• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

PortAventura: General Discussion

Will be interesting to see how the capacity goes for this ride as it operates on 3 12 seater trains which indicates to me it won’t be that high.

I have a strong feeling we will see something similar and same ride model for project horizon. If they do hopefully are able to have a higher capacity version. It fits Merlin’s/Alton usual major investments- able to offer something unique in the UK - mixing coaster with dark ride, controlled spinning cars, allowing forwards backwards and sideways movements, reverse spike (plus numerous other special elements they can add).
 
Benjsh said:
Is it any good then? What are the early reviews like?
Click to expand...
Apparently really positive. The queue line and general theming seem to have gone down very well. Apparently the coaster itself is quite thrilling and includes some good theming and surprises. I've heard people say the actual coaster sections are quite dark with the theming coming into play when it goes into a show scene. So I'm getting Flight Force VIBES from the reviews. It's opening in the afternoons for the next few weeks for tweaks so hopefully if there is any negative feedback it'll be reviewed.

I'm trying to avoid onride spoilers as I'm visiting in a few weeks though so I'll give a personal review when I'm back.
 
Last edited:
The back of the building and fading out rockwork is very clearly visible from both the waterpark and Gold River entrance to the park. I wonder if they've done anything with it in the last couple of weeks? There was plenty of theming in the car park still to go up when we visited.

It still seems like a very strange IP decision to me. The game series is an absolute brand leading blockbuster for Sony (but in my opinion overrated, but extremely popular none the less). The series was invested in to sell more PS3's back in the day when it was struggling against the Xbox 360 and, after making bucket loads of cash and helping PS3 and PS4 sales, it hasn't seen a main stream release in 7 years since it concluded. The movie was just a brief bombast fest to cash in on an old game series, with the extremely egotistical and annoying Tom Holland thrown in for good measure. It ended up trying to please everyone, but as far as I'm aware it managed to alienate hard core fans and failed to attract new ones to the franchise (well why would it? It was based on a game series that had long since concluded).

If Jumanji had just landed in the reduced to clear section, surely Uncharted was snapped up for cheap just before closing time? Or am I underestimating die hard PlayStation fans here?

Anyway, what Uncharted definitely isn't, is a franchise that's too.... well whatever the excuse is for children under 1.3mtrs tall in height to enjoy. If this can run with 1.2, then it should be 1.2. This is evidence of PA's insane height restriction policies in action right there. I would love to visit the place again, but would never bother with an under 1.4. I've learnt my lesson.

Last point, it's still bizzare that another attraction of this stature is being added to PA park when a 1.2 attraction is exactly what FL next door needs right now to prop up its thin lineup.
 
Maelstrom said:
It’s clearly been opened before being ready as currently it’s only running one train currently when they try and add the second/third it causes problems, surely they would have been better delaying the opening to Iron out the ride system kinks first. I assume this part of reason for delayed opening each day next week.
Click to expand...
Christ really?! That's really bad. I feel like 3 trains isn't enough but I'm guessing the blocks aren't big enough to run 4? It just seems a small amount for that type of coaster. I can't imagine The Mummy or Gringotts running on 3 but then they do have dual loading etc.
 
I'm not sure if this would be classed as a spoiler or not so to be safe I will use a tag!

It would seem the general consensus across early reviews is that both the queue themeing and physical ride experience is 'World Class' but there's a lot to say that the themeing in the ride area feels unfinished or like it ran out of budget with many dark areas, which is a shame.

I have seen an on Ride POV and aside from a few screens here and there, it is literally pitch black. I had kind of been expecting something like Crush (Disneyland Paris) in terms of theming distribution for the 'dark ride' elements. Where the screen segments were bolstered by pops of theming and lighting/projection effects between. It feels a shame to have such a stunning queue line but not so much on the ride. But this could be added to and of course, dark rides are harder to get a feel for through POV videos so will just have to wait to experience in person :)
 
Maelstrom said:
It’s clearly been opened before being ready as currently it’s only running one train currently when they try and add the second/third it causes problems, surely they would have been better delaying the opening to Iron out the ride system kinks first. I assume this part of reason for delayed opening each day next week.
Click to expand...

Was excited to get on this next week but if it's still only running on one train I doubt I'll even bother trying as queue times were reported to be 5+ hours yesterday.
 
It seems to be a bit of an Avengers Flight Force situation at the moment so I'm hoping over the next few weeks they will improve the ride experience.

To give it to them Street Mission was also tweaked after its initial opening. The following year an extra loading bay was added to allow two cars to be dispatched at the same time and the cars were re-programmed to move around more. During the curved screen sections the cars were re-programmed again with extra motion to match the fly through on the screens.

In short I'm hopeful that they will tweak the ride to resolve any issues it's experiencing. But time will tell!
 
Last edited:
Skyscraper said:
Isn't it a virtual queue though? You can do other rides while waiting.
Click to expand...

Sadly not! Hopefully it gets implemented soon as with its late opening (1pm from tomorrow I believe) the queue line is going to be miles long before it even opens..

The park is offering early access (8-10am) for far west hotel guests from July to September which is a great perk but bizarrely hasn’t been offered for all onsite hotel guests.
 
Just finished my 4 night stay at Portaventura and had a great time! Shambhala was a top tier coaster with great air time and the park has some fantastic theming and park ambience, particularly on a night time. As expected it was packed with school trips through the day but once it hit around 6pm the park quietened off and I was able to lap the big coasters the last few hours with everything walk on from 9pm.. Found the park to be fairly affordable too. The initiative for returning a plastic refill cup and receiving a euro back is something all parks should adopt.

