rollin_n_coastin

Loved Spider Man and really looking forward to this. I'm a huge transformers fan but I'm not at all a fan of the Michael Bay movies, which really doesn't matter. Universal has such a great ability to take something with lasting recognition and make fantastic attractions out of them. Now that I think about it, I wasn't a fan of most of the movies that Universal bases their attractions on but I've been a huge fan of the attractions themselves.

You run the risk of a sore neck? Ok good...I was worried that if one couldn't touch their feet that at best you couldn't ride and at worst, you'd be the Premier's muse for a day Fantastic pics! Who doesn't love Panadas? Our city managed to negotiate with China back in the 90s for two newborn panadas at the time to be loaned to the zoo. They're still building the enclosures and prepping the very specific food and supplies needed for China's approval prior to releasing them. It's great that they are well protected it seems.

I am absolutely loving the country's take on fully licensed intellectual properties. I'm shocked that the Mickey hasn't frightened away all children. On a more serious note, what happens if you fail to stretch before riding?

Montu in the summer of '96. It was almost Kumba but it was closed for annual maintenance. Hardly anyone at the park so my sister and I just rode it over and over. I will always remember it as being the coaster that got me more into coasters and also learning that inverts don't have to bash your head alla home park Top Gun SLC

Truth be told, I wouldn't trade that Blue Streak back seat ride for anything. Legitimately scary and thrilling

^Thanks Oli! Really glad that I kept my Euro park skepticism in check and decided to check out what turned out to be such a great place! Thanks for correcting the hotel info! Say hi to the family for me! Coming soon....another perspective on Alton Towers by photo!

This is great! The park is so creepy on its own that I'd pay to just walk through in the dark at night with lanterns. That coupled with the fact that you feel like you will die on Blue Streak, especially when riding the back seat, and you have the foundation for a great haunt event. To be fair, it seems like even parks as big as Universal are charging the same or more and giving much less compared to prior years. I don't think it'll change until the economy improves. It sounds like they are doing as much as they can with their resources and hopefully collecting an appropriate portion of ticket sales.

Larry, thanks for keeping us in the loop on this! So cool to see creativity go into a family friendly attraction over a generic set up. The passion being put into building and restoring really is refreshing to see.

^^Thanks Ben! Aside from Alton, if you're a Euro B&M fan, you'll love Port Aventura. ^Chuck, same here. The hotel was a huge surprise. I've never stayed on property at a theme park resort before. This park in particular has really nailed a good formula - location, substance and style. Speaking to location a bit more, Salou is a very inexpensive resort 'train' ride away. Tons of night life, tacky tourist shops and beautiful beaches to appeal to a lot of people I'm sure. Here is the last set of picks for Port Aventura and Salou. Next up - A stop over in the UK to visit the Brit Crew and check out Alton Towers. This is party train! Riding one of these tram things in main streets is a bit frightening, not gonna lie. Bars and clubs as far as the eye can see! Who doesn't love the NBA? This woman was caught up in the tacky tourist shop area. Anyone try this out before? The fish eat the dead skin off of your feet? Let's take a closer look! After a great weekend, it was back to Italy. Life is good!

Did anyone else find that the funniest line in this forum came from Prince Desmond, "(Sent from my Windows Surface)"? With the exception of Morey's I'm not sure what else of substantial quality is in the area. Sucks that the other piers lost major parts of their business but as long as the owners themselves and their houses are ok, I think they'll bounce back.

Staying on property was great. I stayed at Hotel Gold River, the newest property, as it was the most affordable at the time of booking. This is one of five hotels and is attached to the Far West section of the park. It only included full breakfast. The other hotels had minimum stay lengths and were all-inclussive. European hotels can be hit or miss on features and amenities so hopefully this can give a sense of what a typical resort hotel and Port Aventura's theming is like to anyone considering staying on property. The outside entrance. The main building with check-in, concierge, rooms and breakfast buffet and bar. Lobby atrium The exit to the other room buildings. The proof of resort guest card. This will allow you to enter the park, is your room key and allows you to charge items to your room throughout the park. My room was in here facing the pool area. Standard single Pool area view The hotel property walkways The hotel's entrance to the park

^But, will it be better than Potter?

