Rob
Mega Poster
It's a long time gone, but due to lacking trip reports, I thought I'd do it anyway.
Well, you don't have to look far to know that I'm a massive PA fan. In my opinion, it's the best single theme park in the world (single being the important bit there, lots of people consider Florida one park, yet, in isolation, any one park does not offer quite as much, as say, PA). Anyway, this was my fourth visit, this time, planned as a theme park trip for me and a nameless friend, who bailed on me leaving a £1290 hole in my wallet (I was paying on grounds of repayment) and no one to go with. Anyway, I did manage to find a friend, and all was well.
We set off early on a Sunday morning, flying from Manchester at 7am, meant getting there for 4am. Eugh. Flight was delayed by an hour, which made matters worse, but we got to PA by midday. I went to the park for a few hours, but, the first day consisted mostly of sleep. I'll stop going on a day to day account now, as they all merge into one, I'll just give a general review.
So, the hotel; Caribe Resort. It was excellent. My last visit was in 2009, and at the hotel efforts were clearly being made to clean the large lagoon which was green in 2009, this time, crystal clear. The staff were exceptional and the general atmosphere was great, as per usual. We also invested in a wristband which basically gave unlimited fastrack for the duration of the stay. No bank account plundering price tag though, at 49euro's, I thought it was very reasonable.
The theme park was at it's usual high standards of excellence. Clean, tidy and with an amazing atmosphere. I always find PA to have a certain happy vibe about it, especially during the summer, and this year was no let down. The entrance was just as beautiful as I remember it being, I paid particular attention to the interior of some of the unused buildings, and they are even well kept out of the direct line of sight. It's little things like this make such a big difference to me, it shows the park actually cares. The rest of the park was up to it's high standards as well. I certainly didn't notice any places where standards had dropped.
The new Sesamo Aventura area is, in my opinion, a bit of a mistake. It's not really in keeping with the rest of the park; a journey through 5 different worlds, it's an offshoot, and the look of the area is rather plastic-y, admittedly what they were probably going for, but, I feel it isn't in keeping with the rest of the park. Every other area uses real materials; very little plastic coverings or blatantly fibre glass façades, Sesamo Aventura is ALL plastic, maybe that's an attempt to look animated, I don't know, but, I don't think it looks as good as it could have been.
Still, the area isn't imposing and doesn't really detract from the park, it just doesn't achieve quite the same effect as everything else.
Ride wise, they were all fantastic. One thing I really noticed was how long the rollercoasters are, Stampida and Dragon Kahn are both significantly longer than anything the UK has. Our planning laws restrict this in the most part, but, it makes such a difference. And as with everything else at the park, these rollercoasters put most of our UK selection to shame. The only ride to really let me down was Sea Odyssey 4d. They have lost Sami as Universal took the rights to the film, and he has been replaced with cheap and poor quality 4d versions of the films you see in fairground motion simulators. Big let down.
Furius Baco also managed to inflict pain, it's so strange, as there is no pattern to it's painful seating. Certain seats are brutal, others, amazing. Either way, the ride is still incredible.
One final thing I noticed on the rides front was that Hurakan Condor becomes a show, for one single drop, every evening. They have a platform on which an actor stands, all the cars rise and fall simultaneously, and a deafening soundtrack comes on throughout the area. Again, using their rides as a show, is just another touch that leaves other parks lagging, the effect it creates is truly fantastic.
The shows were still amazing, and I love the re-formatted build up to fiestaventura, now featuring a full parade, followed by a song (written for PA) by the cast of various shows throughout the park, which then runs straight into fiestaventura. It's fantastic and delivers an amazing finale for the day, something which I really feel UK parks should aim towards. They also have numerous PA songs, which, I loved. That fact that the park focuses on so much more than just it's rides, is, to me, what makes it stand out.
I also did not realise, until this visit, the quality of the 'sit down' restaurants on park. The food was excellent, and, eating at the proper resturant in the mediterania area was excellent, the setting was fantastic, and it just adds another dimension to the day.
To me, it's everything but the rides the makes PA stand out. It's the themeing, the attention to detail, the shows, the music, the characters; essentially the way PA has it's own character, and truly creates somewhere that you can escape from the real world. It pulls off being a theme park so well, and leaves the UK looking terrible.
I have some photos, may upload them later, in the meantime, have a video of the song prior to the fireworks, performed every night after the parade, when you see it face on, it features fireworks in the back ground that look like shooting stars and just creates an amazing atmosphere.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02iFQIHYNcU[/youtube]
I <3 PortAventura.
