What's new

Parque Warner Madrid - August 4th & 5th 2012 - PTR

Scott88

Hyper Poster
Parque Warner Madrid - August 2012 PTR

The trip to Madrid began with a train journey from Crewe to Manchester Airport, after being robbed of £15 for a 45 minute journey, I had a decent journey to the airport, no delays, no faffing and we got there in good time, so after accepting that no transport or drive in the car is cheap these days, I was relatively content with it all. I had a 15 minute wait for Peter to turn up and his train was on time, so after finally getting into the lift in the airport and going to just about every floor we didn't want, we finally got into terminal three and from there it was all very straight forward, no plane delays or any faff like that thankfully, the most annoying thing in the airport was waiting behind someone who tried to use his bank card a few times to pay for a £3 sandwich, and his card continued to be declined to the annoyance of the lady serving him and the queue which was getting longer by the minute.

The flight time seemed to go pretty quick, probably helped by the fact I was listening to music and playing fruit ninja on my phone, plus the food situation turned out to be quite amusing too. Peter suggested we get tea on the plane instead of searching Madrid at midnight for food in places we didn't know, so I odered a regulation cheese burger on the meal deal, however the staff got confused, forgot to charge the right amount and it turned out that most people on the plane got a good deal and the food a lot cheaper than expected. It was like Fawlty Towers meets Ryanair. There was a lovely sunset to see out of the plane window, which was considered as the first photo oppourtunity of the weekend;

P1030900.jpg


The plane touched down in Madrid on time and we got the standard Ryanair landing announcement, something a bit like this;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRrQw4Us9o :lol:

After getting off the plane, I was a little unsure how we would get to our hotel, however Peter said he'd got some information about train times, metro stations and maps, so I was happy enough to trust the information he had and it turned out to be a very well planned out route back to the hotel, starting with the metro journey from the airport to a station I cannot spell or pronounce, so I'll pass on naming the place lol. At the unnamed station, we had about two minutes to catch the train, with lots of stairs and gates to go through, and the task of buying tickets on a machine that wasn't willing to accept coins or notes, thankfully it accepted Peter's credit card, however it took it's time about it and by this point the train was pulling up, so after a sprint up some steep steps, we just about made it onto the train. I'd forgotten the effort required when it comes to running to catch a train lol. We arrived in Pinto in good time, and then I was wondering if we would find our way to the hotel with ease, which we did, seems as Peter had also done research on the route from the station to the hotel.

We found the hotel with great ease, and once we got checked in, it was finally time to get some sleep and prepare for the following day at Parque Warner.

Parque Warner was scheduled at 11am to midnight, with the shops in the park staying open a little bit later than the rides. We arrived at PW for 10:45 which proved to be a mistake, they open the gates at 11, they don't open the rides until half 11 and they don't let you near the rides until half 11 either, but they are very clever with it because they keep you contained between the entrance and all their shops around the entrance, including food and drink establishments, so we all do what they would hope for, look around the shops, buy a drink etc, it may be frustrating but it's good business sense, especially with the merchandise being very well branded and very well priced so it's hard not to talk yourself into buying park merchandise.

P1030906.jpg

P1030910.jpg

P1030917.jpg

P1030919.jpg

P1030920.jpg

P1030921.jpg


Our first ride was Cine Tour, which was basically a vintage cars ride with WB characters around the circuit of the ride, it was ok but it was a family ride more than a thrilling ride, but it wasn't bad to start the day off with. I did a full ride video of this, which I'll post a bit later on in the trip report.

P1030931.jpg


The first major coaster we did was Superman la Atracción de Acero which is a B&M floorless rollercoaster, a coaster concept previous to this visit, I hadn't done before so I really didn't know what to expect, especially as I've not read many good views about floorless coasters. We took a few photos before joining the queue, and then we entered the queue, which we could see was quite long but thankfully no cattle pens.

P1030935.jpg

P1030938.jpg

P1030943.jpg


It was only when we got into the queue we realised it was being run on a one train service, which at the time was very frustrating, however as this report progresses, you'll see why it was no problem in the end. My thoughts on Superman were very positive, in terms of the layout it's similar to Dragon Khan but features an airtime hill and a few banked corners towards the end of the ride, it's well paced from start to finish with the first drop being very good and airtime filled. The inversions are intense, and the airtime hills are insane, there's no where your bum stays on the seat regardless of how tight the restraints are on you. There's also quite a lot of foot chopper moments too if you're sat on the end seats.

