PortAventura World

PortAventura World
Slogan Parks & Resort
Location Salou and Vila-seca, Catalonia,
Spain
Coordinates 41°05′05″N 1°09′05″E / 41.08472°N 1.15139°E / 41.08472; 1.15139Coordinates: 41°05′05″N 1°09′05″E / 41.08472°N 1.15139°E / 41.08472; 1.15139
Owner InvestIndustrial
General Manager Sergio Feder
Opened May 1, 1995 (1995-05-01)
Previous names Port Aventura
Universal's Port Aventura
Universal Studios PortAventura
PortAventura
Operating season Spring through winter
Rides
Total 36
Roller coasters 8
Water rides 4
Website Official website

PortAventura World is an entertainment resort in Salou and Vila-seca, Tarragona, on the Costa Daurada in Spain. It was built around the PortAventura Park theme park, which attracts around 4 million visitors per year, making it the most visited theme park in Spain and the sixth most visited theme park in Europe.[1] The resort includes a second theme park, Ferrari Land, since 2017 and also includes PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park and six hotels. It is the biggest resort in the south of Europe. It has two airports within 30 minutes of it, including Reus Airport.[2] There is a train station for PortAventura which has connections to Barcelona and Salou.

It was conceived and built as a joint effort by a Spanish Consortium and Anheuser-Busch (Busch Entertainment Corporation). When some of the Spanish Partners left the consortium the Tussauds Group replaced them as investors, finished the development and became the first operators.[3] In 1997, Universal bought up most shares in the park and the park was rebranded as 'Universal's Port Aventura', which made it the first Universal Studios Theme Park in Europe. In 2000, two hotels and a water park (Costa Caribe) were constructed, and the resort was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediterranea'. In 2004, NBC Universal (Universal Studios' parent) sold all interest in PortAventura. It is now owned and operated by La Caixa banking group's investment vehicle Criteria, but as of 2005 the Universal name has been dropped from the branding, and the resort was once again named 'PortAventura' (the space in the name is deliberately left out for trademark reasons). In December 2013 KKR [4] picks up 49.9% stake in PortAventura from Investindustrial that still owns 50.1%.

The second theme park, Ferrari Land, was inaugurated on April 7, 2017.[5]

PortAventura Park

Areas

The park features five theme areas based on civilizations (Mediterrània, Far West, México, China and Polynesia), and one theme area based on Sesame Street, which was opened for the 2011 season of the park.

Mediterrània

Mediterrània is the main entrance area of the park  it features three rides but there are several restaurants and shops reproducing a typical coastal town in Catalonia.

Mediterrània lake with Furius Baco
Attractions
  • Furius Baco: An Intamin Accelerator coaster with winged seating, which opened in June 2007. It has a top speed of 83.9 mph (135 km/h). The ride is themed along a hay-wire grape collecting machine, launched by a professor's pet monkey.
  • Port de la Drassana: One of the boat ride station which takes visitors from the Mediterránia area to the Chinese area.
    The entrance zone of the Mediterrània section of PortAventura.
  • Estació del Nord: One of the three stations of the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge[6] Ferrocarril Tour, PortAventura's railroad attraction.
Shows
  • Sésamo Parade
  • Welcome
  • FiestAventura: The lake becomes the site of a show featuring fireworks and floats representing PortAventura's zones of Polynesia, China, Far West and Mexico (only during July and August).
  • Sésamo Parade Special Light (during July and August, also Halloween September to November).

Far West

Themed as an old wild west town, this area features many western buildings and sculptures. The area boasts nine attractions which makes it the biggest area in the park. Other attractions in this area includes a wild west version of Break Dance ride and Dodgems.

The area is also home to these thrill rides:

  • Stampida – This dueling wooden roller coaster is the third largest roller coaster in the park.
  • Tomahawk – A junior version of Stampida and which runs parallel to it.
  • Silver River Flume – A traditional water flume in the Far West.
  • Grand Canyon Rapids – A whitewater "tub raft" adventure along the Grand Canyon. There are also water cannons next to this ride, which allow guests to squirt people on the rides

México

This area is themed primarily on pre-Columbian Mexico. It features temples, statues and a Great Piramide that is the entrance to the Gran Teatro Maya, the biggest show zone of the park.

