Photo TR: Isla Mágica

[oriolatthe ghost seems to think there is a "Donkey Fairy"]

So, today I am going to do a Photo TR about Isla Mágica, the smallest of the four Spanish theme parks (PortAventura, Terra Mítica, Parque Warner and Isla Mágica). For those not familiar with the place, the park is located in Seville in La Isla de la Cartuja, which happened to be the place where the 1992 Universal Exhibition was held. After that year, the place was left untouched, so the local government launched a project to build a theme park in the former Exhibition area. In 1995, PortAventura opened its doors and the concept was such a huge hit that Isla Mágica was built following its steps. Eight different themed areas, excellent themeing and a similar layout to PA's although in a scaled-down version.

The park only has two credits: a SLC (mind you, this one has a BONUS HELIXXX!!!) and a kiddie coaster manufactured by C&S (never hear of it), so if you are looking for a credit run, this might not be your park. But since it was the last park I had left to visit in Spain and we (Xavi, owner of Bloggercoaster; Ivan, Jaume and Luis, coworkers at Tibidabo) found really cheap airfare, we headed down to Seville.
Review of the bigger rides:

El Jaguar (4/10):
When you know a park has an SLC as their signature ride, things are not looking great. And it didn't disappoint: it rode as bad as it looked. According to RCBD, this was the second SLC to feature the extended layout with a 'BOOOOOOOOONUS HELIX'. Yeah! That was the trend of the day: Every time we would go into any helix we would say that. Back to the ride, the ride is pretty well landscaped and it received new generation trains this season. I was hoping those trains could make a SLC better... oh well, they didn't. Out of the five SLCs I have been on, this is the worst. Upon boarding the trains, I was hoping that the new foam vests would avoid head-banging. But for some odd reason, there was no head-banging, but the whole train ran as it was about to derail, jolting all the way. Rode the coaster twice: once in the very back seat, and then I gave it another shot towards the front with similar bad luck...
One thing I noticed is that, with the new trains, the station floor is not lowered. Is it because of the seating configuration or because Isla Mágica can't be bothered to lower it?

Tren de Potosí (6/10):
Small coaster built by an Italian manufacturer called C&S. At first, I thought this would be a Zamperla, but RCDB says it is not. The ride has a basic layout but there is a part with hilarious random triangular little hills with no airtime that add nothing to the experience. Of course, the ride features a 'boooooonus helix'. The best part of the ride is the queue area, which is very well themed and provides some shade. Rode it once.

El Desafío (7,5/10):
Themed after Seville's Torre del Oro (Tower of Gold), this is a beautiful but rare drop tower, manufactured by Maurer Söhne. Since the ride opened in 2001 I wanted to try it, not because of the ride's height (68 meters [223 feet] and 55 meters [180 feet] of actual drop) but because of its different settings. The tower runs up to 6 different programmes with different levels of intensity at different times that can be checked at the ride entrance. Even the most intense settings were not as intense as I would have thought, but they offered a lenghty ride with some good moments of airtime. Overall very rerideable and fun. Rode that four times.
The ride seats 32 people at a time, but the crew working the ride took forever to load it (I won't go deep into operations because I will comment on them later on).

CiKlón (7/10):
A very well themed Disk'O. I had experienced a similar model that sat 40 people and this one (smaller, 24 people) seemed to give a more intense ride. It span both ways so it was quite entertaining. Rode that twice.

Anaconda (10/10):
The park's Mack flume. This one has to be one of the best in Spain. It had three drops: two moderate and a third one that seemed to go on forever. The layout was not as long as other flumes, but that's no problem: I don't like water rides that go round S-bends forever inbetween drops, and this one was just the opposite. Simple yet effective. One thing I noticed is that they were loading only 3 people per boat. I know that these boats can take 6 riders so I suspect that the conveyor belts were having issues with the boats' weight and the park took the easiest and cheapest way to solve the problem by letting less people on each boat. Rode that twice.

Rápidos del Orinoco (9/10):
Intamin rapids. These were very integrated in the area and you couldn't tell the layout because they were hidden between lots of greenery and scenery. The waterfall at the end of the ride was quite a surprise and almost got as drenched. Despite not being hit by that element, there's no way you can get off the ride dry since there are water jets and water curtains in the caves. Special mention to a 'boooooonus helix' that goes around Vuelo del Halcón (wave swinger)!

Iguazú (7/10):
Intamin Shoot-the-Chutes. This model has a circular layout found in most parks. Despite being a clone, this one had a nice setting and most of the structure was hidden by rockwork and greenery. The ride itself is not that soaking but it does have a splash zone for those waiting outside.

