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PortAventura: General Discussion

My main problem with PA is simply the lack of rides that I actually like. I will probably return once Ferrari land opens, but there are a lot of other parts I'm more interested in visiting in the meantime
 
Enter Valhalla said:
As a resort, PortAventura is now huge and I am pleased to see the Beach Club returning. If further hotels are to be built, which is inevitable really I'd like them to be smaller and to be built all around the park and to be representative of the area which they are next to. PA do a fabulous job when it comes to theming and an Asian hotel behind Shambhala would be spectacular. I'd like to see an access path built all around the park to link the hotels. At the moment the only way to get from Hotel PA to Gold River after park hours is to ask the bell boys to drive you in the hotel car via the servicee road (which they've always been more than happy to do for me to be fair to them) but this doesn't give a resort feel. It just feels like hotels and parks scaterred around.

I see a good future for PortAventura, one which I look forward to. I do think it's a shame that certain members of this forum are so negative about PortAventura, I understand alot of peoples' concerns but the place surely isn't that bad overall? It's a more complete all round resort package than Phantasialand, Efteling, Parc Asterix, Gardaland or, dare I say it, Europa Park in my opinion and as a single park it's probably my favourite in Europe.
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PortAventura is undoubtedly a great resort. For starters it is on the Mediterranean coast with lovely hot and sunny weather for much of the year - a perfect resort climate. Then the park is one of the best themed parks in Europe, it exceeded my expectations greatly when I visited in 2013. You've got plenty of hotels (probably too many actually). Gold River is fantastic with lovely swimming pools. Then there is a decent waterpark to make use of. We had 5 days there and did not get bored.

However there are flaws. The park lacks a number of quality rides. Shambhala and Khan are top notch but after that you are really stuggling. We all know that the park needs a good dark ride but they seem relectant to look into one. A really good fun family coaster would also be a great addition.

As I said early the waterpark is decent but only decent. They should look into improving this considering the climate that it is located in. Right now it feels like a waterpark that you would visit if you were staying at the resort. It must be in a location where it could become an attraction in its own right, something that people would visit for the day even if the theme park was not there.

They also need more resort entertainment. Gold River was great but there was no atmosphere in the bar and apart from some kids activity thing early in the evening there was not much going on.

Some people are slightly negative towards PA on here although it is a minority. As I said I think it is a great resort, but a resort with flaws. It certainly has potential. I am really not sure that a small Ferrari themed park is the right way to fulfil this potential. However I will look at returning once it is built.

:)
 
I agree that they need to do something to link all the parks together - perhaps a monorail? However the costs of such things are very high. The hotels are just too scattered about and in some cases oversized.

PortAventura is a beautiful theme park and aside from the obvious candidates (Disney principally but also possibly Efteling) it is probably the most visually striking in Europe in terms of purely area theming (although not on-ride theming).

The main bone of contention I have always had with PortAventura is simply the fact that 1/2 of the rollercoasters I do not think are very good at all (in fact, not just very good, I find them really very poor) and I have never rated the operational standards at the park. If they were to sort that then it will improve immeasurably. Ferrari Land will also add, presumably, 2 or 3 high quality attractions into the resort mix, which will again improve the hardware aspect of the resort. I accept that the perceived 'negativity' on here (and there are other forums too) perhaps comes across as over harsh, but ultimately, PA is one of the most major parks in Europe and therefore is going to attract more of a spotlight.

I can definitely understand why, even if you've visited all the big boys in Europe, why you would find PortAventura to be the best. It has sun, beaches and some super area theming. It also has some great shows. However, if you have only been to PortAventura, I would definitely suggest branching out to some of the other countries big parks and it least seeing what some other parks do better, even if you don't think they're better in every way.

Definitely looking forward to going back in 2016.

:)
 
I would definitely agree with Dan that it is well worth visiting some of the other major European theme park resorts to get some balance. I know that there are alot of people who do just keep returning to PA and not giving any other resorts a chance which I think is a shame. PA was actually the first European theme park resort I visited back in 2005 and have since been to Europa, Efteling, Phantasialand, DLP, Gardaland, Parc Asterix and various other non-resort theme parks on the continent.

