Parque De Attractions

[Coastercal]

Evening enthusiasts,

Don’t post too often, however, this required immediate action.

I’m currently on a trip to Madrid and have just visited Parque de Attractiones. The park kept all their major coasters closed all day. This included -

Abismo
Maurer Spinner
Wild Mouse
Intamin SLC

It was my first time visiting the park and the reason given for the closures was ‘bad weather’. And by bad weather I mean for half of the day light rain and the other half even less: SPITTING.

I have never come accross a park before that refuses to operate its main attractions to its guests in these conditions. I’m more than aware that in the U.K. we get our fair share of bad weather, but this was 10 degrees with a light drizzle.

What would you guys do having flown out to do the park? It wasn’t worth visiting and the only highlight and major attraction available was the drop tower. The only attractions operational were 3-4 flats, the kids Nick area and the drop tower. How can you offer this lineup to guests paying 30 euros a ticket?

Any thoughts as to what’s going on here? What would you do in this situation? And would you return in a few years time? I don’t think they deserve the custom.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Evening enthusiasts,

Don’t post too often, however, this required immediate action.

I’m currently on a trip to Madrid and have just visited Parque de Attractiones. The park kept all their major coasters closed all day. This included -

Abismo
Maurer Spinner
Wild Mouse
Intamin SLC

It was my first time visiting the park and the reason given for the closures was ‘bad weather’. And by bad weather I mean for half of the day light rain and the other half even less: SPITTING.

I have never come accross a park before that refuses to operate its main attractions to its guests in these conditions. I’m more than aware that in the U.K. we get our fair share of bad weather, but this was 10 degrees with a light drizzle.

What would you guys do having flown out to do the park? It wasn’t worth visiting and the only highlight and major attraction available was the drop tower. The only attractions operational were 3-4 flats, the kids Nick area and the drop tower. How can you offer this lineup to guests paying 30 euros a ticket?

Any thoughts as to what’s going on here? What would you do in this situation? And would you return in a few years time? I don’t think they deserve the custom.

Complain complain complain...

Get that ticket refunded... I don't know what the likelihood of this is in Spain, but when Thorpe did this to us, in 'genuine*' bad weather, they gave us unlimited fast pass on our next visit after I complained. (We had passes, so island return or free tickets were no good, but we'd travelled 2.5 hours each way, and I made sure they knew that.)

Never feel bad for complaining if you've paid for a service and that service seriously under delivers, even if it's not their fault. It's not your fault either, why should you foot the bill? But ALWAYS do it nicely, be a dick about it and the human beings on the other end won't 'want' to help you.

*I say genuine, it was 2c at it's coldest, which for most European parks is fine, but for Thorpe it seemed to be too cold to operate anything other than the Walking Dead.

 

[RevolutionRuleZ]

Raise hell, the get to Parque Warner.

As suggested above, the Spanish may not give a damn, but thats what I'd be doing in that situation.

 

[Gavin]

I had the same issue with that place years ago. It had been raining in the morning, stopped by early afternoon and changed to bright sunshine, but they didn't reopen anything because of the "bad weather". C**ts.

 

[witchfinder]

Raise hell, the get to Parque Warner.

Would not recommend. If you think the operating practices at PdA are bad, they're nothing on PW based on recent experience. They didn't open half their rides on a pleasant 18 degrees day and even when they did, they couldn't keep them running consistently

 

[roomraider]

If it makes you feel better I went to a park with 6 coasters and the only one they managed to open the entire day was the Intamin Half Pipe.

I complained and they would only give me a free ticket to come back. Which was great because i was flying out that night never to return.

Thanks Elitch Gardens.

 

[oriolat2]

Would not recommend. If you think the operating practices at PdA are bad, they're nothing on PW based on recent experience. They didn't open half their rides on a pleasant 18 degrees day and even when they did, they couldn't keep them running consistently

Parques Reunidos, Parque de Atracciones being the worst offender, have some of the worst guest service policies in the entire industry.