The main negatives were rides ops being a bit slow at times and some queue jumping. The better restaurants in the park (Bora Bora!) seem to close really early which is frustating and the quick service food is very hit and miss. Furius Baco was also so uncomfortable which is a shame because the launch is fantastic.

I rode Uncharted once on my trip and it took 2 hours of queueing outside in the heat with the ride going down twice during my wait. The inside queue line is fantastic but I found the ride to be nothing more than a solid family coaster if I'm honest. It just felt a bit unfinished with too much dead space and you could see too much of the track ahead. Hopefully they spend a bit more time and money on fixing its faults but as it stands its not really worth wasting hours to queue for.

Overall though its a decent park with loads of ride variety and great shows too. Red Force was great but Ferrari land as a whole is a bit lacking sadly. I hope the rumours of Universal reaquiring this park come true because it has so much potential.
 
Unchartered sounds like a really ambitious ride for 25 million euros. On paper it’s very reminiscent of rides like Gringotts and The Mummy. You’d imagine that an enclosed coaster would be quite expensive, because you’ve got to build the show building, and the front façade looks very good. Indoor themed queues are expensive, which is presumably why Port Aventura haven’t done many of them. Then the ride system sounds very expensive, with each of the cars having on board motors, and the trick track elements.

It sounds like criticisms include the fact that some sides of the showbuilding aren’t themed on the outside, a lack of theming around the ride, it being a bit short and a low throughput. But realistically, I suspect they must have done most of what they can with the initial budget. It’s always hard to compare budgets between countries, but at the current exchange rate we’re talking about 2.7 times the budget of Drayton Manor’s Viking Land. It is possible that they could spend more money plussing it, but with the initial budget it sounds about as good as we could expect. That said, it is hard to judge an enclosed coaster without riding it.
 
velocikieran said:
Just finished my 4 night stay at Portaventura and had a great time! Shambhala was a top tier coaster with great air time and the park has some fantastic theming and park ambience, particularly on a night time. As expected it was packed with school trips through the day but once it hit around 6pm the park quietened off and I was able to lap the big coasters the last few hours with everything walk on from 9pm.. Found the park to be fairly affordable too. The initiative for returning a plastic refill cup and receiving a euro back is something all parks should adopt.

The main negatives were rides ops being a bit slow at times and some queue jumping. The better restaurants in the park (Bora Bora!) seem to close really early which is frustating and the quick service food is very hit and miss. Furius Baco was also so uncomfortable which is a shame because the launch is fantastic.

I rode Uncharted once on my trip and it took 2 hours of queueing outside in the heat with the ride going down twice during my wait. The inside queue line is fantastic but I found the ride to be nothing more than a solid family coaster if I'm honest. It just felt a bit unfinished with too much dead space and you could see too much of the track ahead. Hopefully they spend a bit more time and money on fixing its faults but as it stands its not really worth wasting hours to queue for.

Overall though its a decent park with loads of ride variety and great shows too. Red Force was great but Ferrari land as a whole is a bit lacking sadly. I hope the rumours of Universal reaquiring this park come true because it has so much potential.
Click to expand...
When you say about seeing too much of the track ahead of you, is the whole building visible inside illuminating the warehouse or can you just see a little of the track?
 
siralgenon said:
When you say about seeing too much of the track ahead of you, is the whole building visible inside illuminating the warehouse or can you just see a little of the track?
Click to expand...

Mainly seeing the track for me but I only had one ride to go off. I’d say it definitely needs more effects in there, even a smoke machine or something would help. Maybe my expectations were too high having experienced Gringotts and the Mummy at Universal last year but I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed coming off this one.
 
velocikieran said:
Mainly seeing the track for me but I only had one ride to go off. I’d say it definitely needs more effects in there, even a smoke machine or something would help. Maybe my expectations were too high having experienced Gringotts and the Mummy at Universal last year but I couldn’t help feeling underwhelmed coming off this one.
Click to expand...
I'm riding in a few weeks so I'm holding off from any POVs but I'm hoping it'll have had some tweaks by then. I think a lot of work will be done over the closed season for next year as was done with Street Mission.
 
Managed to get on Uncharted last weekend (just a single ride sadly), and I can say I rather enjoyed it as far as indoor coasters go. I thought it could use some more physical effects, but was hugely taken aback by the ride system’s ambition. The sideways launch is a very odd sensation!

I will say though that a big concern I have is the capacity (especially combined with PA’s well-documented abysmal operations) - 3 rows of 4 per train isn’t a lot even with a separate unload platform. Judgement on the reliability I’ll hold off on for now (teething troubles etc), although I will say it did take me a few attempts to get on due to breakdowns - finally managing near the end of the day with an exit pass from a previous attempt…
 
Leigh said:
Managed to get on Uncharted last weekend (just a single ride sadly), and I can say I rather enjoyed it as far as indoor coasters go. I thought it could use some more physical effects, but was hugely taken aback by the ride system’s ambition. The sideways launch is a very odd sensation!

I will say though that a big concern I have is the capacity (especially combined with PA’s well-documented abysmal operations) - 3 rows of 4 per train isn’t a lot even with a separate unload platform. Judgement on the reliability I’ll hold off on for now (teething troubles etc), although I will say it did take me a few attempts to get on due to breakdowns - finally managing near the end of the day with an exit pass from a previous attempt…
Click to expand...
A few people have mentioned a lot of light coming in from outside the building, did you find this the case?
 
siralgenon said:
A few people have mentioned a lot of light coming in from outside the building, did you find this the case?
Click to expand...

I can’t say it hugely impacted the ride experience as I didn’t notice at the time, but yes now you mention it there were a few patches of outside light. I was able to turn off from it a bit I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top