jayjay
Giga Poster
CF's resident European explorer and trains nerd is back with another trip report. I'm currently on board a very long train from Alicante to Barcelona, so figured I'd knock out a first trip report to kill the time in between admiring various Spanish mountains and coasts (more of that when I post the next portion).
The Plan(TM):
Day 1 - Terra Mitica
Day 2 - Tibidabo/Barcelona
Days 3-7 - Portaventura/Barcelona in some combination (any last minute recommendations very welcome)
Our quest for donkeys wearing hats begins here
Part 1: jayjay and the Unexpected Parade (Terra Mítica)
Anybody following my trip planning topic will know that the whole thing had to be cut short and so Terra Mítica ended up as a bit of an awkward add-on to a Barcelona trip. In fact, Terra Mitica mostly existed to make the whole trip difficult plan. Good thing I got everything there on the first trip, haha.. haha.. ha. Heurgh.
First daunted by the thought of a 7am Ryanair flight to Alicante on a weekend, it turned out not to be a problem. Ryanair were only about half an hour late, and the early morning departure meant our soon-to-be-lobster holidaymakers were more sedate than I'd been lead to expect.
First problem, I couldn't find my hotel room...
As a webdev, I'd be lynched for not making this joke
Terra Mítica is a little bit out of the way. I stayed in Alicante overnight, and took the tram out to Terra Mítica station. Pro-tip, this is a great idea because the coast is gorgeous (although my current journey is even better)!
Now, if you want to attack this one without a car, I'd recommend turning up in the morning where there is allegedly a free transport service to the park. I turned up at around 3.30 and walked it. It's possible to walk the distance in about 30 minutes, but they clearly don't expect anybody to, as it involves walking up the exit road to the car park.
The important thing is, we're here and Spanish weather is being Spanish weather
I don't quite know what to make of Terra Mítica. It's got lots of scenery and being on the side of a hill, it comes naturally with great views of the coast and Benidorm. There's just something wrong that I can't put a finger on. Maybe because the place felt empty on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe it's all the tropes and music I'm used to but in a very different setting.
But seriously, there's a distinct lack of people in this photo of the entrance pavillion
The theme of Terra Mitica is "things I studied in primary school history" but with the notable exception of world war two
The lack of coasters probably didn't help. I knew I wasn't getting Magnus Colossus, but it turns out it wasn't the only closure, with the SLC out of action. I don't normally complain about missing out on SLCs, but with the effort I'd put in to fit in Terra Mitica, it did sting a bit.
SPITE!
Views are lovely, but views are not a +1. Also, money
But the other two are not too bad. The kiddie coaster has faux-wooden coaster decoration, which looks great. Coaster is poo, but it's a kiddie cred, I'll give it leeway. The other is the Zacspin. Now having done three of them, I'm concluding that Zacspins aren't the problem, only the one in Sweden. **** Insane. It's still not the best, but it's at least smooth and didn't make me hate my life.
Congratulations, you win the "actually not as bad as it looks award" (following Sequoia Adventure's 2017 victory)
The creds had made me walk all the way up the hill, so the rest of the visit was a simple backtrack and explore. The park is excruciatingly linear, so, though there isn't a whole lot of stuff to do, it still takes ages to walk from one end of the park to the other. Still, at least it means I couldn't easily miss anything. The star flyer gave me plenty of opportunity to feel bad about not getting Colossus even though everyone hates it.
Sometimes you just want what you can't have
The drop tower only serves to remind me that Huracan Condor is coming up and Apocalypse really was amazing with the stand-up seats. Their drop tower was only sit down, but it was walk-on so can't complain too much. The arena is also up this end of the park, so I caught the end of an acrobatics show.
If this is themed to Reddit, I'm expecting the performers to serve up lots of memes, then call me a cuck for not supporting Trump
Oh, nevermind. It's actually a Eurovision interval performance - good lighting though
This dog looks extremely concerned
I walked past a couple of other things that looked worth doing. First of all, a dark ride, and oh Jesus Christ...
I'm already terrified. That is clearly not of this world
It wasn't amazing, but still ok. Had some decent set pieces and creative touches here and there, but built up a decent atmosphere. Still, probably only on par with Tomb Blaster.
And I got the car entirely to myself, which is nice
And finally, the log flume. It takes the curious decision to do the big drop first, then make the obligatory backward section. Not the most exciting really, and not that wet which I'd have expected more of for Spain.
This is exactly how wet the log flume is (taken after the main drop) #whyIDontDoSelfies
And that's about it. There's a more exciting looking water chute ride up the hill, but with the weather starting to turn (the rain in Spain falls mainly on the James), it seemed as good a time as any to head back.
Thanks for having me! Now please go sort out your German translation
So yeah, everything feels a bit lifeless, which is a shame because the place as a whole has a lot going for it. I guess I didn't miss out on much with the closed rides but I go by the motto of ride everything once.
This tram stop feels like a cinema, it's weird
Turns out Alicante was gearing up for its annual festival "Hogueras" and there was a very lengthy parade down the main street.
[iThe tourist buses... guess they're indirectly picking on me[/i]
I'm happy with Mary Poppins as figurehead of the UK. We'll say those tourists were actually American
This parade seemed to be a big deal. It was still going at least an hour after I was trying to go to bed. My brain wants a nice early night, but the parade says lol no.
Think of this report as an early instalment of the report proper, which will probably come once I'm back home. In the next part of the report, you can see all of the scenery that was attempting to distract me from writing this report (and as usual, will look awful shot on a mobile camera). Tibidabo is currently calling my name, and Barcelona is warmer than this hostel bed I've moved to, so I'm off.