Some years ago we went to guest services to complain about a safety issue we encountered during our visit, with pictures to prove it, and their response was to force us to delete these pics from our cameras, to the point that some park employees followed us until the metro station with a threatening attitude. Proper mafia, I am telling you.

PR don't give a crap if you have a good day or not. Once you are through the turnstiles, you are on your own. They are not going to refund anything. Anglosaxon complaining culture does not work the same way in Mediterranean countries, where people are inclined to disregard small details even though they have had a subpar experience: complaining and seeing it through is seen as something that just takes too much effort and is often regarded as a waste of time. We even have a saying in Spanish: "mucho ruido y pocas nueces" (English: much ado about nothing, or all mouth and no trousers), to summarise this attitude of complaining verbally but not seeing it through.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Parques Reunidos, Parque de Atracciones being the worst offender, have some of the worst guest service policies in the entire industry.

Some years ago we went to guest services to complain about a safety issue we encountered during our visit, with pictures to prove it, and their response was to force us to delete these pics from our cameras, to the point that some park employees followed us until the metro station with a threatening attitude. Proper mafia, I am telling you.

PR don't give a crap if you have a good day or not. Once you are through the turnstiles, you are on your own. They are not going to refund anything. Anglosaxon complaining culture does not work the same way in Mediterranean countries, where people are inclined to disregard small details even though they have had a subpar experience: complaining and seeing it through is seen as something that just takes too much effort and is often regarded as a waste of time. We even have a saying in Spanish: "mucho ruido y pocas nueces" (English: much aso about nothing, or all mouth and no trousers), to summarise this attitude of complaining verbally but not seeing it through.

The seeing it through part isn't necessarily seen by the business though...

Obviously if the guest has an unsatisfactory outcome, they won't return, that's one way in which they will see it through.

But that's not all that's at stake. I was told this when I first started out in hospitality, and it's always stuck with me... "If a guest has a great experience, they may tell 1, 2 or 3 friends. If they have a terrible experience they'll tell up to 100."

It's true too, this very thread, and it's 374 views, is proof of that. Piss off too many guests and that kind of negative word of mouth will cripple the business.

Good job for them they don't get a lot of foreign visitors compared to some other European parks, and as such, I guess they don't rely on them.

Don't mean to be so blunt, but this attitude towards guests in general in Spain is one reason why many decent tourists won't visit regularly, and why the majority of Brits, who do visit, are the ones just looking for a cheap and boozy rampage. It's not a Med thing, it's a Spain thing. Greek, Turkish, Croatian and Cypriot hospitality are leagues ahead of the Spanish in terms of customer service, from my experience. Spain is quite honestly the worst country I've ever visited in terms of the standard of Customer Service. Also, the PR parks I've visited outside Spain have been fine on the customer service / guest experience front, so I'm not sure it's a company wide attitude.

I realise this opinion comes across a bit bigoted, I have nothing against Spain, or the Spanish, beautiful country, and great people, but hospitality and guest services / experience is definitely not their strong point.

 

[cookie]

I went to Bobbejaanland during a day when it was pouring rain from noon to 4 P.M., and everything ran just fine both during and after. The weather policy at PdA seems like a park-specific issue rather than company-wide.

 

[cookie]

*I say genuine, it was 2c at it's coldest, which for most European parks is fine, but for Thorpe it seemed to be too cold to operate anything other than the Walking Dead.

Eh, 2 degrees celsius would be pretty iffy conditions for most parks, especially if they’re also in an area susceptible to winds. Plopsaland is by the coast and shuts every major outdoor ride except Heidi if it’s below 5. I don’t blame Thorpe for taking precautions in that instance.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Eh, 2 degrees celsius would be pretty iffy conditions for most parks, especially if they’re also in an area susceptible to winds. Plopsaland is by the coast and shuts every major outdoor ride except Heidi if it’s below 5. I don’t blame Thorpe for taking precautions in that instance.

