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PortAventura: General Discussion

AstroDan said:
I can see it removed once Ferrari Land opens. Get it replaced with a Mack.
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This, this and this again please! Keep the existing station/queue etc but put in a new and far superior coaster. Some sort of Mack mega would be amazing.

Do I think that will happen though? No. Well not in the near future anyway.

:)
 
I highly doubt they will rip out one of the Park's most popular attractions. Furius Baco is awaiting it's major refurbishment following Stampida and El Diablo, so I can see it undergoing a lot of maintenance during the start of 2016.
 
I wonder if they'l simply replace the trains with something more like the trains on Skyrush? Considering they seem to get great reviews and they've actually sold more than one of those :p
 
Kinda similar to the ones already on Baco, but only the outside seats are floorless and the inside ones are over track:
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I assume it reduces the vibrations and allows people to choose if they're brave enough for completely floorless!
 
I'm not sure that would work. The heartlining would be all wrong.
... Although, it could hardly be any worse than it is already.
 
I noticed this on Baco when I visited during Halloween and it was causing all sorts of operational problems. To cut your capacity by 25% is a big cause for concern and it was causing all sorts of hold ups with people arguing about not wishing to be separated. I expect that the solution will be new trains as PA do seem quite on top of this particularly with all of Stampida's recent modifications which have improved the ride no end. This will only be a temporary solution. I love Baco and would hate to see it go but they can't carry on this way.

On a side note, it's interesting how when EP win a golden ticket award people suddenly take it seriously yet when BPB also get great praise from the GT awards everyone says they're a load of nonsense, I'm not wanting to start a slanging match here but I do think that there is a lot of bias and double standards on this forum where certain parks are concerned :p
 
If I saw new trains on Baco I'd want them to be winged trains. It just wouldn't be the same without them. Its what makes the ride.

Also today PortAventura changed the images on the website to show Ferrari Land will indeed open in 2017, now the new park has been pushed back a year what do we think we can expect from PortAventura Park for 2016? A small new attraction perhaps?
 
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siralgenon said:
I highly doubt they will rip out one of the Park's most popular attractions. Furius Baco is awaiting it's major refurbishment following Stampida and El Diablo, so I can see it undergoing a lot of maintenance during the start of 2016.
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It would probably be more cost effective in the long run to just rip it out and build a Mack! I agree that it's doubtful mind, they'll probably work with what they've got.
Enter Valhalla said:
On a side note, it's interesting how when EP win a golden ticket award people suddenly take it seriously yet when BPB also get great praise from the GT awards everyone says they're a load of nonsense, I'm not wanting to start a slanging match here but I do think that there is a lot of bias and double standards on this forum where certain parks are concerned :p
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There is a valid reason for that. The Golden Ticket awards are traditionally very American biased awards (although this has changed slightly in the last couple of years as they push for more European voters) and BPB is more of an American style traditional amusment park (a la Cedar Point etc. minus the rides). EuropaPark on the other hand is nothing like this and less known over in the States. So for EP to win the best theme park award ahead of the long standing winner, Cedar Point, two years in a row is a heck of an achievement!

I've not seen it mentioned on here that the awards are a load of nonsense anyway. They are still American biased and they don't rank coasters in the best way but they are probably the most credible awards in the industry.

:)
 
Furius Baco

A new board as been added to the entrance of Furius Baco to inform riders that PortAventura kindly reminds guests that any loose or valuable items will have the sh!t shaken out of them if taken on the ride, and should be left in the lockers available.

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PA-Community
 
So I've had my first ever visit to PA after a ridiculously prolonged time and can finally form my opinions on the place.

I went with semi-low expectations, thus allowing the park to exceed them. There's no denying some areas of the park are jaw droppingly stunning, particularly the walkway into China with Dragon Khan and Shambhala offering a splendid backdrop. The resort village is also a delight, and Gold River's festive reception is a lovely finish.

The general details around Gold River and the Callaghan's delivered an all round well themed atmosphere for me, however stepping into the bar is ridiculous. Over the top bright lighting, no music and absolutely no atmosphere. There's more positive atmosphere at a funeral than inside Gold River's bar. The Grand Opera was also equally disappointing; a promising facade but a lacklustre delivery. Those interior supports are a joke.

So let's focus our minds in the park and on the rides. The first ride of my first visit began on the Grand Canyon Rapids. Well themed but short lived in its layout. There's a thrilling pace to it in segments however it comes crashing to an end far too quickly, with acceptable levels of wetness during a Spanish December.

Furious Baco, the long slandered and negatively upheld reputable icon of the park. My head first launching of low expectations and bracing paid off, as the ride is considerably better than most had provided me the imagery to interpret from. I expected a world shattering journey of pain, only to be given less than a minute of forward and backward juddering, making the ride somewhat acceptable to ride given lengthy breaks are taken between. In fact rather than focusing my mind on the repeated collisions between my spine and the seat, I was far too concerned with how deceased the layout is - utterly dull and the launch offers as much thrill as winning a line at bingo.

I'd completely forgotten that El Diablo existed before visiting, and I suspect I'm likely to forget it exists in the not too distant future. A completely unmemorable Arrow mine train with less moments of excitement than being told you're to live the rest of your life without a vital ligament. The section between the second and third lift hills is a total joke and the trimmed first drop out the station is woeful.

Stampeda was a mixed bag personally. There were moments of joy that sadly entwined with brutal harsh body treatment. Should the retracking continue further, then there is a genuinely awesome duelling woodie sat off the Spanish coast. For now however, I certainly won't be rushing back to ride Wardley's wooden woe.