Operations wise PA is one of the worst sadly (although not as bad as Parque de Atracciones Madrid which is the worst I've seen anywhere). PA are certainly the worst for staggerred openings which I know annoys alot of people but has never really been a big issue for me as I tend to just get to the park for about 11:45 each morning, which I don't mind doing since most of the rides open late and the breakfasts at the hotels are top notch, plus it's in the Spanish culture to get up later so I like to be a local :D

In terms of ride hardware, I disagree about the coasters, although all opinions on coasters is entirely subjective so I appreciate others thinking differently. I really wnjoy Baco, Stampida and Shambhala and find Dragon Khan to be the weakest coaster (although still enjoyable). I would actually say in terms of thrill rides PA has the best collection of any park in Europe, Hurakan Condor is awesome too. But again this is down to personal opinion.

I do object to the way templo del fuego only opens at peak times and would say that this is wholly unnecessary, especially during the Christmas holiday period when the park definitely had enough people to justify opening it.

Despite what I see as the quite minor flaws of PA, I still keep returning there and favouring it over the other resorts I have visited in Europe. I do love Europa, Efteling and randomly Terra Mitica (not even sure why of the latter) but PA are still that bit better in my eyes. The theming is stunning, the atmosphere is great, even during quiet peridos, the shows are spectacular and although the stagerred ride openings are a pain, the late opening hours in the evenings are great, even during off peakk periods when the park still shuts at 7-8pm. Also it's one of the best value resorts in Europe and Salou isn't a bad place to spend an evening. There's some nicer, more relaxed bars and restaurants in town, you just have to look for them.
 
PortAventura is definitely good value and since it's a newer park, it was designed with things like major shows in mind. A lot of the older parks are located in proximity to villages and have grown far more organically so they simply can't do things like Fiestaventura. I must say that FA is one of my top shows I have seen outside of Disney/Puy du Fou.

A few days there would generally cost you only around 2/3 of what you spend on an equivalent trip to Europa-Park or Phantasialand which makes it popular with UK tourists.

That said, the German parks don't discount presumably as they feel they don't need to - but PortAventura (and DLP) have to because they have such massive room stock that they end up doing cheaper deals.

The atmosphere at PA at night is really good, in particular. Although I do like my quaint stuff that you find at the likes of Efteling or EP!

On a sourer note, I have never seen Templo del Fuego in my two breaks to PortAventura as it has always been closed...

:(
 
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I have to say its nice reading through this topic and not seeing PA get slated for a change. It does have its flaws which everyone is a aware of, some of which I don't see to be as bigger deal as others make out to be, but I think the world-class theming, wide range of shows and general park atmosphere make up for. At one point PortAventura seemed to stand still and wasn't really moving forward, but in the last few years the Resort has grown rapidly in terms of size, new attractions, refurbishments and shows.

PortAventura is now Europe's second largest Theme Park Resort!

On a different note, A Ferrari Land press release has stated PortAventura is now the second largest Theme Park Resort in Europe behind Disneyland Paris. The Resort currently consists of 2 Parks, 5 Hotels, 3 Golf Courses, Beach Club and Lumine Volcano, with another Park and Hotel opening next year as part of the Ferrari Land development.
 
TheMaus said:
You're like a one man advertising beacon! :D

Having nicknamed @AstroDan "EuroDan" I think you're next lad.