-5c for coasters isn't unusual at European parks that open in Autumn and Winter, and some are -10c, like Taron.... Some websites list their min operating temps, Phantasialand is one, most things there are -5c at worst. Although I think we've had this discussion on here before, and parks like Phantasialand, Efteling, Liseberg, Energylandia and Europa have had their rides built to withstand colder climates? Zadra in the snow...

We've only ever visited Plopsaland in the January winter months and in temps of less than 5c, believe it or not I've never been in the summer. Only problem we've ever had is RTH opening late. Admittedly I don't think we've been since 'stall-gate' so maybe that's changed? And I've never been on a windy day.

 

[Coastercal]

I had the same issue with that place years ago. It had been raining in the morning, stopped by early afternoon and changed to bright sunshine, but they didn't reopen anything because of the "bad weather". C**ts.

Was your thoughts after that to go back I’ve the future and get on those rides? Or was it I’m never going back to this place ever again?

 

[Coastercal]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Parque Warner was a better day but there’s something so off about all 3 of the Spanish parks I’ve done now. Batman Gotham City Escspe seemed to spend half the day down. When you’re queuing you literally don’t move for 10 minutes, then they eventually let the fast pass into the shoe building and about 10 from the Standby Queue.

When you factor in the countless queue jumpers who seem to skip the queue to meet up with their friends and family, a queue which looks like 20 minutes actually takes 90.

It’s the same regarding queue jumping and poor operations at every Spanish park. Is there anyone on here from Spain who can shed some light as to why their culture seems to be “ahhh oh well. It’s only a queue!”

 

[redheadedRobin]

It’s the same regarding queue jumping and poor operations at every Spanish park. Is there anyone on here from Spain who can shed some light as to why their culture seems to be “ahhh oh well. It’s only a queue!”

Spaniard here. People are impolite idiots who don't know proper park etiquette. This being said, and while I understand your point completely, I don't think it's fair to blame it on Spanish culture (or any specific culture at all). This kind of people exist everywhere and queue jumping cases happen in most parks, blaming it on a whole culture doesn't sit well with me. I guess Spaniards can be less subtle about queue jumping, which makes it more obvious when it happens, but that doesn't mean it happens more than in other countries.

I'd mostly blame it on the parks security teams, as having a good security team that handles this kind of incidents is not a priority for the Spanish parks. As @oriolat2 said, once you are through the turnstiles and the park has your money, they won't care about your experience there, and as @Nicky Borrill said, the parks don't rely on foreign visitors so they don't try to improve the experience for them.

To answer to the original topic of the thread: sadly, they won't refund that ticket. You might get a voucher to get a free ticket in another date if you tire them out by complaining again and again, but they have a very sneaky "no refund policy" to get through and Madrid's parks seem to be much more firm on this than in other regions. Other parks seem to be more willing to compensate you, but only if you complain and never with a refund.

 

[Coastercal]

Spaniard here. People are impolite idiots who don't know proper park etiquette. This being said, and while I understand your point completely, I don't think it's fair to blame it on Spanish culture (or any specific culture at all). This kind of people exist everywhere and queue jumping cases happen in most parks, blaming it on a whole culture doesn't sit well with me. I guess Spaniards can be less subtle about queue jumping, which makes it more obvious when it happens, but that doesn't mean it happens more than in other countries.

I'd mostly blame it on the parks security teams, as having a good security team that handles this kind of incidents is not a priority for the Spanish parks. As @oriolat2 said, once you are through the turnstiles and the park has your money, they won't care about your experience there, and as @Nicky Borrill said, the parks don't rely on foreign visitors so they don't try to improve the experience for them.

To answer to the original topic of the thread: sadly, they won't refund that ticket. You might get a voucher to get a free ticket in another date if you tire them out by complaining again and again, but they have a very sneaky "no refund policy" to get through and Madrid's parks seem to be much more firm on this than in other regions. Other parks seem to be more willing to compensate you, but only if you complain and never with a refund.

Interesting for your point of view thank you for that.

