oriolat

And it's running with less downtime! Ha!

I believe that outside Disney, B&M hypercoasters running 3 trains have the highest capacity on any coaster. According to RCDB, Silver Star can send 1,750 pph and so can blueFire (although that one is a Mack megacoaster). I really love seeing trains being dispatched and coming back to the station every few seconds. Oriol "Capacity dork" Monroig

This is the biggest news in Catalunya since PA was built back in the early 90s. Source: Yahoo! UK To sum things up, Barcelona and Madrid were sort of fighting to get the Eurovegas complex built by Sheldon Adelson. Since it looks that Madrid is getting away with it, the Catalan government has fought back by taking a step announcing this mega project. It will consist of six areas themed to China, the US, Europe, India, Russia and Brazil, each one featuring a 2,000-room hotel, casinos, shops and restaurants themed accordingly. What's even more surprising is that this project will sit on the expansion land that PA have. In fact, the aim of this project is to rocket the numbers from the current 4 million to 10 million every year. The whole thing is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

Well, "more American" doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be better. Remember that the European public expect different things at a theme park... Let's hope this brings some changes to the Studios once and for all because ever since they opened they have been the black sheep of the French resort.

- The sound that the train makes when disengagin the lift hill on an Arrow coaster. - Air-compressed brakes on an Arrow coaster. I love when they trim the train and open-close repeatedly. - B&M Roar.

^About 70 miles away. Or 1 hour by car and over an hour by train. It's really easy to get to the park, either by public transportation or by car.

Speaking of bizarre mine trains, El Diablo at PortAventura... The bit from the second lift to the third hill is a banked drop to... trims, to... more trims, to the third hill? Yeah, way to go, Arrow!

I don't think that's going to happen. KD is already the park with the most launched coasters in the world. Having yet another one would be pointless...

My thoughts exactly. I am especially concerned about the first row express issue. When you went was Shambhala on 2 or 3 trains? I have seen it just once run 3 trains, and they were stacking all the time and some times even double-stacking... BTW, I haven't noticed the B&M rattle you're talking about. Perhaps you caught a train with a bad wheel or something but I have had smooth-glass rides on Shambhala...

Yet another victim of a Batman clone...

^Yes. It would be nice to have some link to watch this since this won't be on air in Europe anytime soon, if ever... Oriol "As long as its legal(ish) " Monroig

Yay! I am looking forward to the next installment. Given that I worked at Tibidabo in the past I'd like to know how foreigners see this park. Your Barcelona photos are amazing (and that's coming from someone who knows Barcelona like the back of his hand) and I hope you liked the city.

Today Shambhala has got the longest queue since opening day (and it's not a bank or national holiday). On top of this, PA are working on the lighting in the splash pond so it has been drained and, thus, there is no splash... Source: PA-Community.com

Did I count 4 launches? Wow, that must cost a fortune to run! Looks like a nice family coaster but a bit of a waste of space...

Don't parks have a sort of 3-limb rule to go on rides? I feel sorry for that man not being able to ride anything at the park but, considering the Darien Lake incident, SFOver Texas did the right thing

I was really looking forward to ride Robin Hood and it turned out to be on pair with a RCCA in terms of roughness. It had the potential to be a solid airtime-filled coaster but it was killed by the tracking...

I wouldn't recommend going to Efteling on a Saturday. I went to Holland to do the same combo (Efteling+Walibi World) and went to Efteling on a Saturday, just to find 45+ min queues for every ride. Despite operations being quite good, every Dutch seemed to be in Efteling! Walibi, on the other side, had minimal waits throughout the day and we could reride Goliath without getting off! Both parks are amazing so have a great time! (Special mention to Joris en de Draak and Goliath )

Here there are some photos showing Shambhala at night with lift hill lights on (if you closely there's a crane working as of now, 1am). I must say the lighting package is very powerful! Source: Harman from PAFans.com

Yesterday I rode my first boomerang ever. It was Speed of Sound at Walibi Worl. I must say that the new trains are amazing and the sound and FX make this coaster enjoyable and very rerideable!

Should have put in a netting system to catch the netting system. Somebody is thinking like CF there

Besides Olympia, do you know what other rides are going to the Sommerdom? I am considering going to Hamburg just to check Olympia Looping out! Thanks!

I can't figure what those pieces are. Perhaps they belong to the netting system under the lift hill?

Shambhala has closed early today because two metal bars have fallen from the top of the lift hill structure (next to the splash) during operation. Source: Jivo from Bloggercoaster (uploaded to PA-C) Considering it's been open for just two weeks, I don't think PA will allow Shambhala to operate until they find what caused this. On a side note Baco has also been closed today because of technical difficulties (aka: Intamin curse )

We are talking about regular-sized people who happen to have big thighs (so they are not fat really). Plus, I know two coaster enthusiasts that have been on Silver Star and other B&M hypers with new-generation trains and have had no problems until Shambhala. Weird...

