PortAventura
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| PortAventura | |
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| Location | Salou, Catalonia, Spain,  |
| Website | www.portaventura.es |
| Owner | Universal Studios |
| Opened | 1995 |
| Operating season | March to January |
| Rides | total
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PortAventura is a theme park in the holiday resort of Salou, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, on the Costa Dorada ("Gold Coast"), approximately 1 hour from Barcelona. It was conceived and built as a joint effort by the Tussauds group (Alton Towers), Anheuser-Busch (Busch Gardens) 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, 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 Port Aventura which has connections to Barcelona and Salou.
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[edit] Park Structure
PortAventura is divided into five themed "worlds" (Universals):
[edit] Mediterrania
Mediterrania is the main entrance area of the park, it only features two rides but there are several restaurants and shops.
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 professors pet monkey.
Boat Ride - Takes visitors from the Mediterrania area to the Chinese area
[edit] Far West
Themed on 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 including;
Water rides; Silver River Flume and Grand Canyon Rapids which allows guests to squirt riding guests with water
Smaller rides includes a wild west version of Tea cups and Dodgems
The area is also home to three roller coaster;
Stampida - A dueling (Wooden roller coaster) and is the second largest roller coaster in the park
Tomahawk a junior version of Stampida and at times it runs parrel 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.
The main attractions includes;
Hurakan Condor - A large tower drop ride operated by a cable lift, the ride provides a large view at the top before riders are sent wizzing to the bottom of the ride.
Templo Del Fuego - A walkthrough attraction which runs every 30 minutes, visitors follow an actor through the doors and into a large cave which throughout the show is lit with fire and water jets.
El Diablo Tren de la Mina - A family mine train coaster featuring three lift hills and several underground tunnels. This ride may seem out of place in the mexican area as it is infact themed on the wild west.
[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 was the former holder of the biggest coaster in Europe.
Other rides in the area include a chair-o-plane, tea cup ride and spinning dragon ride.
[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 - 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, riders are taken into a 4D cinema themed as a submarine and taken on a journey to the bottom of the ocean, surround sound and rocking seats give a unusual experience.
The area also features the junior roller coaster - Tami Tamim a Pirate Ship and other junior rides.
[edit] Seasonal Events
During seasonal events like Christmas and Halloween, PortAventura opens seasonal walkaround rides or shows, including Psycho's Circus (2005), Horror in Penitence (2006), La Mina del Diablo (2006).
La Mina del Diablo is an all year ride but in 2006 a horror walk was constructed over the queue lines to give the riders a shock.
[edit] Links de Interes - PortAventura
