This year, we planned a shorter trip to El Campello and then a three night "partway home" stop just south of Barcelona in Salou. The big draw in Salou (especially when it is too cold for the beach) is the large Port Aventura amusement park. We had been able to buy specially labled Chupa Chup packages before our last cruise that had a 2 for one deal to Port Aventura on them; so we were all set to spend two days exploring a new theme park (which, I am sure all my regular readers have figured out is one of our favourite things!).
We had booked a family suite with kitchenette at a nearby hotel (The Mecure Atena Aventura). I wish I had taken photos of the room! It was the oddest combination of good and terrible set-up I have ever seen.
On the plus side: we walked into t room just as the fireworks were starting at Port Aventura and had a perfect view. For an 80 Euro a night room that was pretty incredible. The room was also very large, with a folding "wall" between the master bedroom and the "kids's room" (bunk beds) and kitchen area. Oh, and there was free wi fi and what turned out to be an EXCELLENT breakfast included.
On the downside: there was almost no closet space. This is livable, but the kitchen was made useless by the lack of seating in the room. There was ONE chair (at the desk). So, okay you can cook but there is no where to sit to eat. Weird. The top bunk was too low to let people sit on the bottom bunk and the "king" bed was two twins ON WHEELS pushed together which had a tendency to go flying around the room if you sat on them or wiggled at all.
So, you were pretty much relegated to sitting on the hardwood floor to eat. NOT a good plan (and really odd given how much space there was; there was more than enough empty floor and wall space to allow for a full sofa or a kitchen table and chairs).
It was late and we were tired, so we skipped trying to cook and negotiate the seating and headed off to a local restaurant that had good reviews on Tripadvisor. We arrived at El Patio around 7:45. It was empty and we were told the kitchen did not open until 8:00 (typical in Spain) but that we could take a seat and have some drinks while we waited.
By 8:15 the place was PACKED. This is clearly a local favourite and we soon learned why. First off, their product "entre tapas y pizza" is a stroke of marketing genius! Wood fired pizza and quality traditional tapas. Nearly every table had families with kids happily eating pizza and adults happily eating tapas. Secondly, the food was delicious and decently priced. I highly recommend this place (we went back the next night too!).
http://www.entretapasypizzas.com/
Once we were filled up with pizza, papas bravas (and 4 cheese potatoes too!) and a few other tapas (and sangria, of course) we headed back to the hotel for some sleep before hitting the theme park for day 1 of two the next morning.
After an excellent breakfast at the hotel, we drove towards the park, annoyed with ourselves for oversleeping and not being there in time for the 10 o'clock opening. We need not have worried and in the end we were glad we slept in as the park was woefully unprepared for guests at their stated opening time. We were in line to go through the parking turnstiles (you pay on the way in) at about 10 after 10. In spite of growing lines only about two thirds of the fully automated turnstiles were operating. Odd, but okay. Once parked, we headed to the ticket windows, where we found very long lines. Lines that were not moving. The park opened at 10, but none of the ticket windows were manned until about 10:25 and then it took another 5 or 6 minutes to get the computers online and start actually selling tickets. NOT the best start to the day.
Once we were inside though, things were much better. I am going to just talk about the park as whole now and not go ride by ride day by day. Days one and two were not all that different, but it was VERY nice to have two days and not feel rushed to fit it all in in one day (especially since wind gusts kept closing the big coasters the kids wanted to ride on our first day).
Port Aventura is known primarily for its coasters, and they sure had those. In this photo you can see the tracks for both Shambhala (it has the longest drop in Europe, and seventh in the world) and Dragon Kahn (which has the most inversions in Europe).
The kids enjoyed both (though riding Shambhala got to be difficult. They waited nearly and hour TWICE on the first day only to have it shut down due to winds. Rio finally rode it alone at the end of the day, and then both rode it the next day. Dragon Khan was the bigger hit and they were able to ride it 10 or so times between the two days (and being nerds, they delighted in shouting "KHAAAAAN", ala Star Trek, every time they rode!).
They also took two loop on teh short but exceedingly fast Furious Baco. It was the first ride we hit the first morning and we made the rookie mistake of waiting for it (far too long!). They thought it was fine but overall boring (sounded my speed) so I rode it with them when there was no line going out of hte park. OMG it took off SO FAST. I was stunned and not all that happy. Yeah, turns out i rode the fastest coaster in Europe! Never again thank you.
There was also a set of wood coasters that race, which the kids enjoyed and a mine train coaster that always had a long line so they skipped it.
Dave and I were impressed by the vegetation and theming and availability of other rides. It was nice to be at a "coaster park" that still provided something interesting for the non coaster loving members of the family.
There were several shows to see, including a cure bird show and a much nicer than I would have expected ice skating show:
We also found plenty of rides to go on, even with most of the water attractions closed for the winter (the large raft ride was open, and we were crazy enough to ride it once). The bumper cars were some of my favourites; not nearly as jerky as most and really easy to drive and just fun.
Theming at Shambhala
A Betty Boop dance show near the enterance
a fun ride that was kind of a cross between tea cups and the old style spider ride
The kids are in the car on the right
The Santa marching band was pretty good and played all over the park
photo op!
Bumper cars (or bulls)!
One thing (other than opening) that I would complain about was that being off season only a few counter service places were open for meals. Between noon and about 2:30 each day wait times to get food were about an hour EVERYWHERE that was open. They really needed better staffing. That said, the counter service food, once you got it was decent for okay pricing given where you were at. Full meals with a choice of appetizer, choice of entree, choice of dessert and a soda or beer were 11 Euro. These were so big that we actually split two between us and then got Rio a popcorn snack later in the day on the first day. On the second day we paid to eat in the indoor restaurant. The wait was also horrible and the pizza was clearly from a frozen boxed meal, at high prices. I got Spanish chicken which was tasty but it was two very small drumsticks and one baby potato (boiled) cut in half. VERY little food for 15 euro! Port Aventura does not allow packed lunches to be brought in (and they did look in my bag upon entering), so you need to plan ahead for this if you go.
Overall, we had a nice time and were glad we went. That said, we are in no rush to go back and would not consider this a "destination park" There is no reason to go unless you are in the area anyway and looking to kill some time (which we were and it was perfect for that). I would not sacrifice time in Barcelona to go there if you have not spent lots of time in the city already, and I would not plan a trip around getting to spend a day or two at Port Aventura (whereas, I WOULD plan a trip specifically to visit Efteling in Holland, or any Disney park).
--Hadley
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