P1030945.jpg

P1030946.jpg

P1030961.jpg


We moved on, bypassing the Batman rides for the time being knowing the queues were lengthy at the time, so we called into the Gotham City Grill for dinner, which was very nice and made very easy to order by using machines to pick exactly what you wanted, it helped to avoid any issues with the language barrier.

P1030964.jpg


After dinner we strolled over to the Old West area which proved to be a plesant area of the theme park with a good vibe to it. We decided to ride Coaster Express next, the queue wasn't a fast mover again due to one train but we got on it in 30 minutes. I had read a lot of unpleasant reviews about it, suggesting it's rough, it's dull and has no character, all of which were proven to be wrong. Coaster Express isn't your normal woodie, it's not out and back, but it's not really like Stampida either, but even so it was a fun coaster with plenty of speed behind it, and while it did have a few bumpy moments it's not a ride I would call rough, however it isn't one for the faint hearted.

P1030977.jpg


We headed back over to the Batman area, on route checking a map to see if we could work our way to the S&S drop tower which is themed around the Riddler's revenge, I am not exactly sure on the name of the ride. As we were checking the map, Peter was given a scare as someone threw a water bomb in our direction and it was very close to taking Peter's head off and soaking him in the process, which I gotta say, was very funny especially with the reaction it got from everyone around the area. We were still non the wiser about finding the tower ride, so moved onto the Batman attractions, starting with Batman Knight Flight, which was a simulator.

P1030969.jpg


It started off with a queue outside of Wayne Manor, and when we finally entered into Wayne Manor (Batman fans will probably know what I mean here), we waited for something to happen and eventually everyone was asked to sit down, while a pre-show was on in Spanish.

P1030979.jpg


After the pre-show, we moved forward into the Batcave, where there was something going on, on the Bat computer and eventually a Batman figure appeared sat in front of it, then said something in Spanish and we moved onto the next stage of the ride, which turned out to be a simulator of the Batwing chasing around various DC comic character villians, it was OK but it lacked in any realism and it turned out to be one of the more disappointing attractions of the weekend.

P1030984.jpg


P1030985.jpg


It was time to move on, and we got round to doing Batman La Fuga, Parque Warner's B&M invert. I was very hopeful about this ride, and my expectations were met quite early on, where the queueline theming was spot on, they really didn't miss a trick with it and I am pretty sure most fans of the Batman films and comics would really appreciate the efforts put into the queue line theming alone.

P1030987.jpg

P1030989.jpg

P1030991.jpg


We got more than half way through the queue, and still didn't see anyone, eventually getting to the station to find it was walk on, including the front row, so of course we opted for front row. On the lift hill, I noticed the queue for Superman had disappeared and suddenly, the park had gone dead and that explained why they were so reluctant to run rides to capacity earlier in the day, knowing the crowds wouldn't last long. The first drop on Batman La Fuga is very similar to Inferno's, straight into a vertical loop and straight away you can feel the intensity of this ride, which like Inferno is quickly followed by a Zero G Roll, then followed by another vertical loop and high paced corners leading into two more corkscrew inversions and finally into the brake run. For me, with the theming, the setting of the ride, the intensity and the way it maintains its speed from start to finish, it has blow away Inferno and Nemesis, and stands proudly as my favourite B&M invert, at this point I'd probably rate it above Furius Baco, so now see it as my second favourite coaster.

P1040231.jpg


The staff were quick to encourage all the riders to stay on, so most of us took up their offer and after another two rides on Batman La Fuga it was time to move onto Superman again and take advantage of the queues being empty. Both of the comic book hero coasters remained walk on for a few hours, which was great for clocking up a few rides on them.

After taking advantage of the quiet queues, we went on to look for the S&S tower, which again we couldn't find and ended up in the Cartoon Village area, which is home to the wettest Rapids ride I've been on yet. The Rapids did have a queue, but a well themed queue and a fast mover too, plus I was surprised to find this is a Rapids ride which starts with a lift hill and doesn't use a turntable.

P1040046.jpg

P1040029.jpg

P1040036.jpg


I wouldn't rate the Rapids above those at Port Aventura, but there is no escaping a soaking and the final stretch back to the station is just madness, it slams the boat into the sides and usually results in everyone being thrown into the middle of the boat. We also rode the family coasters in that area of the park, to get them out of the way.

P1040041.jpg


Once again we consulted a park map and finally found our way to the tower ride, which is very imposing from anywhere you look at it. There is three sequences to this ride, shot only, combo (shot and drop) and drop tower, we managed to get the worst of the three to start with, riding it on shot only, where it did have a more forceful launch than Ice Blast but lacked any airtime at all which was a huge let down. We did ride it again two more times the following day, once in combo mode and another time as a drop tower, which was better on both occasions than the first time.

