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PortAventura: General Discussion

Its nice to see I'm not the only person people argue with on here. I feel as if I'm on vacation. (At PortAventura WORLD of course, because it's FABULOUS.)
 
Enter Valhalla said:
It does amuse me that it was me who first started this whole discussion of how poor PA's operations are now I'm finding myself defending the park. If that's not being balanced then I don't know what is :D
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Hahahaha :tearsofjoy:

Well, I like to ramp things up a notch :tinfoil:

I still would visit many other parks before this one though, it's so far down on my list of "want to visit" it's ridiculous really.

I have absolutely no reason to have anything against the park, I would genuinely rather it was just better run.
 
If it doesn't appeal to you then fair enough, but I've visited 7-8 times in the past ten years in between visiting numerous other European parks.

Despite having been to a sizeable chunk of Europe's major parks, there's something about PortAventura which keeps me going back and it's more than just how good I consider the coasters to be (now that really IS one area which divides opinion)

For me, despite its flaws, it's still my favourite park in Europe. I said this back in 2005 when it was one of the only theme parks on the continent which I had visited and I'm still saying it now in 2016 when I've visited around 15+ major European theme parks outside of the U.K.

I love it but I know a lot of people don't. So my conclusion would be that you may like it, you may not. Therefore it is completely down to personal taste and opinion and very little about facts as you claimed. Its 4 star Trip Advisor rating backs up my theory that it's down to opinion and not fact.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I love it but I know a lot of people don't. So my conclusion would be that you may like it, you may not. Therefore it is completely down to personal taste and opinion and very little about facts as you claimed. Its 4 star Trip Advisor rating backs up my theory that it's down to opinion and not fact.
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I'd disagree on the latter based on people's level of expectations, and who I see reviewing in what way.

However in terms of it being personal, what we enjoy in terms of our days out, that I do agree with - there to me, remain cold hard facts, but if despite all those flaws there's something that still draws you in, then good (seriously) because you're enjoying it.

Ultimately that's what a theme park is for despite our view differences.
 
I think it's important to remember that Port Aventura is owned by an investment bank and self managed. It very much effects the manner in which the park is going to be run.

The cost of staffing such a resort is colossal, and the largest "controllable cost" in remaining profitable. If they can skimp on staff and still get by, then they will, simple business decision. It will be someone's job to work out where they can save money, and identify where staff numbers can be cut down. But if people are starting to notice and creating petitions it's time to reconsider those low establishment levels on staffing... Unless it's not affecting visitation levels (and it doesn't seem to be) then maybe they will just stay the course. Which are you expecting from an investment bank?
 
I've been visiting the park since 2007 and staffing has always been the same. Attendance figures seem to perform well so they have never and will not change how thing operate for now. Given the park sits next to a major holiday resort they will always have a pull of guests.
 
James said:
I've been visiting the park since 2007 and staffing has always been the same. Attendance figures seem to perform well so they have never and will not change how thing operate for now. Given the park sits next to a major holiday resort they will always have a pull of guests.
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Numbers have fallen though. I don't have the statistics to hand right now but I know that they used to get around the same numbers as Europa Park and there were a few years (I think around 2009-10) when attendance dropped around 10%.

PA management will have needed to seriously look into that and, based on my experience, front line spending has decreased since then. More rides now open late, you see more days of rides running with less staff on platforms than you would have done 5-10 years back and you now see off peak days where rides close altogether. This will be a direct reponse to falling attendance and will have been done to cut costs.

Since the introduction of Shabhala it would seem that attendance has now greatly picked up. It's therefore now time for PA to sort out staffing levels to mirror attendance. By this I mean on quiet days keep staff levels low, but increase the number of staff to represent demand. That's how UK parks operate and to me it just seems like a no-brainer.
 
Found this delightful gif while browsing TPR
k5en4Ei.gif


or https://i.imgur.com/k5en4Ei.gif if the embed didn't work

I've not ridden Baco, but that isn't making me want to either! :p
 
I'm actually quite surprised the ride hasn't literally ripped itself apart. Truly appalling.

I'd love to see a full slo-mo video with a good frame rate.
 
It doesn't even look that rattley at that point. Try watching an on-ride DVD, people rattle around all over the place. However, people still have their hands up in the air so it can't be that bad, like I keep saying, a lot of people still enjoy the ride. I'd say that the vast majority of the ride's criticism comes from the enthusiast community. I see so many people re-ride it at quiet periods and I've visited with countless non-enthusiasts, all of whom have spoken very positively about the ride.
 
My Mum (64) will only go on rides as big as Big Thunder Mountain at the Disney Parks, but when we go to PortAventura, she'll always go on Furius Baco and yes she says it's rough, but thats what makes it fun. So if she can go on it then it's really not that bad.
 
Got to love the cases put forward for it being "really not that bad"! :tearsofjoy:

If it wasn't that bad then they wouldn't have had to close off outside seats on three rows - that is a fact! Please give me a list of other coasters where parks have had to take this measure because of how rough/shakey a coaster is?

:)
 
Rob said:
Got to love the cases put forward for it being "really not that bad"! :tearsofjoy:

If it wasn't that bad then they wouldn't have had to close off outside seats on three rows - that is a fact! Please give me a list of other coasters where parks have had to take this measure because of how rough/shakey a coaster is?

:)
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My guess as to why they've done this would be due to potentially false injury/ health claims from people who found the ride uncomfortable from those seats and, in their heads, uncomfortable means unsafe and a potential money maker.

I agree that SOME people do find Baco more uncomfortable than is satisfactory. I feel that way about a lot of Vekoma SLCs and some Pinfari coasters, but what's worth considering about Baco is that it isn't rough in the same way, it's just uncomfortable because of the vibrations, some people can cope with this, others can't. You seem, like many people on this forum, to be one of those people who can't handle the vibrations and finds them too uncomfortable to enjoy the ride.

There are numerous other people though who don't feel this way and who enjoy he ride despite its vibrations. It's still an intense and enjoyable coaster which attracts long queues (I know it has a lower throughput before anyone says that, I've seen its queue almost double the length of other coasters in the park) and, for me anyway, it's my favourite launch coaster in Europe and I would rate it ahead of many others which I've ridden.

I must admit that I have lost a bit of love for Baco on my last visit though :( Still a great ride though if you ask me
 
You say false injury claims - that would mean that they are indeed false therefore it would not be a problem for PA and the ride could run as normal. They must think that there is a real problem to close those rows. I could claim fasle injury on the back outside seat of Shambhala or any other coaster for that matter - why aren't these closed? There is a fundamental problem with Baco. I can only imagine it is shaking itself to peices anyway, it was making some very unusual sounding noises as we went round last month as well. The maintenance costs must be large.

Also, I still don't think it can be disputed that the layout is bland. The launch packs a great punch but it does nothing after that, if it was smooth you'd be falling asleep!

:)
 
No ride should ever be manufactured/reach a point where parts of it are closed off for H&S purposes. There's simply no defense for Baco in these circumstances.
 
Im sure whatever issues Furius Baco currently has e.g. rows being closed, will be corrected by the start of the 2016 season.

Its a marmite ride, you either love it or hate it.
 
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