Photo TR - Maria goes to Cuba

Two weeks ago I decided to visit a country that not many coaster enthusiasts get to visit: Cuba!

The first thing you need to know about Cuba is that most travel blogs and foruns about Cuba are outdated. I was expecting to encounter a post apocalyptic scenario where there was no food, no communication and where the people didn't know if there were other survivors outside the island and what I found was a rather modern country, not much different from so many third world countries in Latin America. And as any other third world country in Latin America some things take a little more time and patience to get done (I'll get to that later), but I blame this more on the culture as a whole than on the socialist regimen. To be honest, I completely forgot that I was in a socialist country while I was there.

During my whole stay I had access to internet (3G) on my cell phone, wifi was available at most hotels and squares and I could withdraw money from the local ATM machines like everywhere else in the world. Cubans do have smartphones, wifi is cheaper for them (0.25CUC/h x 1.50CUC/h for tourists), no website is blocked in Cuba (I was able to access Facebook, Google, Youtube, Skype and even play Pokemon Go) and they are very well informed about what happens inside and outside the island. That all being said, let's talk amusement parks!

There are 4 amusement parks in Cuba with rollercoasters. Only 1 of them is located in Varadero, a very popular touristic destination among Canadians and Europeans about 2h30min from Havana.

Todo en Uno (Varadero)

Varadero is known for it's breathtaking beaches and all inclusive resorts. In order to go from Havana to Varadero you can either take a cab (which will cost you 180/200CUC one way), take the Viazul bus from Havana Bus Terminal (10CUC) or book a shared transfer (25CUC) from the airport or the hotels in Havana. I booked the shared transfer from the airport to Varadero with Kronos and paid online with my credit card. It does take a while to get your confirmation e-mail, but things in Cuba are a bit slower than everywhere else.

I decided to stay 3 days in Varadero and booked a hotel at Barceló Solymar Arenas Blancas. If you are looking for a mid range price 4 star all inclusive hotel in Varadero, you can't go wrong with that one. The food was good, wifi was reliable and it was within a walking distance from shops and Todo en Uno.

Varadero is known for it's breathtaking beaches

The view from my room at Barceló Solymar Arenas Blancas

Todo en Uno is what the name says: A lot of stuff in one place. Yes, it is an amusement park, but it's also a gas station and a small street mall with lots of food places and shops selling clothes, perfumes and toys. It's also a wifi hotspot, so it attracts lots of locals. The place is open daily from 11am to 11pm, but if you decide to visit the place during the week on less busy hours you might need to find someone to operate the rides for you.

There are about 8 rides at Todo en Uno, the biggest one being Montaña Rusa, a zyklon/galaxi from Interpark that recently received a new paint and added extra seat belts. Adults need 2 tickets in order to ride Montaña Rusa, at a cost of 1CUC total.

Gas station at Todo en Uno

Rides

Bumper Cars

Montaña Rusa

Montaña Rusa

2 tickets needed

OTSR were added to the coaster. The trains also got a new paint scheme

Weird OTSR

The coaster actually looks nicer than most Zyklons

The view from the coaster isn't bad either

Credit #702

Next stop: Havana!

wow.. how nice to see this report.

and what a beautiful setting near the water for the coaster.

can't wait to see more!

Great report! Cuba looks AMAZING!

Wow, credit # 702! Nice trip.

The OTSR looks like a V-shaped seat belt! Hope you had fun in Cuba!

After 3 amazing days in Varadero it was time to see "real" Cuba and of course visit some more amusement parks.

I booked my shuttle to Havana with Kronos, and the voucher they sent me said "pick up time 13:30 at Barcelo Solymar". So at 13:30 sharp I was waiting at the hotel lobby. Twenty minutes went by and not a sign of my bus, so I decided to call the number on the voucher. A woman picked up the phone, I explained that the shuttle was 20 minutes late and that I was afraid they had forgotten about me, but the woman, very calmly, told me that they START the pick up process at 13:30 but they stop at various hotels in Varadero and that they would eventually get to me. They did. At 14:50!