Well, you don't have to look far to know that I'm a massive PA fan. In my opinion, it's the best single theme park in the world (single being the important bit there, lots of people consider Florida one park, yet, in isolation, any one park does not offer quite as much, as say, PA). Anyway, this was my fourth visit, this time, planned as a theme park trip for me and a nameless friend, who bailed on me leaving a £1290 hole in my wallet (I was paying on grounds of repayment) and no one to go with. Anyway, I did manage to find a friend, and all was well.
We set off early on a Sunday morning, flying from Manchester at 7am, meant getting there for 4am. Eugh. Flight was delayed by an hour, which made matters worse, but we got to PA by midday. I went to the park for a few hours, but, the first day consisted mostly of sleep. I'll stop going on a day to day account now, as they all merge into one, I'll just give a general review.
So, the hotel; Caribe Resort. It was excellent. My last visit was in 2009, and at the hotel efforts were clearly being made to clean the large lagoon which was green in 2009, this time, crystal clear. The staff were exceptional and the general atmosphere was great, as per usual. We also invested in a wristband which basically gave unlimited fastrack for the duration of the stay. No bank account plundering price tag though, at 49euro's, I thought it was very reasonable.
The theme park was at it's usual high standards of excellence. Clean, tidy and with an amazing atmosphere. I always find PA to have a certain happy vibe about it, especially during the summer, and this year was no let down. The entrance was just as beautiful as I remember it being, I paid particular attention to the interior of some of the unused buildings, and they are even well kept out of the direct line of sight. It's little things like this make such a big difference to me, it shows the park actually cares. The rest of the park was up to it's high standards as well. I certainly didn't notice any places where standards had dropped.
The new Sesamo Aventura area is, in my opinion, a bit of a mistake. It's not really in keeping with the rest of the park; a journey through 5 different worlds, it's an offshoot, and the look of the area is rather plastic-y, admittedly what they were probably going for, but, I feel it isn't in keeping with the rest of the park. Every other area uses real materials; very little plastic coverings or blatantly fibre glass façades, Sesamo Aventura is ALL plastic, maybe that's an attempt to look animated, I don't know, but, I don't think it looks as good as it could have been.
Still, the area isn't imposing and doesn't really detract from the park, it just doesn't achieve quite the same effect as everything else.
Ride wise, they were all fantastic. One thing I really noticed was how long the rollercoasters are, Stampida and Dragon Kahn are both significantly longer than anything the UK has. Our planning laws restrict this in the most part, but, it makes such a difference. And as with everything else at the park, these rollercoasters put most of our UK selection to shame. The only ride to really let me down was Sea Odyssey 4d. They have lost Sami as Universal took the rights to the film, and he has been replaced with cheap and poor quality 4d versions of the films you see in fairground motion simulators. Big let down.
Furius Baco also managed to inflict pain, it's so strange, as there is no pattern to it's painful seating. Certain seats are brutal, others, amazing. Either way, the ride is still incredible.
One final thing I noticed on the rides front was that Hurakan Condor becomes a show, for one single drop, every evening. They have a platform on which an actor stands, all the cars rise and fall simultaneously, and a deafening soundtrack comes on throughout the area. Again, using their rides as a show, is just another touch that leaves other parks lagging, the effect it creates is truly fantastic.
The shows were still amazing, and I love the re-formatted build up to fiestaventura, now featuring a full parade, followed by a song (written for PA) by the cast of various shows throughout the park, which then runs straight into fiestaventura. It's fantastic and delivers an amazing finale for the day, something which I really feel UK parks should aim towards. They also have numerous PA songs, which, I loved. That fact that the park focuses on so much more than just it's rides, is, to me, what makes it stand out.
I also did not realise, until this visit, the quality of the 'sit down' restaurants on park. The food was excellent, and, eating at the proper resturant in the mediterania area was excellent, the setting was fantastic, and it just adds another dimension to the day.
To me, it's everything but the rides the makes PA stand out. It's the themeing, the attention to detail, the shows, the music, the characters; essentially the way PA has it's own character, and truly creates somewhere that you can escape from the real world. It pulls off being a theme park so well, and leaves the UK looking terrible.
I have some photos, may upload them later, in the meantime, have a video of the song prior to the fireworks, performed every night after the parade, when you see it face on, it features fireworks in the back ground that look like shooting stars and just creates an amazing atmosphere.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02iFQIHYNcU[/youtube]
I <3 PortAventura.