Tomahawk on the other hand is a noble effort of a child friendly wooden coaster. Packing more of a punch than anticipated, assistance offered by the MF trains makes it a joy to ride and an unexpected gem of the visit.

After being told it had exceptional theming, I probably had higher standards for the Ice Age 4D attraction than I should have upheld. I am not joking when I say this is the worst form of 4D attraction I have EVER experienced. A miserable waste of space that I would love to see restored to its previous incarnation as rapidly as possible.

Dragon Khan. After being nagged by @Alastair that it was a rough B&M, I had a level of tension when first boarding. The ride however is nothing of the sort, packing various levels of a punch (particularly through the zero g roll) with a slight judder inevitably from age. My overall opinion however is that it does rage around for too long, with the interlocking corkscrew segment offering nothing to me other than wondering when the brake run would kick in. It's an overall enjoyable experience, but it clearly outstays its welcome.

The biggest moment of visiting Portaventura however is of course its headlining coaster. Regarded by the 13-year-old sector of the enthusiast community courtesy of a certain TPWW vlogger as the pinnacle of coasters, I can safely say that Shambhala is anything but. Lovely theming and a surrounding area certainly, but the ride itself simply struggled to deliver an unrivalled fizz that my number 1 coaster, Helix, does.

The airtime is ridiculously underwhelming regardless of how loose I managed to sustain my restraint. Credit where it's due, it IS a fantastic ride, but it seriously falls down on being a pinnacle of roller coasters, despite its mantle of height in Europe.


The operations across the park are laughable. FIFTEEN minutes to dispatch one flat ride is atrocious and queuing 30 minutes for a poor break dance is far from desirable. The only efforts made on Shambhala were the highlight of the visit, overseen by the 1:00 timer keeping the hosts on their toes. Having only 2 members of staff on a major coaster such as Dragon Khan is appalling. I understand there are one or two diehard fanboys knocking about the place, but that cannot be defended in no respect.

The staff and throughputs put a large dampener on a visit to what is, at its heart, a lovely themed park with a small line up of brilliant rides and shows, entwined with catastrophic painful wastes of space and a delightful resort area. There needs to be a heavy injection of atmosphere, focus on improving staff and their throughputs, as well as actually making their bars a fun and enjoyable place to visit.

Not being a massive foody always ensures I never put my tastebuds to the test at theme parks, but I'm rather glad I didn't judging by it hers opinions. Countless meals being cold, undercooked or sent back across the resort and theme park are never ideal, and an improvement made on customer service in this sector would not go amiss.

A conclusion then? I won't be striving to rush back to the park for the foreseeable future, Shambhala alone not quite being enough to tempt me in the same way Helix does for Liseberg. Ferrari Land will inevitably bring me back, but there is a substantial amount of improvements to be made until then if Portaventura is to secure a positive spot in my heart.

[It also seems that "a fork" stands for four coca colas in supposedly, the resort's grandest restaurant. What a joke].
 
To add to the discussion up above about new trains for Baco, replacing the current ones with the Skyrush ones make the most amount of sense. It would get rid of the outer, more painful seats and move them inside of the train and leave the inner, more bearable seats as is making it a smoother ride for everyone while also maintaining the wing coaster aspect of the ride.
Sure, as someone else brought up, the heartline would be off, but it seems like something that would just have to happen to get a less painful ride.
 
Benzin said:
Isn't Gold River like, MILES away from the other hotels and if you return late you have to gain access through phoning a number or something daft?
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Wait, which bar do you mean? The saloon one at gold river is rubbish in my opinion, but I really like the lobby bar, I've spent many a happy hour in there.

As for access between hotels, if you are there after the park is closed you can ask at reception and they'll take you in a car to another hotel, we've done that before and it was a pretty easy process, we even got to ride on the back service road behind Shambhala which was an unexpected fanboy surprise.
 
Surely with a huge launched coaster arriving in Ferrari World in 2017, the point and purpose of Baco is increasingly lost? Then again, they've also decided to add another drop tower? Honestly, most frustrating park in Europe, bar none.
 
Plastic Person said:
Surely with a huge launched coaster arriving in Ferrari World in 2017, the point and purpose of Baco is increasingly lost? Then again, they've also decided to add another drop tower? Honestly, most frustrating park in Europe, bar none.
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From what I've read the two parks will be seperate. Whilst I'm almost sure you'll be able to buy a combined ticket to both parks, from what I'm reading they will be run as two seperate entities. I'm guessing similar to the Epcot/Disney setup.

I think Baco will be around for a while longer yet, maybe with some modifications in the future but I don't think they will remove it just yet.
 
Spike said:
From what I've read the two parks will be seperate. Whilst I'm almost sure you'll be able to buy a combined ticket to both parks, from what I'm reading they will be run as two seperate entities. I'm guessing similar to the Epcot/Disney setup.
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Baco's existence aside though, this is surely a strange move? To build a separate park next door where several of the thrill rides, of just a few rides overall, closely replicate those already in existence just a few hundred feet away?
 
Plastic Person said:
Baco's existence aside though, this is surely a strange move? To build a separate park next door where several of the thrill rides, of just a few rides overall, closely replicate those already in existence just a few hundred feet away?
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I'm not quite sure what the deal is with Ferrari. I'm sure PA will be taking a big slice of the action though. It will most certainly increase their guest numbers with many more staying on resort.

The ride line-up is different though. The new Launch Coaster is more about speed and height where as Baco is a ground hugging spondylolisthesis with an inversion. I believe the two Tower rides will be shot towers as oppose to Condor's freefall and the race track... well there's nothing in PA like that. It's not like they're doing a Canada's Wonderland and building a B&M Hyper and then a few years later a B&M Giga. ;)
 
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