PortAventura: General Discussion

[ShadowTD]

I've popped on to this topic because I wanted to canvas opinions, and was spurred by fact that the staff are striking. I've only been to PA twice, but it was for two days both times. I consider myself fairly well travelled in terms of coasters - most of Europe (apart from Italy), Florida, Sweden, even Singapore once. Yet I've never felt as unwanted at a park by the staff as at PortAventura. Even before the incident I'll cover in a moment, the staff were rude and surly across the board, whether ride or F&B. Glorious sunshine, great rides and really good atmosphere from the customers and the areas utterly ruined by the people who are supposed to make sure you have a nice day.

Then there was the incident that a staff member at Shambala decided that my friend didn't look 'disabled enough' to be using the disabled entrance (despite having been issues a wristband at the entrance after showing their documentation) and was insistent we had to go all the way round and use the main entrance. The staff member was so rude it triggered a panic attack in my friend who collapsed. Amazingly a manager appeared who did manage to assist, but there were no apologies from anyone and we were glared at by the staff member in question when we were finally able to get on the ride.

Despite the great hard product I can't ever think that I'll make the trip there again, because I just don't want to give them my money. Poor operations is one thing I see called out but is it just me who finds the attitude so awful?

 

[Matt N]

That does sound like an absolutely awful experience, and I’m sorry to hear you had it.

I personally, however, can’t say that I had a negative experience with any staff at PortAventura last year. They were all perfectly polite and accommodating, and also spoke excellent English!

In general, I also feel that the operations at PA don’t deserve their rock bottom reputation. Are they Europa Park fast? No. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But I didn’t think they were that slow either. All coasters were running multiple trains, for the most part (with the only exception being Shambhala and Dragon Khan on a day with particularly windy weather, and this capacity reduction was advertised), and dispatch times weren’t terrible. Single rider queues were well managed, Express usage and allocation did not seem excessive, queue times were mostly reasonable, and overall, I feel that PA’s awful reputation for operations was thoroughly undeserved based on my personal experience.

 

[Osaka12]

I've popped on to this topic because I wanted to canvas opinions, and was spurred by fact that the staff are striking. I've only been to PA twice, but it was for two days both times. I consider myself fairly well travelled in terms of coasters - most of Europe (apart from Italy), Florida, Sweden, even Singapore once. Yet I've never felt as unwanted at a park by the staff as at PortAventura. Even before the incident I'll cover in a moment, the staff were rude and surly across the board, whether ride or F&B. Glorious sunshine, great rides and really good atmosphere from the customers and the areas utterly ruined by the people who are supposed to make sure you have a nice day.

Then there was the incident that a staff member at Shambala decided that my friend didn't look 'disabled enough' to be using the disabled entrance (despite having been issues a wristband at the entrance after showing their documentation) and was insistent we had to go all the way round and use the main entrance. The staff member was so rude it triggered a panic attack in my friend who collapsed. Amazingly a manager appeared who did manage to assist, but there were no apologies from anyone and we were glared at by the staff member in question when we were finally able to get on the ride.

Despite the great hard product I can't ever think that I'll make the trip there again, because I just don't want to give them my money. Poor operations is one thing I see called out but is it just me who finds the attitude so awful?

Nobody dies from panic attacks.. The body over reacts to a feeling of entrapment and produces adrenaline, which causes the fight or flight reaction. If someone then can't flee through entrapment or in this case a need to be in that position, waiting to ride, They may hit the floor in a panic.. I saw a lot of guests in the exit queue with black wrist bands disappointed when I walked onto the front row. I think the staff are kind and fantastic! Operations could be a lot better but the business model works unfortunately.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

Nobody dies from panic attacks.. The body over reacts to a feeling of entrapment and produces adrenaline, which causes the fight or flight reaction. If someone then can't flee through entrapment or in this case a need to be in that position, waiting to ride, They may hit the floor in a panic.. I saw a lot of guests in the exit queue with black wrist bands disappointed when I walked onto the front row. I think the staff are kind and fantastic! Operations could be a lot better but the business model works unfortunately.

Sorry but having a panic attack in public can be one of the most awful and traumatic experiences anyone can experience, I don't think it's really appropriate to make light of that or suggest that those using exit passes are only doing so to covet the front row.

It sounds like an unfortunate incident and I'm sorry that it happened, there are sadly inconsistent attitudes towards disabilities across mainland Europe particularly hidden ones.

We know the park has a poor reputation for operations, but that's a wholly separate issue, no one should be made to feel discriminated against on a fun day out.

 

[Osaka12]

Sorry but having a panic attack in public can be one of the most awful and traumatic experiences anyone can experience, I don't think it's really appropriate to make light of that or suggest that those using exit passes are only doing so to covet the front row.

It sounds like an unfortunate incident and I'm sorry that it happened, there are sadly inconsistent attitudes towards disabilities across mainland Europe particularly hidden ones.

We know the park has a poor reputation for operations, but that's a wholly separate issue, no one should be made to feel discriminated against on a fun day out.

I'm not making light of panic. I myself received therapy for panic disorder a couple of years ago. So I'm pretty well placed to understand what this person was feeling.

I think also people are too quick to assume everyone is honest and honourable. During my last trip I met 2 families who were very open about boasting about their "fast passes". And I'm also not lying when I said there were people actively eyeing up the front from the exit. If corse RAP is important but absolutely abused.