PortAventura Discussion Thread

regarding Furious Baco:

first time i was on furios baco last year i was SHOCKED. I didn't expected that it's so shaky. I was unsure if thats normal. But i was not disappointed. My first thoughts after the first ride: WTF was this? My secon thoughts: WTF i want do this again. The more i ride it, it became more and more awesome. The launch and the speed is so great, the barrel roll with this speed is just fantastic. I was on it this year again and its now one of my favourite rides. The only negative thing about furious baco: always a long queue/waiting times because of much "technical problems".

regarding Furious Baco:

 

first time i was on furios baco last year i was SHOCKED. I didn't expected that it's so shaky. I was unsure if thats normal. But i was not disappointed. My first thoughts after the first ride: WTF was this? My secon thoughts: WTF i want do this again. The more i ride it, it became more and more awesome. The launch and the speed is so great, the barrel roll with this speed is just fantastic. I was on it this year again and its now one of my favourite rides. The only negative thing about furious baco: always a long queue/waiting times because of much "technical problems".

The shaking was so severe that it gave me a headache. The throughput is also diabolical and the queueline hideous.

I detest the ride.

Dragon Khan and Shambhala on the other hand - marvellous.

I rode it once in the end of July and it was very shacky. It didn't hurt but I decided not to try it again!

Also the main tv screen in the pre launch section was not working and they didn't close the door behind the train. A bit disappointing!

Roughness of it doesn't bother me (adds to the experience in my opinion!) but fantastic news that it's back up and running again

 

It didn't use to bother me either. But trust me, last time I rode Furius Baco it was *that* bad. Just to make it easier to understand, Stampida was SMOOTH glass compared to Baco last time I rode. So rough and shaky that gave me a splitting headache for the rest of the day...

same here man, i even enjoyed stampida after baco... maybe if i hadn't rode at the edges it would have been better but it was one of my worst experiences on a roller coaster :/ so sad

This is gonna be way off topic, but seen as PA is based in Salou, i figure a few of the people on here who read this thread may also be based/live in the area?

I was just wondering if anyone knows how the Policia Local/Guarda Civil treat the public with cameras? I'm a professional photographer, but I've a big interest in Policing/Emergency services, so I'd like to see if i can get a few photos of the cars/vehicles used by the diferent services?

I was in Salou in 2010 and visited a building near PA, that I am lead to believe that some kind of headquarters of the Guardia Civil (they had a few vans and such parked up, behind a fenced gate). I was told I couldn't take any photographs in the area at all, unless I had prior permission.

I sent off two different emails (to policia@salou.cat and sugerencias@guardiacivil.org) asking about visiting the station and photographing whatever fleet of vehicles are around at the time, but whilst I'd hope they'll respond favourably, I'm doubtful they'll even respond at all.

Would anyone on here have any advice?

Also, more related to the theme park, does anyone know how you get a camera on a rollercoaster? Do you just ask them and they make sure it's properly secured and you can't drop it?

Cheers.

Just back from my stay in Salou (and Port Aventura visit).

I'm happy to be able to say that I did manage to get into the seats/restraints on Shambhala. I fit into the test seat, and when I got onto the actual ride itself, I pulled the restraint towards me and it jammed/locked. However, despite this, one of the ride operators gave me an extra push to lock the restraint down further on me. He did it quickly and with enough pressure/effort that it only took a second or two, so there was no real sense of embarrassment or anything (which I'm sure there could've been with a less competent ride op).

So hat's off to them for that (and that particular guy who was working the seats at the time).

Also seen one of the other ride operators swing into action when a guy fainted in line for Furius Baco. Fairly swift on his feet and had the guy beside the train, sitting on the ground drinking water within about 20 seconds of being alerted to it, so good on them for that, too.

Port Aventura seems a pretty well run park, but I have noticed that there's no security presence at all? I don't recall seeing any security or police in/around the park area at all. Seems a bit odd (to me, personally).

Today, some footage has been recorded @ PortAventura Park for the tv program Insane Coasters Wars (Travel Channel) regarding world's bests rollercoasters.

Some coaster's fans have been asked to ride Shambhala and Furius Baco, to later give some review about their experience. Here are some pics:

Source: PortAventura's facebook

After recently selling Ducati to Audi, Italian private equity firm, InvestIndustrial, buys the remaining 50% stake in Port Aventura.

The Financial Times

November 4, 2012 11:14 pm

Investindustrial in PortAventura deal

By Tobias Buck in Madrid

 

Private equity groups such as Investindustrial are snapping up discounted Spanish assets Investindustrial, the Italian private equity group, has agreed to take full control of PortAventura, Europe’s third-biggest theme park, in a rare vote of confidence in the troubled Spanish economy.

