PortAventura: General Discussion

[Rick]

As someone who didn't know what Uncharted was before this ride was announced, I thought it looked good !

 

[BooMT]

As someone who didn't know what Uncharted was before this ride was announced, I thought it looked good !

It does! Well, I liked it anyway for a promo in which they can't reveal too much. I think Dex was expecting to see the characters (Nathan Drake/Sully) - can't win em all!

 

[siralgenon]

PortAventura are currently trialling a free Virtual Lane on Hurakan Condor to reduce the time guests are spending in queue lines, with Hurakan Condors being one of the slowest ones in the park even without having Express.

I feel like this could also be added to Uncharted when it opens next month as that also is not not having Express.

 

[Rob]

It will be interesting to see how that works out, as it will make the stand-by queue even slower than usual. Nice if you already have Express though, as you can use your Express on other rides whilst waiting in the virtual queue.

 

[siralgenon]

It will be interesting to see how that works out, as it will make the stand-by queue even slower than usual. Nice if you already have Express though, as you can use your Express on other rides whilst waiting in the virtual queue.

I've just read through the article now it's in English as well and this is actually replacing the stand by queue and during this trial it's only the virtual queue that's available.

 

[tayspru]

I’m at PA all this week so if there’s anything anyone wants updates on do let me know ! I’ll also be attending their first ever pride event this Saturday so will update on that

 

[tayspru]

Additional theming is being installed on the roofline of Uncharted. It’s set to open in just over 2 weeks! I’ll be back in September

 

[siralgenon]

A few updates from Caribe Aquatic Park as it opened this weekend for the year;



- The park entrance has now been expanded with extra turnstiles (as they did with the Far West hotels entrance last year) to reduce the queues to enter the park in the summer months. Additional theming has also been added.

- All of the lockers within the park have been replaced by new electronic ones with keypads removing the need for a physical key. You can now hire your lockers from the area you'd like removing the need to queue at the locker rental kiosk which again gained large queues.

- All of the flumes have been repainted this year and are looking vibrant and colourful again.

- All of the flooring within the park has been repainted as well as the majority of signs and lampposts.

- All sunbeds have been replaced and Reggae Cafe has received new tables and chairs.

- After trials last year there is now a permanent Bubble Tea kiosk within the park.

- The back of the Uncharted ride building visible from the Waterpark has been painted to blend into the background.

A brilliant amount of TLC for the waterpark this closed season which I feel normally gets left aside slightly compared to PortAventura Park. Great work.

 

[Matt.GC]

Been here since Saturday as a first time visitor and there's been some very bizarre decisions made with this place.

The location is obviously incredible, as expected and they do make the most of it with palms, cactuses and other plant life for theming.

But digital code lockers where you get printed a paper receipt with the code on in a water park? On Sunday there was another guest handing out his pen to everyone else so they could write the codes on their hands. Very strange decision.

Dumping a congested Sesame St area in the middle of the park kind of reduces Polynesia to a winding and congested pathway of an area, despite its stunning beauty.

Although I think Western areas should be left to Disney and are very cliché, PA's is very decent indeed. But it's L shape design dominates a huge portion of the park. We're staying in Gold River and it really is amazingly designed but it seems to extend the theme even more. All together, it's probably bigger than any real old West town.

Queue jumping is bad anyway, but it's even worse this week with the sheer amount of school trips. Why then do they continue to build newer attractions with cattlepens that invite it? I have seen staff and security guards challenging queue to jumpers to be fair, but surely they could just build some more interesting queue lines to make this less inviting in the first place? They could easily have winded Shambhala's around a winding mountain rather than carbon copying Dragon Kahn's? There's a whole vineyard they could twist one through with Baco.

They seem to really want to mug you off with Express passes here. Making queue lines as miserable and loud as possible. Brightly lit machines trying to sell them everywhere. Staff gently strolling around ride platforms without a care in the world for the queue they're manufacturing. Secret queue times that don't work on the app even when inside the park.

Then they're widely inaccurate. I haven't shed a penny on a single pass, yet everything seems engineered to make you feel like you have to. Baco said 50, we waited 10. Kahn 40, waited 15. Flume 30, waited 5. Rapids 30, waited 10. Stampida an hour, waited 20. Sesamo 50, waited 20 (extra 3 mins at the station while the ride stacked so some silly tart could take a load of selfies). Tomahawk 30, walked on.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Looks like they’re doing what they apparently do at Disneyworld, inflate the queue times to encourage fast pass sales.

It’s a shame really this park has so much potential but the way it’s operated is not great.

 

[Matt N]

Been here since Saturday as a first time visitor and there's been some very bizarre decisions made.

The location is obviously incredible, as expected and they do make the most of it with palms, cactuses and other plant life for theming.

But digital code lockers where you get printed a paper receipt with the code on in a water park? On Sunday there was another guest handing out his pen to everyone else so they could write the codes on their hands. Very strange decision.

