PortAventura
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| PortAventura | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Salou, Catalonia,  |
| Website | www.portaventura.es |
| Owner | Criteria CaixaCorp |
| Opened | 1995 |
| Operating season | March - January |
| Rides | 30 total
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PortAventura is a theme park in the resort of Portaventura, Tarragona, Catalonia, on the Costa Daurada ("Golden Coast"), approximately an hour south of Barcelona. It was conceived and built as a joint effort by the Tussauds group (Alton Towers), Anheuser-Busch (Busch Entertainment Corporation) and Universal Studios. In 1997, Universal bought up most shares in the park and the park was rebranded as 'Universal's Port Aventura'. In 2000, two hotels and a water park were constructed, and the place was further rebranded as 'Universal Mediteranea'. In 2004, NBC Universal (Universal Studios' parent) sold all interest in PortAventura. It is now owned and operated by the 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). It is the biggest resort in the south of Europe. It has 2 airports within 30 minutes of it, including Reus Airport. There is a train station for PortAventura which has connections to Barcelona and Salou.
Contents |
[edit] Sections
[edit] Mediterrània
Mediterrania is the main entrance area of the park, it only features two rides but there are several restaurants and shops reproducing a typical coastal town in Catalonia. During the months of July and August, the lake is the site of Festaventura, a show featuring fireworks and floats representing each of PortAventura's 4 other "worlds". The rides are:
- Furius Baco - A Intamin Accelerator roller coaster, which opened in June 2007. It has a top speed of 83.9 mph (135 km/h) and is the fastest roller coaster in Europe. The ride is themed along a hay-wire grape collecting machine, launched by a professor's pet monkey.
- Boat Ride - Takes visitors from the Mediterrania area to the Chinese area.
[edit] Far West
Themed as an old wild west town, this area features many western buildings and sculptures.
The area boasts 9 attractions which makes it the biggest area in the park, these include: water rides; Silver River Flume and Grand Canyon Rapids, there are also water cannons next to these rides, which allow guests to squirt people on the rides; and smaller rides including a wild west version of Tea cups and Dodgems.
The area is also home to two roller coasters:
- Stampida - This dueling Wooden roller coaster is the second largest roller coaster in the park.
- Tomahawk - A junior version of Stampida and which runs parallel to it.
[edit] Mexico
In some ways similar to the wild west area, this area however is somewhat more thrilling than the others in the park. It is themed around Mayan Mexico. It's the worst area in the park.
The main attractions include:
- Hurakan Condor - An Intamin AG 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.
- Temple Del Foc - Built in 2001, it is a walkthrough attraction which runs every 30 minutes. This is themed as a Mayan temple 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.
- El Diable-Tren de la Mina - An Arrow Dynamics mine train which features various tunnels and helixs and 3 chain-lift hills.
[edit] China
China is home to the biggest ride in the park - Dragon Khan, with 8 inversions this is one of the most thrilling rides in Europe and 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 May 2, 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.
Other rides in China include: Cobra Imperial, Tea Cups and Fumanchu.
All main path through the area is themed in the same style as the Great Wall of China.
[edit] Polynesia
The Polynesian area is different from the other rides in the park as it is a more laid back area with less thrilling rides.
The two main rides in the area are:
- Tutuki Splash - A shoot-the-shoot style ride themed on an erupting volcano, riders experience being shot out of a volcano in a flume style boat.
- Sea Odyssey - One of the most unique rides at the park. Built in 1999, 4 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. Surround sound and motion platforms give an unusual experience to the ride.
The area also features the junior roller coaster - Tami Tami, Kon-Tiki Pirate Ship and other junior rides.