There are many things wrong with Cuba, and unfortunatelly that kind of situation where I expected a certain professionalism from a service I had paid for and they acted like they didn't give a f**k happened a few other times during my trip. However, I blame this more on the 3rd world latin american mentality than on socialism. Don't get me wrong here, Cuba is a beautiful and interesting country to visit, but that inocense and friendliness is long gone, at least among people that work in tourism.

So since I arrived in Havana a bit later than I had planned, I only had time to wander around a little bit and visit one amusement park that day. My choice was Jalisco Park, a park that is open since the 50's and with it's glory days behind them. Jalisco Park is the closest amusement park to the touristic areas of old Havana an Vedado and can be acessed through the cemetery stop on the Hop on Hop Off bus (10CUC/day).

Jalisco Park is now just a really small park with 5 or 6 kiddie rides, including the roller coaster called Montaña Rusa. Unfortunatelly adults are not allowed on the coaster. Believe me, I tried. I talked to the operator and he told me that if his supervisor saw me on the coaster he would get fired. I then proceeded to talk to the supervisor, who explained to me that the coaster was very old, and that it was very difficult to get spare parts for it, so she decided to ban all adults from riding it so the weight wouldn't affect the -already rusty - structure.

Even though I didn't get this credit, it was great to see all those vintage rides still operating and the kids enjoying them.

Mandatory shot of the Capitol and the old cars

Cuba is just like any other country

Getting money from the ATM in Cuba is just as easy as anywhere else

Coke (the original) is available in Cuba, but it's considered imported beverage and charged as such (3CUC) so I decided to give the local coke a try and for 1CUC it is a pretty decent substitute!

MSC Armonia docked at the cruise ship terminal

Yes, there are buildings in Cuba

Havana is much more than just old cars

Cruise ships docked in Havana

Havana seen from the other side of the bay

Jalisco Park

The kids were having a blast. Unfortunatelly no credit for me

Next stop, Expocuba!

On my second day in Havana I decided to pay a cab for the hour (25CUC/Hour) to take me to Expocuba and Parque Lenin, which are about 45min from the city centre.

Expocuba is one giant convention center that hosts the annual Havana International Fair. The government advertises Expocuba as a cross between a fairground, a museum and a convention center where the achievements of the revolution are displayed in detail. I'm assuming that during the fair they take care of the ladscape and manage to fix the rides, while for the remaining of the year they just keep the place open ooing just the bare minimun.

The place was actually pretty packed on a sunday afternoon. Lots of cuban families where visiting the area, that consists in a few open pavillions, some food stands, a lake with some boats to rent and the amusement park. Foreginers pay 1CUC to enter Expocuba while locals pay only 0.25CUP.

All the rides at Expocuba are from a chinese company called Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment Co., Ltd. You can tell they once had a nice collection of rides, but they are now SBNO in their majority, including the Wacky Worm called Montaña China that has been closed for years.

One of the mais attractions is a real airplane from Cubana de Aviación where visitors can see how a real plane is inside.

The park also has an observation tower, but unfortunately the line was too long and I had no idea that the parks in Cuba close so early in the day (5PM), so I had to rush in order to get to the next one!

Map of Expocuba

Lots of SBNO rides

Some of each seemed pretty cool

One of the few operating rides

The boats. It seems that they used to have an aerial ride and a monorail at some point, but only the track is left.

The Airplane was one of the main attractions!

Chinese Frog Hopper

Seems Legit!

More chinese rides

Montaña China

No credit for me here either

Next stop, Parque Lenin

and it looks like a typical Chinese inner city park.

and it looks like a typical Chinese inner city park.

I was thinking the same thing. These parks reminded me of TPR's last big China trip.

