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Unpopular Opinions: Theme Park Edition

I have a couple of possibly unpopular opinions following my recent visit to Spain, where I visited PortAventura for the first time:
  • PortAventura’s operations, queues and Express Pass usage are really not that bad, on the whole - I’d hesitate to call the park’s operations fast or exceptional by any stretch of the imagination, but I’d also hesitate to call them absolutely abysmal like I was led to believe they might be. Based on my experience there, I didn’t find the operations as atrociously terrible as I was led to believe they might be; Shambhala tended to run 2 trains and do about 800pph, Khan tended to run 2 trains and do about 700-800pph, Baco ran 2 trains and did about 700pph when I timed for an extended period, Stampida ran 2 trains per side and got a combined 1,200-1,300pph… I’ve seen far worse than this! This could be in part due to the fact I visited in early September, but a major Catalonian bank holiday (listed as a “very high” influx day on PortAventura’s website) fell during my visit, and in terms of queues and Express Pass usage, I found the park no worse than a UK Merlin park on an average to busy day. The longest I waited all trip was 60 minutes for Shambhala on the first day, and unlike our Merlin parks back home, I found it relatively easy to find major-ish attractions on short queues. Stampida didn’t go above 20 minutes all trip, and neither did Tomahawk, El Diablo, Street Mission or any of the water rides, to name just a few examples. Express Pass definitely existed, but usage and allocation did not appear to be excessive compared to other parks I’ve visited, and I should also add that single rider queues were effectively operated where present and batchers were overall pretty good at filling trains.
  • I prefer Stealth to Red Force - Despite the latter’s vastly increased speed and height, I found myself marginally giving the nod to Stealth over Red Force. Red Force, I found, had a slightly odd rattle on the launch even in row 2 that Stealth doesn’t, but the main reason I found myself preferring Stealth is that I think this ride style does fractionally miss something without the hydraulic launch. Red Force is an absolutely excellent coaster and still provides speed and airtime in droves, but there’s something about that hydraulic launch on Stealth that Red Force doesn’t quite match for me.
  • I found Stampida marginally more uncomfortable than Furius Baco - Personally, I found Stampida a little less comfortable than Furius Baco. Both sides are pretty rough in places (albeit not quite the roughest woodies I’ve ever ridden), and with the trains also pinning you into your seat and providing no padding, I thought it made for a rather uncomfortable experience. Baco, on the other hand… while it’s by no means a comfortable experience, and still a bit too rough for my own liking, I did not find it quite as bad as I was expecting and would say that it was not rough enough to fit that “worst coaster ever” mold for me like it does for some. I admittedly sat in the relatively unremarkable row 4 inner seat both times I did it, however…
 
I'm not of the opinion of the last 2. But that's just purely personal preferences. I like a nice rough and ready woody throwing me around. I suppose a good smash in the side of the head from those solid Intamin over the shoulders dampened the experience, but I still enjoyed Baco nonetheless. Speaking of those same restraints, it's a key reason behind me enjoying Red Force over Stealth. Stealth has a far better launch in every regard, but Red Force has those very comfortable lap restraints, and the airtime over the top hat I absolutely adore. Out of your seat all the way down. I suppose if I didn't have the luxury of it being walk-on, I would probably put more of an emphasis on the launch being the main feature.

I have to agree on operations though. I can't say that the figures you suggested are good for such a busy park. On my last day the park was rammed, but there was no point in Shambalha running 3 trains because I frequently watched it stack, sometimes with 1 in the station and the other 2 on the brake run! But "not as bad as expected" is how I'd describe PA in terms of operations. Far better than anything I've experienced at Towers and Chessington in the last couple years. Far from decent, but tolerable I'd say. I found it quite easy to get everything I wanted to done within a couple of days with plenty of school trips on park. Opening hours are decent so you can manage your pace, there's always stuff to do when the main attractions are queued up, and from memory I didn't queue more than an hour for anything.
 
Matt N said:
I have a couple of possibly unpopular opinions following my recent visit to Spain, where I visited PortAventura for the first time:
  • PortAventura’s operations, queues and Express Pass usage are really not that bad, on the whole
Click to expand...
PortAventura appointed a new park director last November and it seems that there has been an improvement in regards to operational practices. It was always a park I wanted to visit but was put off of going to due to its reputation for very long queues that didn’t move but after seeing a TPWW vlog from the start of the season where Shaun mentioned that he thought the park had improved operations under the new director I took the plunge to visit and was very glad I did.

Also Matt I note that your nice new profile pic looks somewhat familiar…😉
I did a double take earlier looking at the thumbnails by the forum posts thinking that I’d made a bunch of posts I didn’t remember making!
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Also Matt I note that your nice new profile pic looks somewhat familiar…😉
I did a double take earlier looking at the thumbnails by the forum posts thinking that I’d made a bunch of posts I didn’t remember making!
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, it’s actually my own picture that I took on my phone! Clearly having Shambhala’s entrance as a profile picture is very common… although I believe I have the opposite archway to the one you have! You look like you have the one coming from SesamoAventura, whereas I have the one coming from Mexico…

Perhaps I should have stuck with Mako if I wanted a less common profile picture…
 
Matt N said:
Believe it or not, it’s actually my own picture that I took on my phone! Clearly having Shambhala’s entrance as a profile picture is very common… although I believe I have the opposite archway to the one you have! You look like you have the one coming from SesamoAventura, whereas I have the one coming from Mexico…

Perhaps I should have stuck with Mako if I wanted a less common profile picture…
Click to expand...
Just don't pick a goose. 🪿
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Also Matt I note that your nice new profile pic looks somewhat familiar…😉
I did a double take earlier looking at the thumbnails by the forum posts thinking that I’d made a bunch of posts I didn’t remember making!
Click to expand...
I did notice. Take note that I've never seen you and @Matt N in the same place at the same time.......
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Just don't pick a goose. 🪿
Click to expand...
Oh ****. Well that's that idea out the window. Consider myself pecked!
 
Following my visit to Blackpool on Wednesday, I have a potentially unpopular view that I’m unsure if I’ve ever aired before; I like Icon significantly more than Blue Fire.

A lot of people always say that Blue Fire is significantly better and it’s not even a contest, but I disagree. I have Icon ranked at #9/135 and placed in my 10/10 tier, while I have Blue Fire ranked at #23/135 and placed in my 8/10 tier.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought Blue Fire was really decent… but I felt it lacked a certain something. It was a great ride, but for lack of a better term, I found it a bit soulless. It was very comfortable, and had some good speed and the odd good bit of hangtime, but I thought it lacked airtime and just generally lacked a bit of that pure laugh-inducing fun factor for me.

With Icon, on the other hand, I ride it and find myself smiling, laughing and finding the thing utterly joyous from start to end! It just feels like you’re twisting and floating all over the place, with loads of great bits of airtime and hangtime, some really fun twists and turns, and a great sense of speed, and I just absolutely love it! For me, Icon is pure fun, and has that pure laugh-inducing fun factor I mentioned above in absolute spades!
 
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