This can only be good. It sounds like they'll have some great resources to further the brand. With Marvel and LucasFilm, Disney may never shake the kids, family and princesses image, which is why buying such established brands and their audiences is a great move.

I asked myself how families spending up to a week at the resort would find things to do? One of the ways is in the number of shows offered that for a theme park, are quite good. Each night ends with the Sesame Street parade and a really cool show in the lake. One of the unpleasant issues with the shows are that their theme songs will be burned into your subconscious for decades even if you never see them. They are on every channel and advertised everywhere Here are a few pics This Polynesian traditional dance show was beautiful and as authentic as it gets. Beware-audiance participation happens here! Well, if you ever wanted to see a Spanish MJ or Gaga...this show is for you. Music Generation sure got the kids dancin' in the aisles. There are classics and oddities like the bird man here, and the bubble man.

Day 2 at the park Coming out of Hotel Gold River's entrance to the park. Walking to meet friends at the main entrance staying at another hotel meant a walk through the Far West area. One of many family flat rides. Baco on the way to the front entrance. The main ticketing area and entrance. It was shaping up to be a very hot and busy day. The fast pass bracelet was worth every cent! Polynesian area An amazing Sesame Street themed area. Busch should take notes. Let's take a closer look at two of the best attractions at the park. This is Shambhala, B&M's newest hyper coaster. Shambhala is quite simply the best of the new B&M hypers/giga built to date. I think it combines the best of Behemoth and Leviathan to make it so. It looks fantastic too! Intense El Toro, Skyrush or Bizarro air? Nope, but for a new B&M hyper, it had much more than expected, especially in the back row. Some Himalayan rock work along the way. Our line for the weekend with our fast pass wrist bands. How about checking out the now classic Dragon Khan? They sure don't build them like they used to! The first drop sneaking under Shambhala's lift. Make no mistake, this is a very intense ride. Shambhala provides some great balance to the park with Baco and Khan. A view from the great wall.. Love that turn around! Leaving China and heading to Mexico! El Diablo is a pretty good mine train! Got that TPR Trivia App players? Ah yes, a 328 ft drop tower. Just what the doctor ordered. Hurakan Condor is a ride that is not on the fast past system so it was a bit of a wait. I think this is tied with Fritt Fall at Grona Lund for scariest tower for me. I'll end the rides section with a roller coaster that I haven't mentioned up until now. Not only is it the roughest coaster at the park, I think Stampida takes the prize for the most painful roller coaster ever. Let's just say that the metal and plastic trains don't work well with human impact on a very rough coaster. The Tomahawk junior wooden coaster next door was a lot of fun though and a great surprise.

