MiserableMonkey
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- X2
Having previously visited the park in June this year for the first time, and stayed in a park hotel, we decided to return but do it the cheap way. We stayed at a £10 per night apartment block in Salou (which had horrid reviews, but was luckily fine) and purchased the 7 day park ticket from AttractionTix for £80 each.
Friday 6th September
We landed at 3pm on the Friday, and went straight to PortAventura to exchange our AttractionTix email for our 7 day 2 park ticket, and enjoyed the last midnight opening of the season. All of the rides were open, and the weather was brilliant, right into the night. The queues weren't bad at all, the maximum being around 20 minutes for Furius Baco, even though our first ride of the entire holiday on it turned into a 45 minute wait when it broke down and the staff disappeared under the barrell roll wearing white hard hats - no idea what had happened here!
Our rides on Grand Canyon Rapids and Silver River Flume were in the dark, which I must say is incredible, particularly the rapids - easily one of my favourite rides at PortAventura. We watched FiestAventura on the lake at 11pm, so was reasonably happy with a ride count of 12 for 3 hours, considering we were avoiding the 46€ fastrack like the plague!
Ride Count:
Furius Baco x2
Grand Canyon Rapids x1
Silver River Flume x2
Stampida x1
Serpiente Emplumada x1
Hurakan Condor x1
El Diablo x1
Dragon Khan x1
Shambhala x1
Magic Fish x1
Total rides = 12 / Time on park = 8pm-12am
Saturday 7th September
This was the day that was the whole reason for us returning to PortAventura so soon - White Nights! The idea of an 18 hour day on a theme park has appealed to be greatly since the park introduced the event. So, obviously, I had to get myself out there asap to try one out.
The night was the most atmospheric experience I've ever had at a theme park. The outside discos, foam parties and weird acts across the park were absolutely awesome. Of course, on top of that, were the rides running late into the night. We originally thought about purchasing Fastrack for this day, as we believed that it would be absolutely heaving, but we held off and I was so glad we did!
At about 2pm, the heavens opened and the amount of rain that fell over the next few hours was incredible. I honestly don't think I've ever seen that much water in all my life. To our surprise, the park kept all the rides running bar the Pirate Ship and a few rides in Sesame Street. So with the park suddenly very empty, rides running with barely any queues and the rain still chucking it down, we purchased a poncho each and made the most of it.
We managed to reride Shambhala 7 times in half an hour, getting back on the same train as we had just got off each time! We would've carried on, but the rain actually really hurt. So we retreated to Tutuki Splash, where we were sent round numerous times without leaving the boat. The water poured over the front of the boat on both drops each time - I don't know if that was because there was only four of us in the boat and all on the front row or not?
The rain began to back off a bit by 6pm, so we made use of the ponchos on the water rides, before heading back to ride the coasters again. We managed two hours of whoring the rides before the park began to get busy again with 15€ tickets being sold on the gate from 8pm. We made the most of the entertainment and rides until 3am, where we took our blistered and aching feet back to the lagoon to watch the final FiestAventura of the season.
Leaving the park at 4am, I was most amused by what I saw. After booming music, loud roaring coasters, a fireworks display and general nosiness right up until about 3:45am, the staff as we were leaving asked us to "leave the park quietly and respect neighbouring hotels." :lol:
Ride Count:
Furius Baco x11
Tutuki Splash x3
Kontiki x2
Sea Odyssey x1
Magic Fish x4
Shambhala x16
Dragon Khan x14
Teacups x2
El Diablo x2
Yucatan x1
Hurakan Condor x26
VolPaiute x1
Stampida x8
Silver River Flume x4
24 Crazy Barrels x2
Grand Canyon Rapids x6
Tami Tami x2
La Granja de Elmo x1
Total rides = 106 / Time on park = 10am-4am
Sunday 8th September
We decided to take a break from the park on the Sunday, opting to visit Costa Caribe Water Park instead. We didn't spend much time at the waterpark, as we slept in quite late getting over our late night previously.
The waterpark is a decent attraction, with some quite good slides. King Khajuna and Rapid Race were particular favourites, but besides this we spent most of our three hours in the lazy river after giving all the slides a go. I'm not too sure I'd go back, as there wasn't loads to do.