 

The fund bought an initial 50 per cent holding in PortAventura three years ago, and will now acquire the remaining stake from the industrial holding arm of La Caixa, the Spanish lender. According to Andrea Bonomi, the chairman of Investindustrial, the fund will pay “roughly €120m” for the remaining 50 per cent stake, giving an enterprise value to the entire theme park of €439m.

 

Mr Bonomi argued that Spain was a promising target for private equity firms and other investors – despite the country’s deepening recession, high unemployment and the continuing weakness of the Spanish banking sector.

“There is a tremendous opportunity to go where others fear to tread,” he said. “From the private equity investor viewpoint, you have the opportunity to buy assets at a discount compared to what they would be worth if they were just 50 metres across the border in France.”

 

Mr Bonomi added: “There is no way, in the long run, that you can buy assets below replacement cost as you can do now in Spain."

 

PortAventura, located south of Barcelona, boasts a theme park with 39 attractions, a water park, four hotels and a convention centre with capacity for 4,000 people. It posted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €59m last year, a result that Mr Bonomi said would be exceeded in 2012.

 

Investindustrial already owns a string of investments in Spain, including a stake in Inaer, the emergency helicopter service. Last month, the group revealed that it was joining forces with Trilantic Capital Partners to buy a 48 per cent stake in Euskaltel, a fixed-line and broadband provider in Spain’s Basque region. The two buyers did not disclose the exact purchase price, but said the equity investment exceeded €200m.

 

Mr Bonomi said his group was aiming to eventually raise its investments in Spain from the current €500m to about €1bn – and was particularly interested in buying further stakes in the leisure and telecommunications sector.

Investindustrial, which claims to be the largest private equity group in southern Europe, has €3.2bn in assets under management. It recently left its most high-profile investment to date – the Ducati motorcycle brand – by selling its majority stake in the company to Audi of Germany for €860m.

La Caixa Bank sold their Port Aventura shares

http://www.tumbit.com/news/articles/6194-la-caixa-sell-port-aventura-shares.html

MOD EDIT: I moved your post into the existing PortAventura Discussion Thread.

I'd like to share with all coasters enthusiast my pictures of Shambhala. The new Shambhala area has allowed all coaster fans to take impressive pictures from two of the most amazing B&M in Europe, Dragon Khan and Shambhala. Both different sensations and a really BIG change of the skyline and big revival for Dragon Khan, which has been the king of PortAventura since 1995, now is a "child ride" with THAT monster above it.

Unfortunately I can't upload the pictures in all it's resolution, but if there's anyone interested in one, please let me know! Hope you enjoy the pics!

That's what you see when enter to the park. Believe me, the picture doen't make justice, but it's really VERY BIG

From Polynesia area you can get this amazing views from the drop. Until this year, I always thought that Dragon Khan was very hight. Now you notice the difference. Shambhala is almost the DOUBLE!

That's what you see from outside the park, with Hurakan Condor in the back and Dragon Khan below

Two B&M's and one Intamin!

This is very impressive. Also there is a big difference in the sound... Dragon Khan makes A LOT of noise, and you can't almost hear Shambhala!

The lift from below

The same view from the splash, which is just underneath the tallest support

Splash!!! If you are in the train, you can slightly get wet!

Drop! Notice the train with orange leds in the zero car and the white lights from the videoride cameras!

You can hug the supports!! And hear all the sounds and vibrations!

Two drops!

The drop from another point!

The speedhill! As you all know, the only trims in Shambhala are placed just before this element. But the combination is really well done because, even if the trims are activated, you can't feel them because of the high speed and airtime of the speedhill! Good job mister B and mister M!

One of the most intese cammelbacks (in my opinion), the one after the splash!

More B&M's and the "best cammelback"

picture from inside the station

Night shot!

And finally.... two drops, two B&M's!!

Wow Trevor, some of these pics are very good. I really like the last one; the money shot!

I also like how in one of the pictures Hurakan Condor looks tilted (I know it's the actual themed ceiling the one in a quirky angle) and is about to fall over.

Now that PA have an amazing B&M, let's see if nice operations come along, because I have hardly ever seen Shambhala run 3 trains this season. And when they did, they double-stacked them all the time!

The Shows Department workers have made a nice video wishing happy Christmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C95rLB1bKUUU

Did Shambhala have some sort of rollback just after the & element? That what I have heard, anyone got any information on what happened? Cheers.

Yes, Shambhala had a rollback yesterday just after the ampersand. For what I've heard, yesterday was a very cold and windy day, so Shambhala was going so slowly and stopped when testing. However, it seems it was running again at the end of the day.

