Photo TR: Divv's Spanish Aventura

[Divv3k]

Well I'm not long back from another foreign theme park adventure and so of course a trip report must follow! Although this one won't be quite as epic as my last trip report I hope you enjoy it (even if it's pretty similar to Tom's)!

 

Seeing as it's off season for most parks around here in order to satiate your appetite for coasters and parks you really have to look at the parks that actually are opened at this time of year. Thankfully Spain has a few parks which fit this description and allowed Tom and I to visit some parks we hadn't been to before and at a time there is much else on offer. We visited Port Aventura and then Tibidabo and had a real good time at both places!

 

Here's the Port Avenutra portion of the trip. I'll get to Tibidabo soon enough I'm sure.

 

It was a real early rise for us seeing as our flight left Stansted for Reus at 0610 in the morning but thankfully since I live only a few minutes from Stansted we didn't have far to travel in the morning and were able to sleep on the plane and were then able to take a bus that got us to the Port Aventura El Paso Resort where we were staying. The hotel was quite nice and being close to the park is always a nice thing. We also met up with other CoasterForce members Jake, Ben and Oriol later in the day which was nice since it's always good to meet other friendly enthusiasts and share expereinces.

 

Port Aventura is a really impressive looking park. It really measured up to the likes of Busch Gardens Europe for me in terms of theming and it has some really good rides. A couple of poor ones too, but for the most part it's a pretty good park. Maybe not as good as a lot of people hype it up to be in my eyes but it's still a cool place to spend a day. Anyway, in typical Divv TR fashion I'll just do my ride run through:

 

- Furius Baco: When we got to the park this was opened so we went straight for it since you just know these things can just die at any moment. And what with my luck with Intamin rides this year there's a good chance it could die on me. Thankfully it didn't! My first ride was on the inside seat on the right of the front row. Really good ride! Lots of fun, a bit shakey, but it still has a really good launch and some real good sections. I rode later on the outside closer to the rear of the train and I wasn't so impressed. A bit too rough for my liking but not the worst in the world either. Oh and the preshow bit before the launch is very amusing. I'm still not really sure how I rank this against the other accelerators I don't think it's miles ahead of the other ones but I don't think it's miles behind any of them either.

 

- Stampida: Ouch. This was not a good ride. Both sides really jackhammered quite a bit and banged me up in quite a few places. It's a shame really, since it does have quite an interesting layout and I love the interaction but sadly it's just too rough to enjoy. I wish I got the chance to ride this with the old trains.

 

- Tomahawk: Better than Stampida! Actually one of the better junior woodies I've done and you can interact with the other Stampida trains without getting killed!

 

- El Diablo: Arrow mine train. Pretty lame to be honest. Just as it starts to get good you hit another lift hill.

 

- Templo Del Fuego: This was really cool! Anything with copious amounts of fire is good in my book. It's just a shame it wasn't Stampida that was burning.

 

- Hurakan Condor: A bit of a letdown. I don't know if I've just done too many drop towers to appreciate these rides now but I really didn't think the ride was that exhilarating. Plus the standup floorless side really wasn't good for my manhood.

 

- Dragon Khan: Excellent ride. My first B&M sit-down too. I really liked the layout and it really had that early B&M "feel" that you get on rides like Nemesis and Batman. We got quite a few night rides, which were really good, this ride just doesn't let up.

 

- Tami-Tami: Just another kiddie credit really.

 

- Sea Odyssey: I didn't know what to expect from this so I guess it was satisfying enough to walk on and experience. But not anything overly exciting.

 

I think that covers the rides. Some good and average rides and some really good theming make PA an impressive place and I had a fun day. Although I have to say I wasn't too enamoured with the operations, the amenities or the food. Only two sides of Hurakan Condor were running and the ops directed you to where to sit. This was the same on the coasters, you were never really allowed to pick a row you sat where you were told. Every time I tried to buy some hot food it was always cold, I don't really think that's acceptable for any park, especially one of PS's calibre. Tom also searched nine different locations in the park which were supposed to have cash machines only to not be able to draw cash out of any of them for a number of reasons.

