventful hill, on whose descent, however, airtime appears again. The turning point is the highlight of the ride, even if the banking could be more pronounced at the top. The supports offer great head chopper effects, but these are more pronounced in the right part of the train. Back in the valley you pass a much too low speed bump and are lifted out of your seat with unusual force. Another, quite high, hill follows, whereupon you pass the most impressive element for the passers-by, the splashdown. After this, basically unspectacular straight, where you get a few drops of water in the back of the train, another hill follows over the lifthill of the neighbouring roller coaster Dragon Khan to enter a block brake. This block brake is passed again without any braking before you feel negative G-forces for the last time after a downhill turn. During the subsequent braking the rear part of the train gets its money’s worth, on the other hand it takes place quite smoothly.

Shambhala is one of the few roller coasters that actually gets better on every ride, yet Shambhala is not the best roller coaster in Europe, nor the best ride of its kind. I personally like rides like the Big One at Pleasure Beach and the GeForce Expedition at Holiday Parks more, because they not only have an insane first drop in common, but also a fun ride from the beginning. But what is interesting about the big roller coaster from Port Aventura is that it entertains you very well on every seat. Where the forces at the back are a bit rounder, the ride at the front more or less voluntarily takes your shirt off.

El Diablo

Coming from Dragon Khan, you can walk directly into the arms of El Diablo, the mine train of the park. This roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics is the last ride of its kind and one of the strangest. The track basically consists of only three lift hills, where you spend most of the ride time, and a bit of distance between them. However, these parts are quite fast, except for the second major part, which is only used to pass the maintenance buildings of the ride. The resulting views of Port Aventura Park, the two big coasters from the Chinese themed area, and the log flume further enhance the family-friendly roller coaster.

Hurakan Condor

The second supposed highlight in this area is the Giant Drop Hurakan Condor, a freefall tower with a sloped roof and several different “fall pleasures”. Whatever could go wrong with such a ride has been realised in perfection, because the tower does not only look wrong from far away, but also from close up when you see how exactly the gondolas fall. It’s strange that such a simple principle is ruined by lateral displacements, these produce a clearly noticeable bump or a little wobble in the lower part of the tower, depending on which track you have caught. Interestingly, the fall experience is accompanied by very long waiting times, which also apply to Express Pass holders, so that it was quite easy to do without several rides. The manufacturer Intamin has proven many times that size is not everything and with Hurakan Condor has created its worst tower.

El Secreto de los Mayas

Very close by is the glass labyrinth El Secreto de los Mayas, the novelty of the current season, which, like the Templo del Fuego, was not visited. While the first ride kept us from going on due to long queues, the brilliant fire show was already closed for the season.

Yucatan and Serpiente Emplumada

Not far from there, the Musik Express Yucatan is making its rounds, which made for a good squeezing session at unfortunately only medium speed, of course to the delight of the other onlookers. The Schwarzkopf Sombrero Serpiente Emplumada, whose ride is not only ideal for a dry spin, is a completely different pleasure. This ride, which can best be described as a mixture of a polyp and take off, is always worth a ride, if you are not unlucky and have queued up at the beginning of the boarding.

VolPaiute

However, the loading procedure is still halfway reasonable, a feature that Flipper VolPaiute cannot offer. Although there are two people working here, it is hardly possible to board the gondola on your own, because here the loading of each individual gondola is called to the gondola after some waiting time so that it can be dispatched. The whole spectacle lasts for several minutes, a period of time when one could have ridden at least three times the Flipper of Heide Park. Of course, there might have been a risk in closing the HUSS bars on their own, but then it could have been solved like the HUSS Magic at Walibi Holland. The ride itself is boring and as soon as you think the ride is going to accelerate, it ends.

Tomahawk

Opposite the still best animatronics of all times is the entrance to the wooden roller coaster Tomahawk. This children’s roller coaster is used by the small PTC trains, which unfortunately leads to a low capacity, as only one adult fits in one row of seats. The ride is quite wild and has some daring curves, but it runs on the best level, making the ride an ideal entry-level roller coaster.

Conclusion Port Aventura

Port Aventura is, to my own surprise, a much better park than I remember. Although the attractions themselves may not always be 100% convincing, the overall offer is coherent. Totally adapted to the Spanish preferences the park presents a large number of shows that you can watch as you like and without regretting it afterwards. Nevertheless Port Aventura is not the park you should visit every year, because there is still a lot of room for improvement and the offer is not yet mature enough, although this year increased amounts of money were invested in the resort.

 

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Port Aventura