P1040064.jpg


At the Superman area of the park, was a ride called Lex Luthor Invertatron which was no different to Ripsaw, apart from the fact there was no water sprayed at the riders which in the Madrid climate, was a bit of a surprise.

P1030963.jpg


It is also worth noting that Stunt Fall was closed throughout the visit, but that was to be expected as it has been shut all year round but is supposed to be back next year.

P1030932.jpg


Parque Warner by night was a very special experience, in some ways reminded me of PB and further made me wish they would take the risk of staying open until 11pm. PW was very well illuminated, except for the pathways, which made for a great effect especially in the Gotham City area, the lack of lighting between there and the Superman area was very fitting to how it would be in the films.

P1040117.jpg

P1040123.jpg


Day two;

After learning from the mistakes of day one, we got to the park an hour later, to find the queues had spread out much better than the previous day and once again, there was a big rush to do all the rides early from the locals, so we headed to the back of the park going to Coaster Express first, riding it four times without seeing any queue for it. Coaster Express seems to get better with every ride.

P1040088.jpg


We decided to ride Rio Bravo whilst we were in that area of the park too, which proved to be a quality water ride featuring a backward double drop! Rio Bravo was all round a very good water ride, not too wet but did enough to cool the riders down in the sunny climate.

P1040071.jpg


The merchandise throughout the park is brilliant, there is more than enough merchandise for every area of the park and all reasonably priced, plus a lot of the shops offering 50% off a second purchase. It is also worth noting that the staff were very helpful throughout the park, and very efficent too.

P1040169.jpg


My main issue with the park was that their catering outlets are a bit hit and miss in terms of them being open, they all seem to be on rotation, because none of them were open all day round.

We watched the Police Academy show around 4pm ish, which was very popular with the locals and we could see why, I covered it in greater detail on my camcorder. It was a very good show with some impessive stunts.

P1040267.jpg

P1040270.jpg


We also watched the Batman 15 minute show not too long after the Police Academy show, it wasn't brilliant but it was funny to watch and featured music from films old and new.

P1040285.jpg


The same on Sunday happened as it did Saturday, the longer the day went on, the quieter it got, so the rides were very quiet which meant the staff were more than happy to encourage riders to stay on instead of walking around to go on again, something all the UK parks should learn from.

Day 3;

Madrid open top bus tour was very good, saw a lot of the City I didn't see in June.

P1040382.jpg


Here's the best of the rest of my photos from the first of two days at Parque Warner, Madrid;

P1030904.jpg


Peter looking pretty happy;

P1030907.jpg


The Dark Knight Rises;

P1030908.jpg


Just incase you've forgotten where you are;

P1030912.jpg

P1030914.jpg


Testing, testing;

P1030924.jpg


A very pleasant setting for a fireworks display;

P1030925.jpg


Just like Port Aventura, nothing looks out of place;

P1030933.jpg


My camera was attracted to this ride;

P1030936.jpg


This is a photo hotspot;

P1030940.jpg


I like the Superman films, and I like fountains in theme parks, this photo had to be taken;

P1030942.jpg


DC Comics;

P1030947.jpg

P1030948.jpg


Sadly we couldn't use these to drive around the park;

P1030949.jpg


One of the better B&M coasters I've ridden;

P1030954.jpg


Superman stats in English;

P1030956.jpg


Ride information in Spanish. :p

P1030958.jpg


The station area;

P1030960.jpg

P1030962.jpg


Gotham City;

P1030966.jpg


More advertising for the new film;

P1030967.jpg


And a building which looks very similar to a place used in the Batman & Robin film brought out in 1997;

P1030968.jpg


Looking through the gates into the queuing area for the Batman simulator;

P1030970.jpg


Coaster Express;

P1030971.jpg


Cold Creek Falls;

P1030980.jpg


Superman La Atraccion de Acero;

P1030995-1.jpg

P1030996-1.jpg

P1030998.jpg

P1030999.jpg


From the viewing point;

P1040001.jpg

P1040002.jpg

P1040003.jpg

P1040004.jpg

P1040005.jpg


Batman La Fuga;

P1040006.jpg


No prizes for guessing which queueline these were in;

P1040008.jpg

P1040009.jpg


My feet were sore! :p

P1040012.jpg


Peter: "I won't be posing like this for a photo.....oh no, you didn't did you?" :lol:

P1040015.jpg


Dodgy but not as bad as Peter's pose. :p

P1040016.jpg


Peter;

P1040018.jpg


Peter the biker!

