Divv3k Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) Wanting to get a Winter getaway, the Brit Crew converged on Barcelona for a weekend in December. What better way to beat the off-season than with a trip to Port Aventura and Tibidabo?! This was a bit of a frustrating visit to Port Aventura, operations seemed to be more on the “Happy Valley” side with staggered openings and multiple rides closed for portions of the day. There was a point for a couple of hours in the afternoon when Furious Baco, Dragon Khan, Hurakan Condor and Shambhala were all closed. High winds were blamed for the closures but it still seemed a little strange because the winds were a lot fiercer when the rides started to open at the end of the day. We had pretty much written off any hope of getting on Shambhala by the afternoon as it had looked looked pretty lifeless. Thankfully right before we were about to leave the park for the day the ride opened and everyone in the park made a beeline for it. The ride itself was pretty good, especially as new B&M Hypers go, however, Dragon Khan is still far and away the star of this park. Really please we managed to get everyone on it and the rest of the credits. All in all, we managed to pull off a successful day at the park by the time we left but it really was a struggle to get there. I know that when you visit parks in the off-season you should expect ride closures and I’m cool with that, but Port Aventura had set such a high standard for itself when I visited on the exact same weekend in 2007 where everything was open and running great. But still, Dragon Khan!!! Okay, here’s some photos from our day... For looking at this photo you have incurred a £1.50 charge from RyanAir. Woohoo, we made it to PortAventura! It's all very festive at the park entrance. What a lovely sight to welcome you into the park! "Everyone grab a ball!" The bigger the ball, the better. Act Furius! I waited for a very specific seat on this ride. I'm sure you can all guess which one. In those front inside seats the ride is still really great. Apparently it's too windy to run this ride... KHHHHAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!!! Shambhala! Yes, we'd like to ride you. No Shambhala opening with the park either. Oh well... At least there are inanimate statues to pose with! Yes! I loved this back in 2007 and was really excited to get back inside! Sadly it seemed very scaled back compared to the last time. But still, look at that fire! Fire is good! Ceiling fire is even better! Not much else is open so naturally we find the beer! Someone ballsed up this Christmas display... COOKIE PHOTO BOMB!!! What's this? Multiple popcorn flavours?! Nice! It's not DisneySea but I'll take it! It's December but being in Spain makes it okay to ride the rapids. Still the best thing any park can do for their rapids ride in my view. This was around midday. The rides with times beside them are the ones that are open. That's a lot of closed rides. At least Stampida's still open! Actually that's NOT a good thing! Lift Hill: The Ride was open at least and was still full of Lift Hill goodness. So nice to look at. It seemed that's all we'd get to do with these rides. New since my last visit was the new Sesame Street land! It's only a Vekoma! That's one big-arsed relative of Peena Puu. Mike's in heaven. The Sesame Street area has some cute theming on their rides. Also this Legoland Classic... New in the simulator room this year: TurtleVision or Aquaride, we're not quite sure which! I was pleased to see the simulator has retained its hilarious safety video! Mike fell asleep after dinner. Don't mention this photo to him though, he's got a chip on his shoulder about it. Blueberry popcorn! Whoa, whoa, whoa - that looks like an open ride! We quickly ran over to Hurakan Condor when we saw this only to find they'd only opened one side and a humongous line. Still we now had hope... YES! KHHHHAAAANNNN!!! Dragon Khan is still amazing! Seriously one of the best coasters in Europe. Still no sign of life in Shambhala though. We pretty much wrote it off at this point. At least we get to end the day with the big Sesame Street show. Mike thought it an even better idea to make his own Sesame Street show. This is the Christmas tree right at the park exit. This is how close we were to leaving the park when we saw the ride board change... About 20 minutes before closing Shambhala actually opened! I normally wouldn't post a photo like this but it's literally the only photo I have of the ride in action! I quite liked the ride too! Happy Shambalalala campers! Well it was a bit of a frustrating day but we got everything done in the end. So it has to be marked down as a successful day. At least things will be a little more relaxed at Tibidabo, which is coming up next! Edited March 2, 2013 by Divv3k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 (edited) Wait, I thought you were going to Barcelona in December of 2011. Edited February 8, 2013 by larrygator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 ^ We TRY to make it over to Spain every year. Our track record shows that we only make it there one out of every three attempts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudgey Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 2010 = Flights cancelled due to Spanish air strike. 2011 = I booked flights, no-one else did... 2012 = We made it... just. A very funny weekend, some for all the wrong reasons. But you know, I did get to play Cards Against Humanity for the first time... Great set of photos as always Divv! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I love this picture. It looks like Cookie Monster is giving you the "I hate you" fist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 ^ And also, you look as if you are about to have your ear....invaded. By something diabolical, red,....and "somewhat pointy", lol. Great TR Divv. And good for all of you on (finally) getting all the credits there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathP Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Nice trip report Divv Whoa you were lucky to get on Shambhala at the end! When I went many of the rides were on staggered opening times, Shambhala for example didn't open until 12 noon. Great theming around the park as usual, seems like PortAventura really do put in a lot of effort on it compared to our parks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Awesome report! Of course I have to ask, how was the popcorn!