Sun , Salou and Shambhala

[buryboy]

Thought I would do a summary of our trip to Salou, more of an informative report for those considering a cheaper park fix alternative rather than a trip to Florida than a regulation trip report

All 4 of us went this time , DW , DD20 and DS16.
We had been to Salou 3 years earlier but DD was in hospital deep into her eating disorder problems so we had had to go without her that year , so it was her choice to come to Salou this year

Journeys out and back

We flew EasyJet from Luton to Reus - less than £400 return for all 4 of us booked the second the EasyJet flights came out. We live near Manchester so a bit of a trek but for the saving a no-brainer for flights in the middle of August . Much prefer the smaller airports and Luton fitted the bill.

We booked a Premier Inn - luton south- for the princely sum of £25 - booked nearly a year ago - and all was fine . No questions asked about the kids ages as DD can pass for 14

Car parking we used Airparks - would highly recommend, ( booked via link on moneysavingexpert for discount) . Quick bus transfer and they scan your car on arrival so presumably no spurious claims either way re damage etc . Coming back bus left within 5 minutes and car collection was simplicity itself

The flights were fine . On time both ways , we got the exit row seats on the way out , row 11 so got free extra leg room, and our case was ready for collection on the carousel as we reached the hall in Reus. Perfect . And no issues on the way home other than a bit of a wait for luggage

Used ‘bus plana ‘ local bus to get to our hotel €12.80 versus about €30 for a taxi and it did the job but was a little wait . Coming back €11 for some reason . Turned up 10 minutes late which was a slight concern for a while but all good in the end


Belvedere Hotel

Our hotel was the Belvedere , booked via Expedia , for what I thought was a bargain £1405 for the 4 of us for 10 nights half board . Quidco should give us about £150 back also. This was booked last December on a cancellable rate

The hotel was a 3 star . They say you get what you pay for, but I felt we got more than that and would have no hesitation stopping here again
Downsides -
a bit cramped by the pool area ,
the room was small with 2 double beds and there was a bit of a queue at mealtimes
Dinner didn’t start until 7pm , so limited time after dinner for park visits

Upsides -
food was great , bags of choice and variety , well cooked and looked after all tastes . I am very fussy but always found something and my DD managed to find stuff to satisfy her disorder. Most nights had some kind of theme ( eg Spanish , seafood ) but they were always top ups so not to the detriment to / instead of the rest of the choice. They did special things like roses for the ladies , sweets or candy floss for the kids or even
hidden mickey pancakes

Pool area had a great atmosphere, good music and people having fun
Entertainment team tried really hard , free bingo daily , boules , water polo , free paella some days etc
Place was very clean and maids did a great job
Location perfect- on the edge of town so about 20 mins walk to port aventura (PA) entrance and 10-15 minutes walk to beach

The Parks

We got the 7 day 3 parks pass - allowed you 2 days at Costa caribe water park, a day in Ferrari land and 4 in PA. 7 consecutive days . You could also go in PA on the Ferrari day . Normally costs just over £100 but I took advantage of the Expedia £50 off £120 code and overall was £345 for all 4 of us , so roughly £50 a day which I thought was excellent value

Costa caribe water park

Open 10-30 till 7
Get there early to get yourself a (free ) sunbed and then get yourselves on the big rides early while limited queues . The purple family raft ride got the biggest queues followed by the 2 ring rides and then the mat slides so be prepared to queue if not done in the first hour . Over an hour queue at busy times
Thoroughly enjoyed the park, relaxed feel , decent enough wave pool and good lazy river . The main rides were ok without being awesome ( not Siam park standard )

Ferrari Land

Open 10-30 to 7pm
We got there for opening and went straight to its star attraction , Red Force .
Like Stealth at Thorpe Park but much bigger and much faster ( 112 mph and 367 feet ) . What a fab ride - rockets you off at the start and what a view at the top
Only about 5 attractions in the park ( plus some kiddie ones ) - a good Soarin style one , a parachute drop pair of towers , a road race one that was a little similar to Soarin and a Speedway style one that was somewhat naff for the 45 minute queue
Only a half day park but Red Force a definite highlight

PortAventura Park

Open 10-30 to midnight

It was too hot to go during the day (how do you manage when doing Florida in August ? ) , so we either had a late lunch and went up about 5pm or went up straight after tea
I really think this is a great park-the theming is great , there is a fab atmosphere

First night the big rides were all about an hour queue at 630pm so I was a bit concerned but for whatever reason they got quieter as the week went on, Saturday and Sunday strangely the quietest.
Water rides closed at 930 pm , you get especially wet on the log flume and on tutuki splash ( think Jurassic Park) so you either need to queue during the day , or be prepared to be wet if you go on later with lower queues . Tutuki and the Flume are both great rides. The rapids are a bit disappointing



The three really big rides are Shambhala , ( tallest fastest coaster in Europe in think - so so smooth and always gets a round of applause at the end ) , Dragon Khan ( a multi inverter coaster ) and Furius Baco ( a propelled start dangly leg effort )
My son loves Dragon Khan ( I don’t do multi- inverters) , Shambhala was awesome and Furius Baco lived up to its reputation

There really are a lot of cracking rides in the park, a good mine train , a junior woody , and the best woody ever called Stampida ( think Gwazi) - a duelling rickety ride that shakes your bones .