P1040020.jpg


Stunt Fall;

P1040023.jpg

P1040025.jpg


If you wanna cool down, a rotating Bug's Bunny will be there to help!

P1040028.jpg


Classic WB;

P1040032.jpg


Rapids;

P1040042.jpg

P1040044.jpg


Tom & Jerry coaster;

P1040047.jpg

P1040050.jpg


Characters roaming around was quite a common thing;

P1040057.jpg


Back to the entrance;

P1040058.jpg

P1040059.jpg


Riddler's Revenge (I think it's called that);

P1040060.jpg


There's not many places you can't see it from;

P1040061.jpg


Not one for the faint hearted!

P1040067.jpg


Rio Bravo;

P1040072.jpg

P1040075.jpg

P1040077.jpg


Cold Creek Falls again;

P1040080.jpg


Coaster Express;

P1040084.jpg

P1040085.jpg

P1040086.jpg

P1040087.jpg

P1040089.jpg

P1040090.jpg


Peter;

P1040096.jpg


Poison Ivy;

P1040105.jpg


A pair of Jokers. :p

P1040106.jpg


Batman La Fuga, station area;

P1040107.jpg

P1040108.jpg


The whole park looks great at night;

P1040123-1.jpg

P1040130-1.jpg

P1040138.jpg


Superman waiting for guests;

P1040149-1.jpg


Illuminated fountain;

P1040157.jpg


And the end of day one;

P1040159-1.jpg


Day two begins, and here's a very good fountain feature at the entrance. ;)

P1040167.jpg


Peter who said he'd not be buying any merchandise, was getting dangerously close to buying merchandise. ;)

P1040170.jpg


I think the effects of the sun were kicking in early on, on day two. :p

P1040171.jpg


My camera was once again attracted to this ride;

P1040172.jpg

P1040173.jpg

P1040174.jpg


Which cycle would it be on this time? Who knows?

P1040178.jpg


Testing;

P1040181.jpg


It's quite tall you know;

P1040182.jpg


Batman La Fuga;

P1040183.jpg


Gotham City;

P1040184.jpg

P1040185.jpg

P1040186.jpg


Coaster Express;

P1040188.jpg

P1040189.jpg

P1040192.jpg


Rio Bravo!

P1040195.jpg


The name of this ride escapes me, but it didn't look to be on a good setting;

P1040198.jpg


Superman;

P1040203.jpg

P1040204.jpg

P1040205.jpg


The only viewing point of the whole ride, I like the fact PW have made a viewing area for it, it's a nice touch;

P1040206.jpg


The entrance to the Batman queue;

P1040222.jpg


Batman La Fuga, queueline theming;

P1040220.jpg

P1040218.jpg

P1040219.jpg

P1040217.jpg


What's funny? :p

P1040216.jpg


Gotta go;

P1040212.jpg

P1040214.jpg


Attention to detail is spot on;

P1040213.jpg

P1040210.jpg


The first drop;

P1040231-1.jpg

P1040227.jpg


Vertical loop #1;

P1040232.jpg


Superman again;

P1040229.jpg

P1040230.jpg


Superman area;

P1040233.jpg

P1040235.jpg


It's a shame we don't have a WB associated park in the UK tbh;

P1040237.jpg


This was like Trauma Towers meets Hex;

P1040239.jpg


PW driving school;

P1040248.jpg


Rapids!

P1040250.jpg

P1040251.jpg


Tom & Jerry coaster;

P1040252.jpg

P1040253.jpg


And back to Superman again;

P1040254.jpg


An airtime hill, looks like these three were bricking it! :lol:

P1040256.jpg


The police academy show started off with a stunt man on a bike;

P1040259.jpg

P1040260.jpg

P1040263.jpg


And now for the old bill;

P1040264.jpg


There was a lot of noise and razzing around going on, the video I got shows it all a lot better than photos do.

P1040267-1.jpg

P1040268.jpg


I still find this amazing, just how do they do it?

P1040271.jpg

P1040272.jpg


It was a random show, but flowed very well;

P1040273.jpg

P1040274.jpg


Typically random for a Spanish park, in a wild west themed area;

P1040280.jpg


Coaster Express;

P1040283.jpg


Batman begins. :p

P1040284.jpg


The auditions for the new village people act wasn't going so well.

P1040286.jpg


Everybody move your feet!