 

But I don't want to dwell on the negatives too much, since I did have a good day there and I'm sure I'll go back one day. That said I'm in no big rush.

 

Onto the photos! (which will probably look eerily familiar to Tom's, but anyway!)

Of course it wouldn't be a Divv TR without a photo like this to end it!

Tibidabo will be up soon!

Which just got better and better as night wore on!

Of course that just meant we could go ride Khan some more!

But it died so us geeks just took some track photos.

As the sun set we headed back down to Furius Baco.

Khan provides double the vertical loop goodness.

But enough of all these other rides. it's all about Dragon Khan!

Sea Odyssey. A fun walk-on simulator ride. Not the best in the world, but not bad either.

Yeah there's a kiddie credit too. Tom took pictures. Check out his TR.

Khan is not only a great coaster to ride. It's also one of the most impressive looking coasters I've seen. Not bad for a ride that's approaching it's 13th birthday.

You see Alpengeist? Cobra rolls really don't have to be huge!

Riding Khan has made me even more determined to ride Kumba soon.

Why don't B&M build coasters forceful like this anymore?

Mmmm... Khan twisty track goodness.

Tom enjoys using the "Cheeky bastard" entrance!

That's right - time for Dragon Khan!

Finally! Time to ride my first B&M sitdown.

It seemed that whenever the ride was about to get good you'd just hit another lift hill.

The arrow mine train was up next. Not much to write home about.

But like another certain 300 foot Intamin ride I rode in Ohio a few months ago this was a bit of a letdown.

I expected a lot from this, since I really liked Apocalypse at Drayton Manor.

Mexico is also home to Hurakan Condor.

Like everywhere else in the park, the Mexican section has some really cool theming.

Like so many other junior woodies I've rode this year, this one was better than the larger one sitting next door.

You got a right doing no matter where you sat. I don't think one train was worse than the other. They were both just as bad as each other in my view. A shame because this ride looks like it could have been great.

Where the comfort of the ride wasn't affected by where you sat.

Next up was Stampida.

If you can only ride this once try and get the front centre seats. (if somehow the ride ops let you). It really makes a huge difference to the comfort of the ride.

Another happy train of inside seat riders laugh at the people sitting next to them as the train comes in.

The queue line has some crazy theming. But it all makes for a fun pre-launch.

And more importantly - Furius Baco!

Enough of the hotel. Let's hit the park!

This was the view from our room. Sadly this bar never opened while we were there.

The Hotel El Paso would be our home for the next two nights.

Welcome to Port Aventura. Home to Woody and copious amounts of graffiti.

As soon as you get off the plane you can actually see Port Aventura in the distance!

[Shockwave]

It's like seeing double!

 

I'm pretty certain your TR will be finished ahead of mine though!

[Team Thriller]

Wow!!! More TR's. I'm in heaven

 

Good job with everything. I have not gone there yet, but next time I'm in Spain, hopefully everything works out.

[Nosferatu]

Great trip report! A lot of nice photos, and nice comments! To bad about Stampida, it sure looks like a cool ride.

[thecoasterkid]

UGH! Divv I'm incredibly jealous of your ability to travel the world and visit all these different parks. First your month long American coaster journey, and now Spain too? DAMN YOU!

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the park. I still can't believe that there is that much of a difference between an inside and outside seat on Furious Bacon. How can shifting over 2 feet make a ride unbearable?

[cobra_roll06]

Hey man great TR! I went to PA about 3 years ago and I still remember how good Dragon Khan is. It's really at it's peak at night, especially in the front row. Truly awesome ride. Shame I missed out on Condor & Baco. Doesn't sound like I missed much though.

[Bucket]

That picture of Furius Baco's station is beautiful! If I didn't already know, I would have no idea that that stationed a coaster. It looks so much like a winery!

[larrygator]

I still can't believe that there is that much of a difference between an inside and outside seat on Furious Bacon. How can shifting over 2 feet make a ride unbearable?

 

Believe it!

[Divv3k]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this second part of the trip report - work and christmas stuff has just gotten in the way! Anyway, I have time now so without any further ado here is part two: Tibidabo.