Thank you SO much for giving me (and all TPR members) a glimpse into Cuba and its theme parks. There is much curiosity in the US about "Cuba Today," and it's an extra-special plus to see how the country has attempted to stay abreast of world theme park growth. It will be really fascinating to look down the road in ten years and see how far Cuba has progressed...and how it hopefully offers its citizens the fun experiences shared by the rest of the world . Thanks again, Maria!

Alice

Some friends of mine (one of whom is a college English professor) visited Cuba a few years ago on an educational tour about Ernest Hemingway's time there and really enjoyed it. Some of the food did "disagree" with them a bit (usually at 3:00 am).

My next stop on this trip was Parque Lenin, a huge urban park located roughtly 10min from the international airport and 5min from Expocuba.

There are many activities to do and places to visit at Parque Lenin, including a steam train (that doesn't work, of course), an equestrian center and the amusement park, called Parque Mariposa. For some unknown reason, the few coaster enthusiasts that visited Cuba before me failed to let Duane know about the correct name, so RCDB still has this location listed as Parque Lenin and not Parque Mariposa ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶p̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶

I have a couple of friends that visited Parque Mariposa back in 2015 and judging by the pictures taken on their trip, the park went downhill since then. I was really looking forward to riding the powered shuttle "coaster", but saying the ride was closed is an understatement. Same with the log flume and the infamous Arrow knockoff Single Loop Double Spiral Roller Coaster called Montaña Rusa. To be fair, it looks like some work was being done on that coaster, I'm just not sure whether they were trying to repair it or prevent if from falling apart.

They have a second coaster, called Oruga (a chinese wacky worm) and this one was ̶b̶a̶r̶e̶l̶y̶ operating! Adults need 2 tickets, at a cost of 4CUC.

If you ever go to Cuba, have in mind that turnstiles and lines are subjective there. My english vocabulaty lacks words to describe cubans notion of what a line is, and since an image is worth a thousand words, here's a video of how bad it is:

[youtu_be]

Parque Mariposa, NOT Parque Lenin

Yup, the ferris wheel was operating, but the "line" was huge and the wheel was rotating so slow that it took me a while to realize it was actually moving

More closed rides

Bummer! I was actually looking forward to riding one of these

Yup, definitely SBNO

An operating log flume! Not the one I was expecting to ride though

Credit!

#703!!!!

The coaster has seen better days, for sure

I wasn't kidding when I said the coaster was barely operating

The infamous Montaña Rusa

What do you think those structures are for? Repairing the coaster or preventing it from falling apart?

Next and last stop: Isla Del Coco

Thanks for sharing! I hope to visit Cuba one day as I would find it interesting, but not for the amusement parks. That line for the log flume looks chaotic - I wouldn't have even bothered. Seeing those crowds there at that rundown park though shows there's a demand for a better theme park. Knott's Berry Farm Cuba can't come soon enough. Anyways, looking forward to seeing/reading more.

That line in the video has so much line jumping. It's a bummer that some of the rides were SBNO, but at least you got a new credit out of this park

Thanks for sharing! I hope to visit Cuba one day as I would find it interesting, but not for the amusement parks. That line for the log flume looks chaotic - I wouldn't have even bothered. Seeing those crowds there at that rundown park though shows there's a demand for a better theme park. Knott's Berry Farm Cuba can't come soon enough. Anyways, looking forward to seeing/reading more.

My feeling about Cuba is you either go now, or don't bother to go at all. I have a feeling that in just a couple of years Cuba (Havana specially) will be just another latin american city. Most cubans already have cell phones, internet, there were lot's of hotels from famous chains being built in Havana/Varadero and modern cars everywhere. I also heard there's a plan to build a water park in Varadero. I'm sure once more companies/countries lift their embargo more amusement parks will be built around the country.

As I said, most people picture Cuba as a place where people have no money, no food, nothing. So I was actuall happy to realize those people were wrong and to see so many cuban families at the amusement parks, having fun, spending money, taking pictures with their smartphone. It was a nice surprise.