P1040287.jpg


It was like High School Musical meets Catwoman, in the strangest kind of way;

P1040288.jpg


Ah, this is what we were waiting for, Batman hardly featured in his own show;

P1040290.jpg


Can I get down from here yet boss?

P1040291.jpg


Two very good B&M coasters.

P1040292.jpg

P1040299.jpg


Batman La Fuga;

P1040294.jpg

P1040300.jpg

P1040301.jpg


I am not going on Ripsaw it's too wet....I am not going on this, there's no water fountain! :lol:

P1040303.jpg


Mr Freeze;

P1040305.jpg


Wouldn't it be nice to see this on a Sunday in the UK?

P1040306.jpg


Gotham city illuminated;

P1040307.jpg

P1040308.jpg

P1040309.jpg

P1040310.jpg

P1040311.jpg

P1040313.jpg

P1040315.jpg


Superman!

P1040325.jpg

P1040327.jpg


I should smile more...

P1040328.jpg


Almost the end of two very good days;

P1040332.jpg


Good artwork!

P1040334.jpg


Attention to detail, spot on;

P1040335.jpg


Closer to a smile.

P1040336.jpg


Peter didn't plan to get caught doing the same pose again, whoops. :lol:

P1040338.jpg


That's all folks. ;)

P1040339.jpg

P1040340.jpg


Thanks for looking, feedback on the photos, review and questions about the park more than welcome. :D
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
Interesting to see that the queue pattern for the rides was the same for you, even though you visited during the school holidays, and on a weekend! We avoided it at the weekend incase of any queues, and I kind of regret that now as the 8pm midweek closing ment no rides at night!

Where is this viewing platform for Superman? Its not that little pathway near Batman, is it?
 

Scott88

Hyper Poster
Yeah, if you walk under the first vertical loop of Batman, it leads you through to a viewing point for Superman and the lift for Batman. It was always full of people taking photos.

It did annoy me when we arrived and everything was on low capacity, but it did make sense eventually because the place emptied from around 1pm and didn't get close to being busy again until the end of the day, but even then it was more a case of people walking around and playing on the games stalls than riding the coasters.

Superman went to two trains on Saturday night even though there was no queue for it.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
I wondered what that pathway lead to! I was curious due to the Batman and Superman logo's, but it didn't seem to go anywhere, so I turned back before getting to the end.

So what makes you say that Stunt Fall is reopening next year?
 

Scott88

Hyper Poster
Martyn B said:
I wondered what that pathway lead to! I was curious due to the Batman and Superman logo's, but it didn't seem to go anywhere, so I turned back before getting to the end.

So what makes you say that Stunt Fall is reopening next year?

Fair enough, before having a walk down there I wasn't sure what to expect tbh, was a pleasant surprise.

It's more assumption than knowledge about Stunt Fall, pretty sure I read somewhere on the internet that they'd got the train back and were going to start testing it soon, I don't think I imagined reading it anyway lol.

For the record, I am 100% sure I'll be going back there next year.
 

Mark9

Roller Poster
Pretty much agree with you on Parque Warner, it's an amazingly under-rater park, particularly when compared with Port Aventura or other major European parks. Superman de Acero has been my favourite ride for over five years now, I just feel that whilst it isn't majorly intense, it just has so much variety and pleasing moments. Shame about Stuntfall though, although I'm sure walk on Batman and Superman made up for the lack of it.
 

Scott88

Hyper Poster
Mark9 said:
Pretty much agree with you on Parque Warner, it's an amazingly under-rater park, particularly when compared with Port Aventura or other major European parks. Superman de Acero has been my favourite ride for over five years now, I just feel that whilst it isn't majorly intense, it just has so much variety and pleasing moments. Shame about Stuntfall though, although I'm sure walk on Batman and Superman made up for the lack of it.

In all fairness I did expect Stunt Fall to be shut, but always had a bit of hope that it would open sometime when we were there, but there's always next year for it. :)

I was really impressed with the park, I've already been looking into when to go back in 2013.
 

Martyn B

CF Legend
I agree on the 'variety' front for Superman. 3 great moments of airtime, forceful turns, large inversions, and small, forceful corkscrews.

Its everything you ever wanted in a coaster ;)
 

Scott88

Hyper Poster
Martyn B said:
I agree on the 'variety' front for Superman. 3 great moments of airtime, forceful turns, large inversions, and small, forceful corkscrews.

Its everything you ever wanted in a coaster ;)

Rolled into one, the ultimate rollercoaster? :lol:

It was much better than expected, everyone I spoke to who'd been on a floorless coaster said they were rubbish!
 
Top