The Plan(TM):
Day 1 - Terra Mitica
Day 2 - Tibidabo/Barcelona
Days 3-7 - Portaventura/Barcelona in some combination (any last minute recommendations very welcome)
Our quest for donkeys wearing hats begins here
Part 1: jayjay and the Unexpected Parade (Terra Mítica)
Anybody following my trip planning topic will know that the whole thing had to be cut short and so Terra Mítica ended up as a bit of an awkward add-on to a Barcelona trip. In fact, Terra Mitica mostly existed to make the whole trip difficult plan. Good thing I got everything there on the first trip, haha.. haha.. ha. Heurgh.
First daunted by the thought of a 7am Ryanair flight to Alicante on a weekend, it turned out not to be a problem. Ryanair were only about half an hour late, and the early morning departure meant our soon-to-be-lobster holidaymakers were more sedate than I'd been lead to expect.
First problem, I couldn't find my hotel room...
As a webdev, I'd be lynched for not making this joke
Terra Mítica is a little bit out of the way. I stayed in Alicante overnight, and took the tram out to Terra Mítica station. Pro-tip, this is a great idea because the coast is gorgeous (although my current journey is even better)!
Now, if you want to attack this one without a car, I'd recommend turning up in the morning where there is allegedly a free transport service to the park. I turned up at around 3.30 and walked it. It's possible to walk the distance in about 30 minutes, but they clearly don't expect anybody to, as it involves walking up the exit road to the car park.
The important thing is, we're here and Spanish weather is being Spanish weather
I don't quite know what to make of Terra Mítica. It's got lots of scenery and being on the side of a hill, it comes naturally with great views of the coast and Benidorm. There's just something wrong that I can't put a finger on. Maybe because the place felt empty on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe it's all the tropes and music I'm used to but in a very different setting.
But seriously, there's a distinct lack of people in this photo of the entrance pavillion
The theme of Terra Mitica is "things I studied in primary school history" but with the notable exception of world war two
The lack of coasters probably didn't help. I knew I wasn't getting Magnus Colossus, but it turns out it wasn't the only closure, with the SLC out of action. I don't normally complain about missing out on SLCs, but with the effort I'd put in to fit in Terra Mitica, it did sting a bit.
SPITE!
Views are lovely, but views are not a +1. Also, money
But the other two are not too bad. The kiddie coaster has faux-wooden coaster decoration, which looks great. Coaster is poo, but it's a kiddie cred, I'll give it leeway. The other is the Zacspin. Now having done three of them, I'm concluding that Zacspins aren't the problem, only the one in Sweden. **** Insane. It's still not the best, but it's at least smooth and didn't make me hate my life.
Congratulations, you win the "actually not as bad as it looks award" (following Sequoia Adventure's 2017 victory)
The creds had made me walk all the way up the hill, so the rest of the visit was a simple backtrack and explore. The park is excruciatingly linear, so, though there isn't a whole lot of stuff to do, it still takes ages to walk from one end of the park to the other. Still, at least it means I couldn't easily miss anything. The star flyer gave me plenty of opportunity to feel bad about not getting Colossus even though everyone hates it.
Sometimes you just want what you can't have
The drop tower only serves to remind me that Huracan Condor is coming up and Apocalypse really was amazing with the stand-up seats. Their drop tower was only sit down, but it was walk-on so can't complain too much. The arena is also up this end of the park, so I caught the end of an acrobatics show.
If this is themed to Reddit, I'm expecting the performers to serve up lots of memes, then call me a cuck for not supporting Trump
Oh, nevermind. It's actually a Eurovision interval performance - good lighting though
This dog looks extremely concerned
I walked past a couple of other things that looked worth doing. First of all, a dark ride, and oh Jesus Christ...
I'm already terrified. That is clearly not of this world
It wasn't amazing, but still ok. Had some decent set pieces and creative touches here and there, but built up a decent atmosphere. Still, probably only on par with Tomb Blaster.
And I got the car entirely to myself, which is nice
And finally, the log flume. It takes the curious decision to do the big drop first, then make the obligatory backward section. Not the most exciting really, and not that wet which I'd have expected more of for Spain.
This is exactly how wet the log flume is (taken after the main drop) #whyIDontDoSelfies
And that's about it. There's a more exciting looking water chute ride up the hill, but with the weather starting to turn (the rain in Spain falls mainly on the James), it seemed as good a time as any to head back.
Thanks for having me! Now please go sort out your German translation
So yeah, everything feels a bit lifeless, which is a shame because the place as a whole has a lot going for it. I guess I didn't miss out on much with the closed rides but I go by the motto of ride everything once.
This tram stop feels like a cinema, it's weird
Turns out Alicante was gearing up for its annual festival "Hogueras" and there was a very lengthy parade down the main street.
[iThe tourist buses... guess they're indirectly picking on me[/i]
I'm happy with Mary Poppins as figurehead of the UK. We'll say those tourists were actually American
This parade seemed to be a big deal. It was still going at least an hour after I was trying to go to bed. My brain wants a nice early night, but the parade says lol no.
Think of this report as an early instalment of the report proper, which will probably come once I'm back home. In the next part of the report, you can see all of the scenery that was attempting to distract me from writing this report (and as usual, will look awful shot on a mobile camera). Tibidabo is currently calling my name, and Barcelona is warmer than this hostel bed I've moved to, so I'm off.