Here you have some pictures of pa-community.com:

I'd like to share with all coasters enthusiast my pictures of Shambhala. The new Shambhala area has allowed all coaster fans to take impressive pictures from two of the most amazing B&M in Europe, Dragon Khan and Shambhala. Both different sensations and a really BIG change of the skyline and big revival for Dragon Khan, which has been the king of PortAventura since 1995, now is a "child ride" with THAT monster above it.

 

Unfortunately I can't upload the pictures in all it's resolution, but if there's anyone interested in one, please let me know! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Hi Trevor,

Amazing pictures that you have shared with us! Would I be rude in asking if I could have a couple of them in all their glory i.e. at full resolution so that I can use them as my desktop wallpaper?

Thanks in advance!

Dan

Checking some videos from the park, I share with you this one.

That's the Hurakan Condor Show... a sacrifice to 24 people on the ride. The show was done during summers nights. Could be Hurakan Condor the first free fall tower to have a show that interacts with it?

And I also upload a picture from myself from Shambhala, I think it colud be a nice desktop!

Anyone that lives in Spain, know when the school holidays are this year? Looking to go around the 9th June and was wondering how the queues would be and if Spanish schools are off then.

Kids start holidays around the 20th of June. However, from the end of May until mid-June school groups really flood the park. Expect long lines (until 4-5pm, when schools go home) on everything, along with obnoxious kids, graffiti, chewing-gum, smoking and line-jumping.

I know this sounds awful, but it really is a bad time to visit PA. If you are going to the park for just one day, I'd strongly recommend grabbing their PA Express wristband. Otherwise, you might not be able to enjoy everything.

Hope that helps!

Kids start holidays around the 20th of June. However, from the end of May until mid-June school groups really flood the park. Expect long lines (until 4-5pm, when schools go home) on everything, along with obnoxious kids, graffiti, chewing-gum, smoking and line-jumping.

 

I know this sounds awful, but it really is a bad time to visit PA. If you are going to the park for just one day, I'd strongly recommend grabbing their PA Express wristband. Otherwise, you might not be able to enjoy everything.

 

Hope that helps!

I've been 6 times to Salou before (never early June) and go for Port Aventura and a break mainly. Out of the 7 days I would say we would spend about 2 or 3 days there as thats normally suffice for us. Whats the water park like for crowds in around the 9th June as never been to the Port Aventura one, normally we go the La Pineda Aquopolis one.

Cheers for your help, mate.

^It has been a long time since I last went to Caribe Aquatic Park. It used to be not that crowded but that could change next season when CAP opens their 102 feet new body slide (European height record), along with a mat-racer.

I would say the waterpark is worth no more than 4-5 hours.

If you want to see official B&M drawings of Shambhala....

From my experiences of visiting Port Aventura, the best time to visit is in September, I have done this for three years running and the queues were really respectable, even with Shambhala being new for 2012, the queues were really reasonable last September.

I do plan to go a bit earlier this year though, I want to experience Port Aventura after dark, something I've never been lucky enough to do.

New water park expansion for Costa Caribe waterpark in the PortAventura resort.

It may open May 2013. Including a 12 stories free fall slide, the HIGHEST SLIDE in Europe. The former Volcano with the World Highest slide seems to be canceled finally.

Most important: two new Caribbean style pools, Sesame Street Caribbean ship with small slides for children,

6 lane racer slides and two big slides including the higher free fall slide of 12 stories.

More details in Spanish here (sorry, I am too lazy to translate this below):

PortAventura confirma para esta temporada uno de sus proyectos más esperados: la renovación completa y ampliación del Costa Caribe Aquatic Park, el segundo parque del resort y adyacente al parque temático PortAventura.

En 2013, la estrategia comercial se apoyará en el nuevo parque acuático, pero especialmente en los grandes proyectos de éxito recientemente incorporados a PortAventura: el área familiar deSésamoAventura que ha supuesto la ampliación más importante de la historia del parque con una superficie de 13.000 metros cuadrados de nuevas atracciones para familias, y Shambhala la montaña rusa más alta de Europa. Ambos proyectos están actuando como nuevos emblemas del parque y han convertido a PortAventura en un Resort destino de ocio familiar referente a nivel europeo.

El proyecto del Costa Caribe Aquatic Park consta de una ampliación de 14.000 m2 de nuevas instalaciones, alcanzando de este modo los 50.000 m2 de superficie total del parque. La ampliación tendrá un presupuesto de 10 millones de euros y abrirá sus puertas en mayo. Este proyecto se enmarca en el plan de inversión de 75 millones de euros aprobado por Investindustrial en noviembre de 2012 y que tiene como objetivo la expansión y adaptación del resort para un público cada vez más internacional.