However, I do feel if I spend a full day at Europa Park for example, there may be a handful of queue jumping incidents all day. Where as it seems when I go to a Spanish park, there seems to be a handful of queue jumping incidents every queue that I’m in.

It felt like in my day at Park Warner I was surrounded by people shouting over their friends, whistling, waving and a general lack of respect for the queue. However it’s always worse it seems at PA.

The whole Spanish Operations in general just seem poor. Like others have said, maybe it is the attitude from Managment that once they have your money - that’s it.

Even seeing ride ops walking slowly down a platform with a general lack of urgency or running coasters on one train, or sending trains with whole rows empty, seems to be something associated with Spanish parks more than anywhere else I’ve been in Europe.

Of course there is no evidence for this, just my own anecdotes from visiting parks and I don’t blame the Spanish culture for it in particular. Maybe it’s just a sign that Spanish parks are much less well run than German or French parks? Maybe Port Aventura are so supreme on their Spanish rivals that they don’t feel the need to run their park with the guest experience first and foremost as people will come back regardless.

All I’d say is after my experiences now at all 3 major parks in Spain, it’s only the operations and the operations alone that put me off going back to them.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Interesting for your point of view thank you for that.

However, I do feel if I spend a full day at Europa Park for example, there may be a handful of queue jumping incidents all day. Where as it seems when I go to a Spanish park, there seems to be a handful of queue jumping incidents every queue that I’m in.

It felt like in my day at Park Warner I was surrounded by people shouting over their friends, whistling, waving and a general lack of respect for the queue. However it’s always worse it seems at PA.

The whole Spanish Operations in general just seem poor. Like others have said, maybe it is the attitude from Managment that once they have your money - that’s it.

Even seeing ride ops walking slowly down a platform with a general lack of urgency or running coasters on one train, or sending trains with whole rows empty, seems to be something associated with Spanish parks more than anywhere else I’ve been in Europe.

Of course there is no evidence for this, just my own anecdotes from visiting parks and I don’t blame the Spanish culture for it in particular. Maybe it’s just a sign that Spanish parks are much less well run than German or French parks? Maybe Port Aventura are so supreme on their Spanish rivals that they don’t feel the need to run their park with the guest experience first and foremost as people will come back regardless.

All I’d say is after my experiences now at all 3 major parks in Spain, it’s only the operations and the operations alone that put me off going back to them.

From memory I've witnessed queue jumping in 3 different countries.

In the UK, I've seen it attempted lots, but I've hardly ever seen it be successful. 99% of the time a member of the public in the queue stands up to them, the British public simply won't stand for it. Multiple times I've seen fights almost break out, always ends with the queue jumper leaving, or being escorted out, with their tail between their legs.

In Germany I've seen it twice, both times at Phantasialand. First time on Taron, a young ride host quite literally escorted the whole group out of the park, (I assumed so anyway, he took them through a big locked gate above Tarons extension area.) The second time was on River Quest, ride was closed, big group waiting for it to open. Upon opening, large groups of youngsters further back in the queue were slipping through the roped sections underneath. The female host escorting the queue through the queue line let them think they'd gotten away with it, allowed them to get all the way to boarding before denying them access and sending them around to join the queue again. The staff in Germany have the balls to act so the public don't need to.

At Portaventura it was happening on every ride, almost constantly, and nobody did a damn thing, the public turn a blind eye, the staff say nothing. On Baco they were just constantly climbing up the tiers outside. On Shambhala and Khan, abusing the cattle pens, it was madness, and nobody cared.

Sure, it happens in other countries, but nowhere does it happen like in Spain, and nowhere seems to turn a blind eye to it quite like they do in Spain.

 

[Gavin]

Was your thoughts after that to go back I’ve the future and get on those rides? Or was it I’m never going back to this place ever again?

I'll probably go back at some point, but no immediate plans. I had a Spain trip planned out for a couple of years ago (Covid put a stop to that), so I might look at that again at some point.