"SirPortAventuranon"

It's not quite as catchy...
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What can I say, these world class Theme Park's just advertise themselves ;)

Usually there's never any news but this year there's something new every day! :D
 
I think it's really good to see PortAventura come out of what seemed to be a very slow, slightly stagnant period which took place arounnd the park's 15th anniversary. I agree that a few years PA did seem to be standing still. Alot has improved and development is ocurring far more rapidlly. It's also good to see minor improvements such as LED queue time boards instead of the old black boards which they used to use. And proper height sticks at the entrances to rides instead of those Chupa-Chupps sponsoreed ones. Looks far more profesional.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I think it's really good to see PortAventura come out of what seemed to be a very slow, slightly stagnant period which took place arounnd the park's 15th anniversary. I agree that a few years PA did seem to be standing still. Alot has improved and development is ocurring far more rapidlly. It's also good to see minor improvements such as LED queue time boards instead of the old black boards which they used to use. And proper height sticks at the entrances to rides instead of those Chupa-Chupps sponsoreed ones. Looks far more profesional.
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Which reminds me of another update ;) Chupa-Chupps now sponsors Vuelo En Globo (the balloon ride in China). The balloons have been replaced with Chupa-Chupps skins with tiny logos on the bottom, although if you didn't already know you couldn't tell the difference.
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The thing is, during that standstill period some folks were still declaring it all this and that.

Second largest in terms of? Area?

As it isn't in terms of guests nor number of attractions.
 
AstroDan said:
The thing is, during that standstill period some folks were still declaring it all this and that.

Second largest in terms of? Area?

As it isn't in terms of guests nor number of attractions.
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Yes in terms of size. We all know Europa Park got 5 million guests ;)
 
Alton Towers is probably bigger than Europa-Park too. And so I would imagine is Efteling.
 
Whatever they do is pretty meaningless until they address the park's ENORMOUS flaws:

1) The worst operations, throughputs and queuejump ticket abundance in any major park in Europe.

2) Three out of five of their major coasters being nothing short of an atrocity, with two of them arguably being the worst steel and wood coasters in the world.

Fast Car Land won't change either of those gaping flaws, it'll simply be a shiny sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
 
Sam said:
Whatever they do is pretty meaningless until they address the park's ENORMOUS flaws:

1) The worst operations, throughputs and queuejump ticket abundance in any major park in Europe.

2) Three out of five of their major coasters being nothing short of an atrocity, with two of them arguably being the worst steel and wood coasters in the world.

Fast Car Land won't change either of those gaping flaws, it'll simply be a shiny sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
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I think that your dislike of PA is well known, but point number 2 is very unfair. It's your opinion, I have had this discussion with you before, there's no such thing as th "best" or "worst" coaster because opinioons are entirely subjective. There are nnumerous people out there who love Baco, just becuase you an your friends don't like it does't mean that everyone feels the same. It's a realy popular ride. Why would PA remove one of their most popular coasters just to keep you and a few other Towers enthusiasts happy? The public love Baco, it always seems to run two trains even at quieter periods and still gets queues as long, and often longer, than the B&Ms on the other side of the park which are only using one train. I imagne Stamapida is also quite popular, not to the same extent as Baco but certainly not all park visitors describe it as an atrocity.

I agree that operations aren't the best but you can't just keep speaing your pesonal opinions on those two coasters as thoough they are facts. It just isn't fair to do so. And before you quote Mitch Hawker figures at me, I would advise you that 99.9999% of park visitors wont have taken part in that poll. I know I neve have.
 
1) It happens at every Theme Park, other than putting barbed wire over the queue lines theres not much they can do. I've seen guests removed from queue's before for queue jumping, they can't do much more than that.

2) Furius Baco, Dragon Khan, Stampida and El Diablo are all major attractions and prove to be very popular with guests. If they were so bad people wouldn't go on them.

We all know where you stand with PortAventura so I'm not getting into it, but that's your opinion and this is mine.
 
I think the general view amongst the wider theme park community is that Furius Baco and Stampida are poor, whilst the two B&M coasters are absolutely world class. Perhaps focus on the positives in that statement rather than the negatives. Not all parks have 100% good coasters in everyone's eyes.

I follow several forums and these views aren't confined to Towersstreet.

Baco has a very poor throughput (less than half Shambhala's) so obviously has to run two trains.

It's not some kind of campaign - there are crap coasters at a lot of parks - including my favourites. Schweizer Bob Bahn is appalling, for example.

:)
 
Haha. People who like Baco and Stampida are... odd. Also *tend* not to have ridden that many other foreign coasters. The operations is in undeniable fact - not opinion.
 
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