El Diablo-Tren de la Mina in the Mexican area.
Attractions
Hurakan Condor
  • Hurakan Condor: An Intamin drop tower ride operated by a cable lift, the ride provides a large view at the top before riders are sent to free fall to the bottom of the ride. This ride is one of the tallest in the world at 330 ft and is sometimes labelled as the greatest due to the tilting seats.
  • El Diablo - Tren de la Mina: An Arrow Dynamics mine train which features various small tunnels, a large number of helices and 3 chain-lift hills. The top speed of the coaster is around 60 km/h.
  • El Secreto de los Mayas: A mirror maze with some visual effects.
  • Yucatán: Themed in a large snake. It is a spinning ride that spin around a central axis with some ups and downs at a medium speed. It always travels forward.
  • Armadillos: A children's version of Yucatán.
  • Los Potrillos: A child attraction with some foals guided along a guide through a scouts camp.
  • Serpiente Emplumada: A spinning ride with five cylindrical modules that spin around a central axis, rising and changing his angle respect the ground at the same time that they are spinning around a central totem.
Shows
  • Templo del Fuego: Built in 2001, it is a walk-through attraction which runs every 30 minutes during for a certain period of the park opening hours. This is themed as a Maya temple in which an Indiana Jones type character raids in search of treasure. The high level of pyrotechnics in this show is hinted in the name – Temple of Fire.
  • Generation Forever (This show has an entrance in the China zone)
  • Los Mundos de Woody

China

China is one of the biggest theme lands of the park – The area includes a Chinese buffet called Marco Polo with a good range of dishes available. The main path through the area is themed in the same style as the Great Wall of China.

Dragon Khan and Shambhala from the Great Wall of China recreation in 2012

The rides are:

  • Dragon Khan, with 8 inversions this formerly held the record as having more inversions than any other roller coaster. It also held the world record for the tallest vertical loop on any roller-coaster. The ride built by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) opened on 2 May 1995 and was one of the two roller coasters that Port Aventura had when it opened. It consistently ranks among one of the world's best roller coasters in polls.
  • Shambhala, this B&M roller coaster beat three European records as it was the fastest (134 km/h) and tallest roller coaster in Europe. It is 76 m tall and had longest drop in Europe at 78 m (2 m underground).
  • Angkor, a large splash battle themed in the Angkor ruins that opened in 2014. It is located just behind Shambhala.
  • Cobra Imperial
  • Tea Cups
  • Driving School

Shows

  • Los Misterios de Angkor
  • Generations Forever (This show has an entrance in the México zone).
  • Bubblebou
  • Sand Animation

Polynesia

Polynesia area

The Polynesian area is different from the other rides in the park as it is a more laid back area with less thrilling rides. Polynesia is home to two shows and a few attractions. Polynesia is one of the smallest themed areas.

The two main rides in the area are:

  • Tutuki Splash: A water ride themed along an erupting volcano, riders experience being shot out of a volcano in a flume style boat.
  • Dino Escape 4D Experience: Built in 1999, four years after the opening of the park, riders are taken into a dynamic cinema themed as a submarine and taken on a journey to the bottom of the ocean. Labelled as a 4D theater attraction because of surround sound and motion platforms. Since 2010 it is able to play several different films throughout the day.

There is a submarine over a pool as part of queue line theming.

For the 2017 season, this has been rebranded as Dino Escape 4D Experience. The ride is based around a Jurassic Park Jeep journey which takes a turn for the worse, resulting in the need to escape from the dinosaurs on the loose.

  • Kontiki: A pirate ship ride.
  • Canoes: A junior water ride.

SésamoAventura

Magic Fish in the SésamoAventura area.

Themed to the Sesame Street characters, this area is aimed for the younger visitors of the park. It opened for the 2011 season, and it was built between China and Polynesia in former lands of the Polynesia area, maintaining some of its attractions. The investment was around €12 million. PortAventura joined Universal Studios Japan and Busch Gardens with an area dedicated to Sesame Street, being the only theme park in Europe.

It is home to 11 rides including:

  • CocoPiloto – A monorail around the area.
  • Tami Tami – A roller coaster for children.
  • Magic Fish – A water carousel with jet-ski cars.
  • El Salto de Blas – A drop-tower for children.
  • La Granja de Elmo – A ride to visit Elmo's farm.

The shows: It is also home to two shows and street animation starring Ernie, Bert, Elmo and company.

Ferrari Land

InvestIndustrial and Ferrari signed a deal to build a new area themed to the Italian sports car brand in the PortAventura resort covering 75,000 m2, including new rides, a 250-room hotel with restaurants, shops and car racing simulators. Ferrari Land is the resort's second theme park, separate from PortAventura Park. Its entrance is adjacent to PortAventura Park's main entrance. The Mediterranean theme is common to both entrances, as Ferrari Land is inspired by Italy, including recreations of Venice's Piazza San Marco and Rome's Colosseum. The main ride of Ferrari Land is a 112 m tall vertical accelerator coaster that surpassed Shambhala: Expedición al Himalaya as the tallest coaster in Europe and is also the fastest coaster in Europe. The park was opened on April 7, 2017, after an investment of more than €100 million.[7]

Ferrari Land is the second amusement centre themed to Ferrari in the world, after Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi.[8]