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 ^ It was only okay. It was just great to see other parks trying to sell new flavours! It's always gonna be hard for parks that do though because I'm instantly comparing them to Tokyo Disney's Curry and Black Pepper flavours! Fingers crossed more parks start doing similar things with their popcorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster_dude2002 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Love the report Divv. It certainly was an eventful weekend for us all. Can't wait to see the photos from Tibidabo and the super sketchy rides. My fear of Ferris wheels was not helped in any way from riding bucket on a stick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_roll06 Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 I'm still gutted I couldn't make this! Great TR Divv! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Nice report Divv. Going through withdrawls in the Winter watching others visit parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bane Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Great report, thanks! I've always wanted to do PA while the UK parks are closed, but never seem to get around to it. I have to agree about the front inside seats on Baco, totally awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divv3k Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 The day after Port Aventura we headed to Barcelona's "other" theme park, Tibidabo! Tibidabo is a really unique park in Europe. It sits on the side of a hill overlooking Barcelona and the rides are all situated on different levels. There really is nothing like it this side of Asia! The park for the most part takes some fairly standard rides but because of the amazing views they are made all the better for it. There's also some unique rides that while simple in premise are really good thanks to that amazing view! Since my last visit in 2007 a new coaster had been added courtesy of those guys at Vekoma. It's actually pretty good, for not only it's smoothness but also because of it's interaction with the terrain on the side of the hill. Not to mention the view... Anyway, next time you visit Port Aventura don't forget to pay a little visit to Tibidabo on the side there really isn't anywhere else like it! We've came a long way to get up to the top of the big mountain and we couldn't have done it without Doritos! How's this for a view when you arrive at a park? Seeing as we visited on a Sunday I'll include a photo of this big church looking thing. Welcome to Tibidabo! Signature ride! It's a plane, on a stick! New since my last visit here... Vekoma hotness! It's pretty damn good too! This gives Ocean Park's mine train a run for it's money as far as coaster views go! Some of us were stupid enough to brave the log flume. Yeah, that view... This stance can only mean one thing... Powered credit! This is actually a really good powered. There are some great interaction opportunities with passing vehicles too. It's not quite Hogwarts... Which could be a good thing! Who knew you could have this much fun on steps. Top Spin, with a view! "Please don't splash my face!" Chair Swings. With a view! Hotel Krueger, this is Tibidabo's really good haunted walkthrough! This thing REALLY messed Dave up! Bumper Cars! With a view! Speaking of rides with a view... The inverted monorail is awesome! You get to see right inside all the locals' living rooms! Mike to F6! In order to get into the park's mirror maze you get made to wear these very kinky plastic gloves! Jeff Johnson credit! A look at the park's old coaster which got replaced by the giant chess board! Brad, Andrew and that damn view! Mike enjoys some chocolatey, appley goodness! Now here's a test of your mettle! The Fudges were fairly apprehensive in the bucket on a stick... We got really lucky with it being such a clear day, you really could see for miles. This is what RCT looks like in Spain. Yay, we made it to Spain and got on all the coasters for a change! This sadly means our trip to Madrid in 2013 will likely be wiped out by a tsunami or alien invasion... And that's it for our Spanish adventure! Tibidabo really is a quirky, fun park and I always have a great time when I visit. Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Yeah, I need to visit the Spanish parks one of these days. Thanks for the report, Divv! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oriolat Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Excellet TR from both parks Divv! I am sure you found that Tibidabo has changed quite a lot since your last visit. Most notably, no ferris wheel, no PNDOL (the infamous Fabbri Air Diver) and no ghetto-Galaxy credit! Anyway, it's nice to see that you enjoyed yourselves as much with the new Vekoma ride. While not a super intense ride, I think it provides a really smooth ride with some forces to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jray21 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Great report Divv! That plane on a stick looks interesting, and a little scary. I also want to live in that house! Not only is it big, but what an awesome view Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon8899 Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Great TR - like to do Madrid (Parque Warner, Parque de Attraciones) > Port Aventura > Barcelona myself. Planing to connect between cities with their high speed trains... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Great report Divv, that brought back some nice memories of our quick trip back in 2007! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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