Here's my little TR of Shambhala's opening day. I won't write that much since I know that most of you will skip to the pictures anyway. I started my day a little late because I had been working until noon, so I got to the park at 2pm, when the Media Press preview was over. However, thanks to a friend (Jaume, thanks!) I got a Press pass. I hung out with some coaster friends in the press room and waited for Jaume to finish uploading the press material on his website. At 5pm we entered the park again and went straight to Shambhala through Sésamo Aventura's entrance. Stunning and unusual view of Khan! I was expecting the queue to be really long (some people stated that the line had reached 2 hours) but waited a lot less thanks to a special pass. As for the ride and area, here's a small description. The ride area is visually stunning and the coaster is jaw-dropping for those not familiar with 200+ feet structures. The fact that the coaster sort of interacts with Khan adds to the thrill and both coasters look a bit better than expected. There are lots of photo opportunities both for Khan and Shambhala and the splash viewing zone seemed to be a hit with non-riders. The coaster itself is what you would expect from a B&M hyper: rather tame in terms of forces but still very enjoyable and especially rerideable (I rode 5 times). The public seemed to absolutely love it because all trains would pull into the station with cheers and clapping. Although the lift seems endless, it goes up quite fast. The drop is a lot more intense than DK's or Silver Star's, especially back row. Tunnel makes for an amazing head-chopper. The first hill doesn't really have airtime and gives you a nice break. The ampersand turn is what makes the ride, really; it gives a disorienting sensation I have not felt on any other coaster: you see the train turning to the right but thanks to the irregular banking you don't really know where you are! Then there's an array of hills which starts with the speed hill (sudden pop of floater), followed by three hills, each with some moderate airtime. The MCBR hardly take any speed of the coaster and the turn after them comes unexpectedly with nice laterals. Then you have the final small hill, a bump (a la Goliath – SFOG) and then brakes. Although it's the second longest B&M it feels "short" and ride time is just over a minute. As for operations, it felt like the crew needed a bit more training because even with only 2 trains they were stacking them. Granted it was their first day, but even loading and unloading seemed a bit chaotic. I am sure this will improve now that (after two weeks) count-down clocks have been placed so that the bar checkers know how much time there's left to avoid stacking. Hopefully we will see regular 3-train operation soon! In terms of themeing, the coaster is not themed. The area is nicely landscaped (although it needs shade) and have some random pieces of themeing scattered throughout the splash plaza and the queue itself. Inside the queue building is nothing more than a bunch of cattlepen. Nice looking building, like the station, but don't expect anything like Expedition Everest's queue area. Onto the photos: That's the view you get entering via SésamoAventura And that's the view you get from Khan's plaza Bits of themeing past the entrance arch. You get to walk under Khan's big-ass loop through this random-yet-decently-themed tunnel. Unusual shots of Khan Lift hill upskirt. Lift hill enthusiasts rejoice! We are getting closer to Shambhala Dueling B&Ms? Huh, how is it going Dragon's Challenge? Index love Queue building and random man #1 That's a first in PA: a test seat. Apparently, those restraints are very restrictive. In fact I saw lots of riders being turned away because of the size of their thighs. Is this also usual in other B&M hyper models? You have up to four different lines to choose: Express line, first row, regular line and also single rider. First row line was insanely long so we skipped it! Regular line. Reminds me of Baco, in a bad way This was a nice surprise. They were not really running efficiently though since I spotted trains being dispatched with up to 9 empty seats. Spanish operations at their best! One of the two bridges connecting the station to the queue building. The back one has the regular and single rider lines, and this one has front row and Express lines. Random queue building photo Station also reminds me of Baco's or Diablo's. Nicely themed but a bit narrow. There are four sliding doors that lock personal items. Instead of getting them on the loading side, you get your items on the other side (like on Bluefire). This system was very efficient but lasted 2 days because people kept stealing bags and personal items. Now you leave and collect your crap on the same side, like on Khan... Shame! Über-nerdy shot! Lift hill can be spotted from miles around the park... It has really changed PA's skyline! Amazing first drop Splash #1 Splash #2. Almost Splash #3. Talk about bad timing. Doh! Up and away! The last three hills offer nice airtime! At least better than Silver Trim's Train coming back to the station with happy riders! You know a coaster it's a hit when everyone comes back with a smile on their faces and everyone is cheering and clapping when trains are dispatched or come back to the station I got a bit artsy, so I will post some artsy/random shots! Some bits of themeing around the area. Themeing and random man #2 Riders duck their head and lower their arms as soon as they cross the tunnel Saw this on the station's floor... Must be the concrete work company's signature... Jaume and I (right)! Thanks to Jaume for sharing the experience of being part of a coaster Media day! Thumbs up for Shambhala! Thanks for reading!