Monday 9th September
This was our first 10am-8pm day at PortAventura, so wanted to get there early to make the most of it. For some reason, the park was packed and our reluctance to pay out for Fastrack meant we had very few rides. Condor averaged at a 2hr queue, with Shambhala, Khan and Baco following closely with 90 minute queues most of the day. So we used this as a show day - something we would be doing quite a lot for the rest of our holiday!
We saw Music Generation, Bang Bang West and the Birds of Paradise show. All of which were quite enjoyable, particularly Music Generation which appealed to all members of our group for different reasons - some loving the music, others the stunts and tricks and for one person in particular, an air-conditioned sit down! Bang Bang West was a bit hit or miss with our group, although I personally loved it - its universal appeal and the fact you don't need to know basic Spanish got it a thumbs up from me. The Bird show was amusing, but I wouldn't watch it again - I find shows with animals in them to be dreadfully boring usually, although this kept my interest.
With the shows ending, and the rides still hideously busy we left at 7pm to have a look round nearby Salou and have a drink on the prom.
Ride Count:
Dragon Khan x1
Balloons x1
Teacups x1
Imperial Dragon x1
Yucatan x1
VolPaiute x1
Stampida x1
Kontiki x1
El Diablo x1
Train x1
Total rides = 10 / Time on park = 10am-7pm
Tuesday 10th September
Yet another horrendously busy day at PortAventura, so we watched Music Generation again (and thoroughly enjoyed it again!), rode a few rides, had dinner and then left the park for a night out in Salou.
As I really don't have much to write about this day, I'll use it to give my opinions on the park's coasters. My favourite of the coasters is easily Furius Baco - the launch is phenomenal and leaves me wowed every single time. The layout of the ride may leave a lot to be desired, but with the launch packing such a punch, I'll forgive it the boring layout. I also didn't find the ride as rough in September, as I did in June - no idea why this may be.
I also love both Stampida and Dragon Khan dearly, with both rides providing big thrills (and the former providing equally as big bruises!) Stampida is a ride that doesn't give you time to breath, and that's a good thing in my opinion. Too many rides have unnecessary breaks and ruin the thrill, but Stampida just keeps going until it hits the final breaks. Absolutely brilliant ride!
Dragon Khan is just as good, with the zero-g roll being a huge highlight. I don't think I've ever experienced a rollercoaster chuck me round an inversion as quickly as this ride does. I genuinely felt dizzy when hitting the break run - this is one ride I don't think I could reride too much!
Shambhala is good, but it lacks soul for me. I'll happily ride it, and I'll enjoy it but something is missing and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe someone else knows what I mean?
Ride Count:
Grand Canyon Rapids x1
Stampida x2
Serpiente Emplumada x1
El Diablo x1
Dragon Khan x1
Wild Buffalos x1
24 Crazy Barrels x1
Total rides = 8 / Time on park = 3pm-7pm
Wednesday 11th September
We predicted that the park would be busy again, so we opted to find someone nice for breakfast and make the most of the sun in Salou for the early part of the day. We gave PortAventura a try between 3pm and 5:30pm, leaving to find something (reasonably priced) to eat before heading back to Reus Airport.
Most of our time in the park was spent looking around and taking photos (something we'd pretty much ignored on previous days). We watched Bubblebou, which I enjoyed massively, thus surprising myself. I'm not sure what I expected, but the show was hugely enjoyable!
We avoided the big rides as they looked queued up, and the queue boards were very helpfully turned off for some reason. Was a little disappointed that Templo del Fuego was closed for the last three days - can only assume this is a seasonal attraction - but we quickly got over this.
Ride Count:
Kontiki x1
Sea Odyssey x1
Total rides = 2 / Time on park = 3pm-5:30pm
Pictures
Please excuse the quality of these photos, as they were all taken on my mobile.
Flying in style, no expense spared!
Furius Baco
The lagoon at the front of the park.
A slow boat to China...
There was a good few minutes were no boats passed through the turntable - I wonder where they all were?
A good ride when there's no queue, but avoided like the plague during crowds!
One of my favourite rides at PA!
Another of my favourites!
What *is* missing from this ride?!
My favourite shot from the week.