[edit] Rides
| Name | Manufacturer | Speed | Height | Length | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Khan | B & M | 65 miles per hour (105 km/h) | 148 feet (45 m) | 04,165 feet (1,269 m) | 1995 |
| Furius Baco | Intamin AG | 83.9 miles per hour (135.0 km/h) | 015 feet (4.6 m) | 02,789 feet (850 m) | 2007 |
| Stampida | CCI | 46 miles per hour (74 km/h) | 084 feet (26 m) | 03,127 feet (953 m) | 1997 |
| Hurakan Condor | Intamin AG | 71.4 miles per hour (114.9 km/h) | 376 feet (115 m) | 00,370 feet (110 m) | 2005 |
| Tomahawk | CCI | 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) | 044 feet (13 m) | 01,444 feet (440 m) | 1997 |
| Tami-Tami | Vekoma | 21.7 miles per hour (34.9 km/h) | 028 feet (8.5 m) | 00,679 feet (207 m) | 1998 |
| El Diablo | Arrow | 37 miles per hour (60 km/h) | 54 feet (16 m) | 03,306 feet (1,008 m) | 1995 |
| Tutuki splash | Intamin AG | 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) | 045 feet (14 m) | 01.438 feet (0.438 m) | 1995 |
| Silver River Flume | Intamin AG | 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) | 050 feet (15 m) | 02.260 feet (0.689 m) | 1995 |
| Grand Canyon Rapids | Intamin AG | 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) | - | 02.800 feet (0.853 m) | 1995 |
| Ferrocarril Tour | * | 07 miles per hour (11 km/h) | - | 32.810 feet (10.000 m) | 1995 |
[edit] Seasonal Events
During seasonal events like Christmas and Halloween, PortAventura opens seasonal walkaround rides or shows, including the mazes: Psycho Circus, Horror in Penitence, La Mina del Diablo and La Selva del Miedo
- La Mina del Diablo is a horror maze situated in the area of Mexico since 2006. Enter in a forbidden mine in Mexico.
- La Selva del Miedo is the largest maze in Europe. The area Polynesia close at 19:00 to accommodate this event.
- Horror in Penitence is the home of terrifying zombies. This walk is themed on a ghost town.
- Psycho circus is 3-D maze under Stampida. This walk is based on a circus.
[edit] Future
PortAventura is one of the largest theme resort in Europe and has a master plan that will make possibly one of the largest tourist attractions in Europe. The park is followed by hotels, water parks, golf courses, beach clubs ... to fill the approximately 825 hectares of land owned by the park.
The first stage (1999-2004) brought the two attractions like The Universal Temple of Fire (2001) and Sea Odyssey (2000), three themed hotels like the PortAventura HOtel(2002), El Paso Hotel(2002), Caribbean Hotel (2003), and the aquatic park Costa Caribe (2002).
The second stage is subdivided in 2005-2011 and 2012-2013, including new attractions such as the ones already installed Huracan Condor (2005), Furius Baco (June 2007) or the beach club (2006), also extending the PortAventura Park with a new theme area, expanding the Costa Caribe water park, a convention center (2009), residential areas, 3 golf courses (2008 and 2009), a sports area, a leisure center, hotels and a third theme park. The investment is around 1,500 million euros and will involve 18,500 employees. La Caixa made a fusion of 4 who went to their companies manage the expansion plan. In this way, PortAventura of capital rose from 126 to 175 million euros.
It has officially announced the construction of "CityWalk (shopping and leisure) PortAventura. Port Aventura is known as the Village. The new shopping and leisure center will be 9.5 ha (three times Caribe Aquatic Park). Will be on the grounds of the resort of PortAventura from the railway station and the parking of the Hotel PortAventura, the spaces in the master plan and classified Boulevard LA. Will respect and maintain the image, architecture and operations typical of the leisure park will be located.
This new space will offer visitors and residents of the complex near the area, 5 ha for leisure, shopping and restaurants plus a further 5 ha for 2,000 parking spaces, green spaces and Multiadventures. Worth about 185 million euros is expected to open in 2010, when the park plans to open all year, and continue with several projects which are currently underway, such as golf courses, the convention center, hotel and the new Gold River (currently under construction and is expected opening in 2009. The hotel offers the possibility of living in a village of the American gold rush.