Capitán Balas (8/10):
Mack dark ride located inside the old Spanish Pavillion from the Exhibition that shares location with the park's 4D/Imax-esque attractions. The ride itself is quite small but it uses the available space very well. Despite not having top-notch themeing, it was neat and the effects and targets were working perfectly. Rode twice.

Cinemoción (6/10):
Simulator with an Imax screen (it was actually a dome). It was alternating two films. Both were quite generic (skating and racing) but the illusion of being inside the film was quite impressive. Rode twice.

Dimensión4 (5/10):
I give it a 5 not because of the attraction itself, but because of the film we saw: "The Little Prince". I know this ride can be really good if you hit a film that can make the most of the 4D effects, but this was not the case. Boring film with a couple of good bits. I almost fell asleep. Rode once.

Operations:
Employees seemed quite friendly (we even spoke to a couple of them) but they were dead slow. There's no excuse for taking almost 5 minutes to load a 20-seat SLC train with two attendants. The thing is that they were being lazy and sluggish: when the train reached the station, they would always start talking, have a sip of water, etc. not caring about the 20 people already preloaded. I don't care if operators talk as long as they do their job, but that attitude was downright rude and disrespectful. On top of that, at one point the operator thought it was safe to just leave the panel totally unattended (and I mean, just walk away) when the train was in the circuit to go chat with some random colleague that showed up.

One of the worst cases of bad operations was El Desafío. After each cycle, the attendant would go inside the booth to have a chat with his colleague and not go out for like 5 minutes. Then she would preload everyone in a small corridor and leave riders waiting there for another 5 minutes. When riders were let in, she would take another another 5 minutes to (barely) check restraints. I would have loved to ride the tower more but thanks to the sluggish operations I just didn't have time.
On the other hand, Anaconda, the rapids, CiKlón, Capitán Balas and Los Bucaneros (splash battle) had friendly and more efficient staff.

--

Despite the lack of amazing rides, the place is worth a visit if you are in Seville. We all agreed that the park needed another coaster desperately. I know that they had a projected Vekoma Mine Train, but I don't think that the park's financial situation allows construction right now. Nevertheless, I really appreciate the effort to invest in new rides or shows every year: this year alone, they have invested in two new generation SLC trains, a splash battle, a horror-walkthrough, a go-karts track and have redone some of the shows.

Now, onto the pictures:

[robbalveySite Admin]

Very nice park! I wish they had at least one more coaster that was "decent", but for what they have it's a nice place. I agree, the flume is fantastic! Also love that they still post the "schedule" for the drop tower. Was there any sign at all of that Vekoma mine train they were planning to build a few years ago?

[SharkTumsSite Admin]

Consider yourselves lucky...if you thought the SLC was bad now with the new restraints, imagine how we felt riding it with the old ones!!!

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

Thanks for updates on changes to the park since TPR was last there. Like Robb, I'm also interested in the mine train.

[oriolatthe ghost seems to think there is a "Donkey Fairy"]

Was there any sign at all of that Vekoma mine train they were planning to build a few years ago?

There was no sign or clue about the mine train and I don't know if it's ever going to be built. In fact, the site where the coaster was planned is now occupied by the Go-Karts track.

Consider yourselves lucky...if you thought the SLC was bad now with the new restraints, imagine how we felt riding it with the old ones!!!

We all thought this when we got off. I wished that the new generation trains could redeem a bad coaster. Turns out they couldn't. How did those track on Great Nor'Easter?

[SharkTumsSite Admin]

The new restraints seem to turn the old 'headbanging' into 'whole body banging'. I prefer the new trains cause I'd rather be thrown around than have my head smacked over and over again by a restraint but I agree they don't 'fix' a ride by any means.

[simon8899I love donkeys more than me.]

Taking a plane to ride a SLC......you should get your priorities straightened.....

[Six Flags EnthuseastDoesn't know how to spell "Enthusiast."]

I was talking with a friend about Isla Magic today in math class; what a coincidence that a TR of it is on TPR now!

Nice report! I like how the park is well balanced overall, but I agree that it could use one more good coaster. That's too bad that the Vekoma mine train never made it, I think it would've fit well in the park... While not 'extravagant', I think the theming of the park is actually pretty nice.

[davisal771Flap, Flap, Flap. I'm a sexy girl!]

Nice report. Although they didn't have any decent coasters the themeing looks niec enough to provide a good atmosphere. Plus the drop tower with multiple modes, that looked pretty cool!

[RaptorBoyASUI love donkeys more than me.]

Nice report. We were there on one of those 40 Celsius days, and those fountains were a requirement for staying cool. I remember enjoying the park, but not being impressed either. Sad to see that not much is changed, and very sad to see Quetzal gone