Shambhala having one of its tantrums. The round of applause on its reopening sounded more like relief than happiness.
Till next time PA!
Thanks for reading!
Friday 6th September
We landed at 3pm on the Friday, and went straight to PortAventura to exchange our AttractionTix email for our 7 day 2 park ticket, and enjoyed the last midnight opening of the season. All of the rides were open, and the weather was brilliant, right into the night. The queues weren't bad at all, the maximum being around 20 minutes for Furius Baco, even though our first ride of the entire holiday on it turned into a 45 minute wait when it broke down and the staff disappeared under the barrell roll wearing white hard hats - no idea what had happened here!
Our rides on Grand Canyon Rapids and Silver River Flume were in the dark, which I must say is incredible, particularly the rapids - easily one of my favourite rides at PortAventura. We watched FiestAventura on the lake at 11pm, so was reasonably happy with a ride count of 12 for 3 hours, considering we were avoiding the 46€ fastrack like the plague!
Ride Count:
Furius Baco x2
Grand Canyon Rapids x1
Silver River Flume x2
Stampida x1
Serpiente Emplumada x1
Hurakan Condor x1
El Diablo x1
Dragon Khan x1
Shambhala x1
Magic Fish x1
Total rides = 12 / Time on park = 8pm-12am
Saturday 7th September
This was the day that was the whole reason for us returning to PortAventura so soon - White Nights! The idea of an 18 hour day on a theme park has appealed to be greatly since the park introduced the event. So, obviously, I had to get myself out there asap to try one out.
The night was the most atmospheric experience I've ever had at a theme park. The outside discos, foam parties and weird acts across the park were absolutely awesome. Of course, on top of that, were the rides running late into the night. We originally thought about purchasing Fastrack for this day, as we believed that it would be absolutely heaving, but we held off and I was so glad we did!
At about 2pm, the heavens opened and the amount of rain that fell over the next few hours was incredible. I honestly don't think I've ever seen that much water in all my life. To our surprise, the park kept all the rides running bar the Pirate Ship and a few rides in Sesame Street. So with the park suddenly very empty, rides running with barely any queues and the rain still chucking it down, we purchased a poncho each and made the most of it.
We managed to reride Shambhala 7 times in half an hour, getting back on the same train as we had just got off each time! We would've carried on, but the rain actually really hurt. So we retreated to Tutuki Splash, where we were sent round numerous times without leaving the boat. The water poured over the front of the boat on both drops each time - I don't know if that was because there was only four of us in the boat and all on the front row or not?
The rain began to back off a bit by 6pm, so we made use of the ponchos on the water rides, before heading back to ride the coasters again. We managed two hours of whoring the rides before the park began to get busy again with 15€ tickets being sold on the gate from 8pm. We made the most of the entertainment and rides until 3am, where we took our blistered and aching feet back to the lagoon to watch the final FiestAventura of the season.
Leaving the park at 4am, I was most amused by what I saw. After booming music, loud roaring coasters, a fireworks display and general nosiness right up until about 3:45am, the staff as we were leaving asked us to "leave the park quietly and respect neighbouring hotels." :lol:
Ride Count:
Furius Baco x11
Tutuki Splash x3
Kontiki x2
Sea Odyssey x1
Magic Fish x4
Shambhala x16
Dragon Khan x14
Teacups x2
El Diablo x2
Yucatan x1
Hurakan Condor x26
VolPaiute x1
Stampida x8
Silver River Flume x4
24 Crazy Barrels x2
Grand Canyon Rapids x6
Tami Tami x2
La Granja de Elmo x1
Total rides = 106 / Time on park = 10am-4am
Sunday 8th September
We decided to take a break from the park on the Sunday, opting to visit Costa Caribe Water Park instead. We didn't spend much time at the waterpark, as we slept in quite late getting over our late night previously.
The waterpark is a decent attraction, with some quite good slides. King Khajuna and Rapid Race were particular favourites, but besides this we spent most of our three hours in the lazy river after giving all the slides a go. I'm not too sure I'd go back, as there wasn't loads to do.