Rides & Attractions

Roller Coasters

The Tutuki Splash water ride.
Name Manufacturer Speed Height Length Park Section Opened
ShambhalaBolliger & Mabillard83 miles per hour (134 km/h)249 feet (76 m)5,410 feet (1,650 m)China2012
Dragon KhanBolliger & Mabillard65 miles per hour (105 km/h)148 feet (45 m)4,165 feet (1,269 m)China1995
Furius BacoIntamin83.9 miles per hour (135.0 km/h)15 feet (4.6 m)2,789 feet (850 m)Mediterranean2007
Junior Red ForceSBF Visa GroupUnknownUnknownUnknownFerrari Land2018
Red ForceIntamin112 miles per hour (180 km/h)367 feet (112 m)2,887 feet (880 m)Ferrari Land2017
StampidaCCI46 miles per hour (74 km/h)84 feet (26 m)3,127 feet (953 m)Far West1997
TomahawkCCI30 miles per hour (48 km/h)44 feet (13 m)1,444 feet (440 m)Far West1997
El Diablo - Tren de la MinaArrow Dynamics37 miles per hour (60 km/h)54 feet (16 m)3,306 feet (1,008 m)Mexico1995
Tami TamiVekoma21.7 miles per hour (34.9 km/h)28 feet (8.5 m)679 feet (207 m)Sesamo Aventura1998

Flat Rides

Name Manufacturer Height Speed Length Park Section Opened
Flying DreamsBrogentN/AN/AN/AFerrari Land2017
Hurakan CondorIntamin330 feet (100 m)71.4 miles per hour (114.9 km/h)370 feet (110 m)Mexico2005
Maranello Grand RaceN/AN/AN/A570 mFerrari Land2017
Thrill TowersS&S Worldwide180 feet (55 m)N/AN/AFerrari Land2017

Water Rides

Name Manufacturer Speed Height Length Park Section Opened
Tutuki SplashIntamin35 miles per hour (56 km/h)045 feet (14 m)01,438 feet (438 m)Polynesia1995
Silver River FlumeMack Rides35 miles per hour (56 km/h)050 feet (15 m)02,260 feet (690 m)Far West1995
Grand Canyon RapidsIntamin10 miles per hour (16 km/h)–02,800 feet (850 m)Far West1995
CanoesZamperla10 miles per hour (16 km/h)–02,800 feet (850 m)Polynesia1995
AngkorMack Rides10 miles per hour (16 km/h)–02,800 feet (850 m)China2014

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park

Costa Caribe Aquatic Park Entrance.
Costa Caribe Aquatic Park – La Laguna de Woody.

PortAventura Caribe Aquatic Park is a water park which is adjacent to PortAventura Park. It has an area of 50,000 m2, which includes 16 attractions and slides, as well as over 8,500 m2 of water-covered surface area. It is themed to the Caribbean, with beaches, palm trees, and Latin and reggae music, and it also includes shops and restaurants.

Rides

  • King Khajuna – Europe's tallest free fall slide of 31 metres and 55 degree descent. Opened in 2013.
  • Ciclón Tropical - MultiBUMP slide. Opened in 2013.
  • Rapid Race - Pro racer opened in 2013.
  • The Mambo and Limbo – Two corkscrew water slide.
  • El Tifón – Two typhoon Water Slide.
  • El Río Loco – Lazy River.
  • El Torrente – A 4 passenger tube.
  • Barracudas – A pair of 2 Passenger tube sails through tunnels and spins at full speed.

Kids rides

  • Junior Slides – Small indoor rides.
  • Zona Indoor – Indoor play area including pool.
  • La Laguna de Woody – Woody Woodpecker-themed play area.

Seasonal events

FiestAventura

During seasonal events like summer nights, Halloween (September–November) and Christmas (November–January), PortAventura Park opens seasonal walkaround rides or shows, including the mazes: [REC], Horror in Penitence, La Selva del Miedo and the nighttime Halloween show Horror en el Lago.

Summer Nights

  • Sesamo Parade – A parade with music and choreography, leading up to the start of the FiestAventura show.
  • FiestAventura – The fireworks show including water effects and floats.
  • ¡Hola PortAventura! Summer Night – At the Gran Teatro Imperial Theatre with a night time version of ¡Hola PortAventura!.

Resort hotels

The resort features six thematic hotels:

  • PortAventura Hotel PortAventura: Mediterranean theme (4*).
  • PortAventura Hotel Caribe: Caribbean theme (4*).
  • PortAventura Hotel El Paso: Mexican theme (4*).
  • PortAventura Hotel Gold River: Far West theme (4*).
  • PortAventura Hotel Mansión de Lucy: Victorian-style Far West theme (5*).
  • Hotel Ferrari: Ferrari theme (5*) (future)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Themed Entertainment Association; Economics Research Associates (2013). "Global attractions attendance report" (PDF). AECOM. Retrieved 2015. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ↑ "How to get to PortAventura". portaventura.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. ↑ "Ray Barratt". blooloop. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Type, News (2013-12-06). "KKR picks up 49.9% stake in PortAventura from Investindustrial | AltAssets Private Equity News". Altassets.net. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  5. ↑ "Ferrari Land estará separado de PortAventura y creará 150 empleos". La Vanguardia. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Severn Lamb Jupiter model
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Clara Blanchar. "Port Aventura invertirá 100 millones en un nuevo parque dedicado a Ferrari". El País. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
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