El parque acuático es un equipamiento clave para esta estrategia, como lo demuestra el hecho de que los visitantes extranjeros suponen más del 50% de las visitas del parque acuático (especialmente ingleses y rusos). De hecho, en 2012 se realizó un estudio en Rusia que puso de manifiesto que uno de los factores principales para elegir PortAventura para unas eventuales vacaciones es que dispone de un parque acuático.

Un tobogán de 12 pisos de altura

Entre las nuevas atracciones del acuático destacará muy especialmente el tobogán de caída libre más alto de Europa que supondrá un auténtico reto para los más aventureros con sus 31 metros de altura, lo que equivale a un edificio de 12 pisos. Se trata del tobogán de estas características más alto de Europa. Los aventureros que se atrevan deberán hacer frente a una pendiente vertiginosa de 55º y una velocidad de descenso de 6 metros por segundo. Sin duda una experiencia irrepetible.

Tobogán multi bump

Junto al tobogán más alto se ubicará un segundo tobogán para los que prefieran una experiencia más moderada pero igualmente divertida. Será del tipo Multi Bump, es decir, con un recorrido ondulante y dos rápidos cambios de rasante. Este tobogán tendrá una altura de 19,64 metros y un recorrido de más de 100 metros.

Tobogán de competición

Otra sección del parque se ha dedicado a un tobogán de 6 carriles pensado para que tanto niños como adultos compitan para ver quien baja más rápido. Para el descenso, los visitantes se tumbarán sobre una suerte de alfombra-trineo y se proyectarán de frente a toda velocidad. Encontrarán un recorrido lleno de cambios de rasante y divertidos saltos de agua.

Piscina para niños

La piscina infantil tendrá dos niveles de profundidad: 50 cms y 30 cms para los más pequeños. Uno de de los elementos centrales de este espacio será un barco pirata repleto de personajes de Barrio Sésamo donde los niños lo pasarán en grande paseando por sus cubiertas o deslizándose por sus 4 toboganes. Al lado de la piscina infantil también se encontrará un Splash Pad, un pequeño espacio de juego con chorros de agua interactivos que los niños podrán pisar y perseguir.

Piscina tropical para adultos

Conectada a la piscina de niños estará la de adultos. Ambas estarán situadas a diferentes niveles, generando así una cascada de agua en la piscina de los niños. La piscina de los adultos está pensada para la nadar, divertirse pero también para relajarse. Es por eso que se instalarán camas de agua a poca profundidad y tonificantes efectos de agua. Al igual que la infantil, la piscina de adultos también dispondrá de una bonita cascada que contribuirá a reforzar la tematización caribeña del recinto.

Ambientación caribeña

Además de las cascadas, el equipo de Desarrollo de PortAventura ha dotado el parque de una cuidada tematización con el objetivo de que toda la familia pueda vivir una aventura caribeña combinando emociones y relajación. El parque dispondrá de grandes zonas verdes donde se plantarán más de 50 especies de plantas y palmeras. Toda la decoración transportará al Caribe, desde la cartelería, hasta las pérgolas, pasando por las zonas de hamacas y el apartado de restauración.

Con la ampliación, el Costa Caribe Aquatic Park contará con una superficie de 50.000 m2, dispondrá de 16 atracciones y toboganes, así como de más de 8.500 m2 de lámina de agua y 5.000 m2 de zonas verdes y de descanso. Asimismo, se instalará un nuevo snack bar para complementar la oferta de restauración del parque acuático.

Sources:

Follow up

http://portaventura-aquatic-park.pa-community.com/construcciones/parque-acuatico-2013

and the above new link with the text in Spanish and the same pictures

http://www.pa-community.com/articulo/costa-caribe-aquatic-park-el-nuevo-parque-acuatico-de-portaventura

PortAventura resort map of 2012

You can see above where the current small water park is located

Here you can see a video of the nowadays water park without the new area

And here the commercial of Universal Mediterranea (Port Aventura + Costa Caribe + hotels) of 2002 when PortAventura was part of the Universal Studios Resorts. You could see cool shots of the water park in the below spot and since then the water park did not include any new slide or pool. Only the trees have growed since then

I don't normally post on here but have got a great video that gives you a good overall look of PortAventura and what the park can offer, I'll be going back out there in June so hopefully we'll have another video and of course some footage of the new waterslides at the waterpark!

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIRuf3E4ExM

Great video Stokesyboy, I have watched it a few times in the past and it shows off Port Aventura in a very good way, always makes me wish it was a lot sooner that I will be visiting there again.