Monday 9th September
This was our first 10am-8pm day at PortAventura, so wanted to get there early to make the most of it. For some reason, the park was packed and our reluctance to pay out for Fastrack meant we had very few rides. Condor averaged at a 2hr queue, with Shambhala, Khan and Baco following closely with 90 minute queues most of the day. So we used this as a show day - something we would be doing quite a lot for the rest of our holiday!
We saw Music Generation, Bang Bang West and the Birds of Paradise show. All of which were quite enjoyable, particularly Music Generation which appealed to all members of our group for different reasons - some loving the music, others the stunts and tricks and for one person in particular, an air-conditioned sit down! Bang Bang West was a bit hit or miss with our group, although I personally loved it - its universal appeal and the fact you don't need to know basic Spanish got it a thumbs up from me. The Bird show was amusing, but I wouldn't watch it again - I find shows with animals in them to be dreadfully boring usually, although this kept my interest.
With the shows ending, and the rides still hideously busy we left at 7pm to have a look round nearby Salou and have a drink on the prom.
Ride Count:
Dragon Khan x1
Balloons x1
Teacups x1
Imperial Dragon x1
Yucatan x1
VolPaiute x1
Stampida x1
Kontiki x1
El Diablo x1
Train x1
Total rides = 10 / Time on park = 10am-7pm
Tuesday 10th September
Yet another horrendously busy day at PortAventura, so we watched Music Generation again (and thoroughly enjoyed it again!), rode a few rides, had dinner and then left the park for a night out in Salou.
As I really don't have much to write about this day, I'll use it to give my opinions on the park's coasters. My favourite of the coasters is easily Furius Baco - the launch is phenomenal and leaves me wowed every single time. The layout of the ride may leave a lot to be desired, but with the launch packing such a punch, I'll forgive it the boring layout. I also didn't find the ride as rough in September, as I did in June - no idea why this may be.
I also love both Stampida and Dragon Khan dearly, with both rides providing big thrills (and the former providing equally as big bruises!) Stampida is a ride that doesn't give you time to breath, and that's a good thing in my opinion. Too many rides have unnecessary breaks and ruin the thrill, but Stampida just keeps going until it hits the final breaks. Absolutely brilliant ride!
Dragon Khan is just as good, with the zero-g roll being a huge highlight. I don't think I've ever experienced a rollercoaster chuck me round an inversion as quickly as this ride does. I genuinely felt dizzy when hitting the break run - this is one ride I don't think I could reride too much!
Shambhala is good, but it lacks soul for me. I'll happily ride it, and I'll enjoy it but something is missing and I can't put my finger on it. Maybe someone else knows what I mean?
Ride Count:
Grand Canyon Rapids x1
Stampida x2
Serpiente Emplumada x1
El Diablo x1
Dragon Khan x1
Wild Buffalos x1
24 Crazy Barrels x1
Total rides = 8 / Time on park = 3pm-7pm
Wednesday 11th September
We predicted that the park would be busy again, so we opted to find someone nice for breakfast and make the most of the sun in Salou for the early part of the day. We gave PortAventura a try between 3pm and 5:30pm, leaving to find something (reasonably priced) to eat before heading back to Reus Airport.
Most of our time in the park was spent looking around and taking photos (something we'd pretty much ignored on previous days). We watched Bubblebou, which I enjoyed massively, thus surprising myself. I'm not sure what I expected, but the show was hugely enjoyable!
We avoided the big rides as they looked queued up, and the queue boards were very helpfully turned off for some reason. Was a little disappointed that Templo del Fuego was closed for the last three days - can only assume this is a seasonal attraction - but we quickly got over this.
Ride Count:
Kontiki x1
Sea Odyssey x1
Total rides = 2 / Time on park = 3pm-5:30pm
Pictures
Please excuse the quality of these photos, as they were all taken on my mobile.
Flying in style, no expense spared!
Furius Baco
The lagoon at the front of the park.
A slow boat to China...
There was a good few minutes were no boats passed through the turntable - I wonder where they all were?
A good ride when there's no queue, but avoided like the plague during crowds!
One of my favourite rides at PA!
Another of my favourites!
What *is* missing from this ride?!
My favourite shot from the week.
Shambhala having one of its tantrums. The round of applause on its reopening sounded more like relief than happiness.
Till next time PA!
Thanks for reading!