There is a new ride in the kids area for 2019 which is a kind of cross between Buzz and Ratatouille, which drew big queues . The kids area looked great with a good mix of rides - we went on a fab one called magic fish where you went round on a fish in water

We didn’t watch any, but there are a number of shows at the park, themed around the areas . Eg Wild West gun fight , Polynesian dancers , Chinese acrobats etc . We did get to see the parade and end of night show - good but not Disney

Top rides ( that I rode )

1 - Stampida
2 - Red Force
3 - Shambhala
4 - Tutuki Splash
5 - Flying Dream
6 - Log Flume
7 - Magic Fish
8 - Street Mission
9 - Furius Baco
10 - El Diablo

Salou itself

We didn’t venture into the town for any nights ‘ out ‘ as such . Just a few gentle strolls along the ‘ prom ‘ . The front is basically a decent width beach backed by a good wide pavement area , then a recreation area , then the road and shops. There was a small harbour too

It had a vibrant feel to it . The beach has plenty of watersports, a kind of floating island of barrels to jump from , good clean sand with plenty of loungers and parasols to rent and little beach bars
There were beach volleyball courts , kids play areas and a fitness zone

The recreation area had a merry go round , a car park , good gardens , a five a side football pitch , basketball court , a space for small concerts , water fountains and Salou’s equivalent of the Las Vegas sign

There seemed a good variety of shops to cater to all budgets and tastes

Dear daughter

Coped reasonably well with her eating disorder . It was the first time we had gone Half Board with her condition . So rather than being presented with a plate of food , she had the whole buffet to choose from . Often we negotiated with her to come back with A, B and C and she would come back with A, half B and no C . Where C would be the most calorific one !
She found the holiday enjoyable but tiring with the walking in the parks and the late nights , but the big plus was she went on every ride . Going back to 3 years ago when she was physically shaking at the thought of just going out of hospital for a walk in the hospital grounds , massive progress has been made in her confidence

All in all a very enjoyable holiday , the weather was great and we look forward to going back in a few years

Any questions just shout out and I will help if I can

[Bouncing Tigger]

Great report, lovely photos and fab to hear how well your daughter did. We love Portaventura and always stay in Cap Salou, it’s a lovely walk from there into town. We haven’t been this year but I think we might sneak a trip in next September.

[dismamx2]

Sounds like you all had a great trip, you all look so happy. I'm so pleased your daughter enjoyed it even if things are still a little hard with meal times. Well done to your ds on his GCSE's and great your dd is doing well and happy in her job.

We stayed at the Belvedere in early June, half board for 10 nights also. For what we got for the price it was a bargain. It was quiet when we were there, always got beds around the pool. Food was great, I think dinner started earlier when we were there. A few days we swapped dinner for lunch and had a nice meal out. We had a room in the corner overlooking the pool, nice location but think it was a smaller room as 2 beds were pushed together with not much space around them. It was only myself and dd16 so it was fine. We did the 3 parks also, a nice cheaper alternative to DLP or even Florida! It even rained when we were in the water park

Best of luck going forward with your dd and hope everything goes well for your ds with college.

[Megandllsmum]

Great report really enjoyed reading it, I have very fond memories of salou when my eldest was young we holidayed there quite a few years... we used to actually stay in cap salou at the Mediterranean village lovely resort... anyway love portaventura and Stampida especially, give me a wooden bone shaker ride any day over a smooth metal track... I like to feel my fillings jangling in my mouth

[Loopylooloo]

Great trip report! And some lovely happy photos of all of you together, which warms my heart. DD is looking so well!

We love Portaventura, its a very attractive park, and like you, we enjoy all the shows as well as rides, Stampida is brilliant! I don't do Dragon Khan either.

Thanks for sharing.

[buryboy]

Cheers guys
Dismamx2, do you recognise this entertainer with his continual ‘ oh wow’ phrase
I happened to have brought a ‘ wow ‘ home bargains plastic bag from home
He was well chuffed

[dismamx2]

Originally Posted by buryboy

Cheers guys
Dismamx2, do you recognise this entertainer with his continual ‘ oh wow’ phrase
I happened to have brought a ‘ wow ‘ home bargains plastic bag from home
He was well chuffed

See more...

I remember him but didn't pick up on the 'wow' thing lol but I remember when he was calling out the bingo numbers he always called number 8 'H'. My dd won at bingo one day, he's (not intentionally) in this pic with her after collecting her winnings
I bet he liked that bag you gave him so

[DisneyDaffodil]

Great report, you had a bargain trip for August. We visited PortAventura ten years ago when our DD was 8. It was her first theme park holiday, we stayed in nearby La Pineda and caught the Plana buses into the park. They are an excellent local bus company, easy to navigate. My DH and I are returning to La Pineda in a few weeks time when DD goes to uni.

We were surprised at how good the theme park was. We saw a few of the shows too which were also excellent especially the acrobats.

We haven’t stayed in Salou but we are thinking of catching the bus there on our next visit to look around.

Your photos are lovely. It must have been very emotional for you to see how well your daughter coped on this visit, I’m so pleased for you all xx