No TPR trip in 2012 meant it was finally time to head back to Italy to do non-coaster stuff and enjoy seeing my family and friends, many of who I had not seen in almost eight years. It was one of the best vacations I've had for many different reasons. It was simple really. I would get up early and hit the beach with my cousins, then go home and enjoy authentic home cooked meals. Throw in lots of great discussions with many Italians over wine along with checking out the most amazing surroundings of the Abruzzo region and you have a perfect vacation. For the most part, that is exactly how it went. But honestly, once you get that itch and know that friends will be close to so called roli-coaster places that you also happen to be close to for a few weeks, you jump on the chance to squeeze in a few diversions. One of these involved a weekend trip to visit Olivier (DraganKhan) to check out Port Aventura along with the neighbouring beach resort area of Salou. I didn't really know anything about Port Aventura. It really blew me away in terms of how beautiful it was. A very exotic looking IOA if that makes sense? Fantastic coasters (with an exception--see if you can guess which one) and a very nice collection of flats throughout for Europe. One of the most well-rounded parks that I've seen in Europe for sure. The hotels are quite nice and the theming throughout was beyond expectations. Even more so as it wasn't even expected in the first place. Would I go back? Absolutely. A beautiful beach and park adjacent to each other. What's not to love? Port Aventura Park, Shows, Resort Hotel and beach Up first, Day 1 at the park! The trip started at this little regional airpot. After a connection in Milan, I was on my way. Barcelona airport has to be one of the nicest ones that I've seen. This is a live Duty Free shop ad. Unfortunately, she only asked little kids to dance with her... Salou offers group transfers from the airport, which made the trip logistics so easy to deal with. This is the view upon arriving to Salou. Here is the Italy/ Mediterranean portion of the park. The best themed Mediterranean area that I've ever seen attempted. This mysterious blue track is part of the fastest coaster in Europe. After not riding that many intense coasters over the season, Furious Baco literally made me remember what intense on a coaster really feels like. OMG insane. A little bouncy and rough around the edges? Sure! But I'd ride it again and again. The new for 2012 ride in the background showing off the best hyper coaster turnaround ever built. Main entrance The Polynesian area of the park. Entering China, which is home to the biggest rides in the Park, Dragon Khan and Shambhala. You've heard the stories. You know the legend. Is it really an intense, forceful and incredible B&M? You betcha! If you love Kumba, you will love Dragon Khan. New for 2012 - Shambhala. I believe this area's theming was recently completed just before summer and it looks fantastic. A few ups and downs. Day one ran well into day 2 with Noche Blanca! How about some 2am rides? Sure! The night ended with a last ride on Baco. Tip--if you're really tired, Baco will finish you off for the day after slapping you around good like What Noche Blanca party would be complete without a foam party by Dragon Khan?

He's a comedian doing a piece for a national mock news/ journal/ variety show. It was all a comedy routine so of course facts don't matter as long as you laugh. Yes, he was pretending to be a pilot. Again the spiel and tone were both accurate so who cares about exact numbers? I find it really funny that someone can analyze a comedy set. Loved it and the show overall as well

LOL it wasn't really around a lot in '09. I bought one anyway -- it was too odd to pass up I can't wait to see what this is. I'm sure it'll be top notch.

Ah, the coasters of Cedar Point. Isn't that a DVD? I always think of where Imwant to run to first: Maverick Millennium Force TTD Magnum Wicked Twister Raptor Blue Streak Gemini The rest For anyone who's ridden a Wing Rider, any thoughts on where Gate Keeper would fit in? Based on Swarm, I'd put a wing rider either before or after Raptor.

I was sad to hear that they're removing that ride as well. It would have been cool if they could have re-located it to another part of the park. The one at Grona Lund had the best cycle out of all the ones that I've been on. One issue is that they are pretty slow to load/ unload. I'm sure whatever they replace it with will be fantastic though.

Japan sounds fantastic and would be my first choice. So much history and awesome. The parks look funky too But, if for some reason you're looking for an alternative that is closer or just in case Japan doesn't work out, I would go back to Sweden/ Scandinavia in a heart beat.

^We've established that no one knows what it is and that it could be anything--most likely some sort of roller coaster. Hanno may not be too far off since Grona Lund also has to adhere to strict noise levels. Again, it's all just fun speculation... Also, no one is counting out Intamin. That would be incredible if they return to the park.

That's the one! This park is fantastic. A very cool owner who helped operate Piraten when we were there even during ERT. Love the Canadian log ride and raft ride with the nice surprise at the end. Getting soaked on a Topple Tower was also interesting. Oh, and an Intamin Mega Lite? Worth the price of admission alone! Since they have two great steel coasters for a park of its size, I think this will end up being a wooden coaster....hopefully an awesome GG with Timberliners....but who knows? I'm sure it will be a great ride and really fit in. The owner didn't seem too impressed with Intamin's help or lack thereof with Piraten's outstanding problems/ issues at the time that we rode during opening year. I'm sure those have been worked out so that they could be considered for another ride one day.

Chuck, you continue to make history and imminent death experiences entertaining and fun That shuttle loop really does sound frightening. So frightening in fact that it could be the next big thing at Alton. Can't wait to see the rest!

Just made me realise how awesome a Ghostbusters dark ride would be. Why hasn't this been done yet??? Gets me all tingly just thinking about it... It was a fantastic ride/ show at least....then they ripped it out to put in Twister at Universal Orlando