Dumping a congested Sesame St area in the middle of the park kind of reduces Polynesia to a winding and congested pathway of an area, despite its stunning beauty.

Although I think Western areas should be left to Disney and are very cliché, PA's is very decent indeed. But it's L shape design dominates a huge portion of the park. We're staying in Gold River and it really is amazingly designed but it seems to extend the theme even more. All together, it's probably bigger than any real old West town.

Queue jumping is bad anyway, but it's even worse this week with the sheer amount of school trips. Why then do they continue to build newer attractions with cattlepens that invite it? I have seen staff and security guards challenging queue to jumpers to be fair, but surely they could just build some more interesting queue lines to make this less inviting in the first place? They could easily have winded Shambhala's around a winding mountain rather than carbon copying Dragon Kahn's? There's a whole vineyard they could twist one through with Baco.

They seem to really want to mug you off with Express passes here. Making queue lines as miserable and loud as possible. Brightly lit machines trying to sell them everywhere. Staff gently strolling around ride platforms without a care in the world for the queue they're manufacturing. Secret queue times that don't work on the app even when inside the park.

Then they're widely inaccurate. I haven't shed a penny on a single pass, yet everything seems engineered to make you feel like you have to. Baco said 50, we waited 10. Kahn 40, waited 15. Flume 30, waited 5. Rapids 30, waited 10. Stampida an hour, waited 20. Sesamo 50, waited 20 (extra 3 mins at the station while the ride stacked so some silly tart could take a load of selfies). Tomahawk 30, walked on.

If you don’t mind me asking @Matt.GC, what did you think to the rides themselves?

 

[Poisson]

Sesame Street is a crime in placement and felt incredibly crushed during our visit for the first hour. It needs to be sorted asap.

 

[Matt.GC]

If you don’t mind me asking @Matt.GC, what did you think to the rides themselves?

Which rides are you interested in?

In terms of lineup, they could do with another thrill coaster or flat. Kiddie rides the box is ticked but the height restrictions are insane. And I mean absolutely insane! We all know it's insufficient in the dark ride department. Water rides offer a good selection, but there's problems with the flume, rapids and splash battle. Shows and general entertainment very enjoyable. Whole family lineup puts somewhere like Towers to shame. Family thrill however, extremely lacking. You have Stampeda and that's about it!

 

[Matt N]

Which rides are you interested in?

In terms of lineup, they could do with another thrill coaster or flat. Kiddie rides the box is ticked but the height restrictions are insane. And I mean absolutely insane! We all know it's insufficient in the dark ride department. Water rides offer a good selection, but there's problems with the flume, rapids and splash battle. Shows and general entertainment very enjoyable. Whole family lineup puts somewhere like Towers to shame. Family thrill however, extremely lacking. You have Stampeda and that's about it!

I was particularly interested to hear your opinions on some of the big coasters like Shambhala, Red Force, Dragon Khan and Furius Baco. Which was your favourite? Shambhala is a big bucket list ride of mine (Mako and Silver Star are currently my top 2 coasters, and Shambhala is often deemed to be “the best B&M Hyper” in reviews, so it’s a hotly anticipated ride for me), but I was interested to know whether that ride did it for you or whether others ranked higher, in your view.

What do you mean by the height restrictions for kiddie rides being “absolutely insane”, out of interest? Are they very high or very low?

I did think that PortAventura looked like a park that lacked a middle ground between the children’s rides and the extreme thrill rides in terms of coasters. I haven’t been, but that’s partially why I would personally disagree that Stampida needs the RMC treatment like many people often say. At present, it would take away their only real family thrill coaster. Uncharted should hopefully add to this segment of PortAventura’s lineup, though!

 

[Plastic Person]

In terms of lineup, they could do with another thrill coaster or flat. Kiddie rides the box is ticked but the height restrictions are insane. Family thrill however, extremely lacking. You have Stampeda and that's about it!

I’d say that the first two thirds of El Diablo represent a decent family thrill ride? The final third presumably representing the gaping hole in meaning that haunts most of us through life.

 

[John]

They try to improve their family-thrill offering by running most of their thrill flats in family mode.

 

[tayspru]

Work is really progressing on Uncharted, more rock work has been painted and an outdoor queue is going in!

 

[Zeock]

Work is really progressing on Uncharted, more rock work has been painted and an outdoor queue is going in!

It is good to see this progressing. It may provide something else at PA which is suitable for a family audience.

 

[tayspru]

It is good to see this progressing. It may provide something else at PA which is suitable for a family audience.

They definitely need one more outdoor family coaster. The area around Angkor would be perfect for a temple themed coaster, it’s close to Sesame Street so great space for a step up coaster. I think a family invert could be a great option or the new style Vekoma like Big Bear Mountain

 

[Poisson]

Stampida is more a family torture session than a family ride