 

I should start by pointing out that I wasn't feeling too great on this morning due to maybe having a beer too many the night before. Luckily a quick stop at the side of the road on the way to Tibidabo sorted out my stomach for the most part.

 

Also big thanks to Oriol who picked us up at the train station in Barcelona and took us all the way up to Tibidabo as well as sorting us out with tickets. You're the man Oriol!

 

Tibidabo itself was excelent and the view was simply breath taking. I'd seen pictures of the view from the park before but they simply do not do it justice. Seeing Barcelona from that high up really was a sight to behold.

 

The rides themselves were nothing special but since most of them offered a variation on looking at that amazing view I was impressed with most of what I rode. Unique rides like "Bucket on a Stick" and "Plane on a Stick" really make this a place worth visiting.

 

Whilst I really enjoyed Port Aventura and found that place very impressive in many areas I still find myself prefering Tibidabo in many ways. The place is just full of charm and has many unique takes on the park experience.

 

Onto the photos...

I could post photos from Tibidabo all day. but they just don't do the place justice. I really enjoyed it. Thanks again to Oriol. And cheers to Tom, Ben and Jake for providing company. Until my next TR...

The view transforms to this at night. Just as impressive!

As evidenced by Tom here.

Watching the sunset from Tibidabo was another one of many "must photograph that" moments experienced this day.

This might be the only coaster here just now but there's talk of another being added soon.

Plane on a stick gets a long queue at all times of day. It's one of those things that you just have to ride.

As night falls the park still looks incredibly cool.

Those that didn't throw up in the morning also gave the Top Spin a go.

It also has a little dark ride section. With a nice little "surprise" at the end.

Apparently the suspended monorail is the oldest ride in the park.

There's not enough Divv photos in this update so here's one of me.

Rideop extraordinaire Oriol takes on the Dodgems!

The ferris wheel also offers another look at those same amazing views. Who needs the London eye!?

"Bucket" offers a cool look at other parts of the park.

You might not want to shake the bucket much as it's a long way down.

The infamous "Bucket on a Stick"! This definitely had a "homemade" feel. It was very cool.

Hotel Krueger was a haunted walkthrough thingy with live actors and such. It was quite creepy, the actors talking in Spanish probably added to this.

There's our man Oriol operating ride! Thanks again for the transport and tickets!

The coaster was also very smooth. Something I didn't expect from this inhouse built ride.

Tibidabo also offers a credit, which just makes the place even more appealing!

Wherever you went in Tibidabo you couldn't help being blown away by the view!

I'm sure Tom will thank me for posting this photo of his arse!

Castle Misterioso was a welcome surprise. A type of Funhouse walkthrough which offered plent of laughs. The only downside was that the "Super Fun Happy Slide" inside was closed.

There's a powered coaster there too. It's actually quite good fun and was a lot better than expected.

Although Tom, Jake and ben appeared to enjoy it.

"Swing on a Stick" is a ride I avoided after my earlier bout with the previous days exploits.

The most famous of Tibidabo's rides is "Plane on a Stick" or Aeroplane Ride or whatever it's called.

Of course you're just reading this to see the rides so here ya go!

There's even cultural experiences on offer for those of you who are that way inclined!

Home to one of the most stunning views you'll ever come accross at a park.

The second day of our trip took us to Tibidabo!

[UniversalGSHo22]

The 2nd park is BEAUTIFUL!!! Wow!! I am blown away. I would love to try that bucket on a stick ride but the face that it is on the edge of the highway scares the pants off of me!! Beautiful Pictures!! Thank You!!!!

[ratdogg68]

Great photo TR, Tibidabo looks like a relaxing park. You took some really nice Photo's, loved the sunset pic.

[Shockwave]

Glad you managed to get the photos up!

 

That was a great couple of days in Spain.

[fudgey]

Hey Divv, nice TR. Not sure if I would cope that well with plane and bucket on a stick though. Hopefully gonna get to Port Aventura when it opens again for 08 in March.

 

Hope all is good and Xmas has been fun!!