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Old 10 Aug 19, 11:43 AM  
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HEMANCLOFTY
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An Adults Only (Port)Adventure (July 2019) - Day 2

An Adults Only (Port)Adventure
Day 2 – Beach & PortAventura at Night – Wednesday 3rd July


The Index is here
Day 1 is here


No rush this morning, as we were having a chill morning before heading to PortAventura this afternoon – the park is open until midnight tonight, and we were really looking forward to riding Shambhala in the dark 😊.

The alarm was on for 8am, but we allowed ourselves an extra 30 minutes and went down for breakfast at 9am.

I went for a ham and tomato omelette, made to order on the grill – but it was a bit too runny in the middle for my taste, so I only ate the edges. I played it safe with my next plate – Bacon, beans and tortilla, and then a couple of pastries. I also had a small cappuccino and a pot of tea (the cappuccino was much nicer than yesterday’s coffee)…





Rich had hot-dog style sausages with tortilla and bread, plus pastries and a couple of glasses of OJ -one from the machine, and one freshly squeezed from the smoothie counter (no pics)

We chilled out in the room for a bit – Rich watched Netflix and I caught up with my trippie notes...



We got ready and headed out at about 11am – walking down to the beachfront and about ¾ the way up towards the marina. It was really really hot, too hot to sit in the sun, so we found a shady spot under some trees just off the beach pathway and set up camp there...







Rich was happy to just chill. I changed in the loos and went in the sea – it was lovely and warm, but I was bored after about 15-20 minutes so headed back to Rich.

We just chatted and chilled for about 30 minutes, watching all the gym-bod men trying to outdo each other doing pull ups on the outdoor gym equipment – only to be outshone by a little kid 😊.

I changed out of my wet cossie and we walked the rest of the way into town, where we popped into a Tobacconist and bought 200 Cigarettes (€50) and a bottle of Coke (€1.80)...



We carried on up past the train station and walked back down the back-streets way in sort of a triangle – coming out by the central roundabout.

We decided to get some picky bits for lunch and went into the Michaelangelos supermarket – we chose some cheese and ham (€4ish), but the drinks were much pricier in here than the Alcampo convenience store, so we decided to go there for the rest of what we needed, as it was only 2 minutes further up.

At Alcampo we got a baguette, 8 cans of Sprite, 8 cans of Pepsi Max, 4 waters and a bag of Cheetos of €9-odd😊.

We got back to the hotel at around 1:30pm, and we enjoyed our baguettes and Cheetos – I had an Alpen bar with mine, and I fashioned 2 “plates” out of the box…



We planned to head out at about 4:30pm, so that we’d be in the park by 5pm, so we had time for a siesta – I finished my John Wardley book and dozed in between a few episodes of Friends.

(A side note for my fellow coaster geeks – John Wardley is most famous for his links to Alton Towers, but he was heavily involved in PortAventura – there’s even a 90s BBC show called “Have Your Cake & Eat It” that’s very loosely based on him, set around the development of Dragon Khan – I haven’t been able to find it yet though)

We changed for the parks and packed the park bag with a change of clothes as we planned to do some water rides and didn’t want to spend the whole night damp.

On the walk up, my left lazy eye did it’s usual holiday trick of stinging and watering – it was the most uncomfortable it’s ever been and I really struggled for a few hours, and then off and on all throughout the night . Even though it was evening by now it was still 32oC, so all in all quite an uncomfortable night, but it didn’t spoil our fun 😊.

We arrived at the park by 5pm as planned and watched a few minutes of the little Pirate show in the Mediterrania area...



...before catching the boat up to China...





I never get bored of pics of these 2 B&M coasters...









Shambhala had a bit of a queue, so we did single-rider. I ended up sat next to a guy from Orlando and we had a good chat about coasters and parks as we went up the lift-hill. I told him that the ride was very similar to Mako, but he hadn’t ridden that either and was a bit nervous.

Angkor next, to cool off – we waited about 15 minutes. It was a bit tame to start with, but then we got into some good battles with the boat behind and came off absolutely soaked…



It was nice to cool off a bit, but we were still too hot, so we heated to Gran Teatro Imperial to watch the 7pm showing of We Dance On Movies – we were 20 minutes early, so we just chilled and enjoyed the A/C and I rested my poorly eye...



The show was good – it’s new for this year, but as equally cheesy as Dance Revolution 2 which it has replaced. A good mix of music and acrobatics etc and the theme song is pure cheese (in a good way) – it’s just a shame that they lip-sync. The Rocky / Boxing Acrobats bit was the highlight. No pics as cameras aren’t allowed for this one, so here is are a few from Google…







My eye was hurting again by the end of the show – I don’t think the flashing lights helped, so I took some tablets to sooth the behnd-the-eye headache that had started.

I was a bit peckish, so got a Magnum Almond from the China counter (€3.30) and we mooched around through Mexico to Far West...











We headed for the Grand Canyon Rapids next but stopped off on the way for Hot dogs from the stand nearby. We both went for the XXXL Cheese Lover (€4.95 each) and a Coke to share (€3.30) – the dogs were very nice…







Straight onto the rubber-dinghy-rapids next, which were only a 5-minute wait – we got a few splashes but didn’t come off too wet...



Tutuki Splash was showing a 40-minute wait, so we decided to skip it and did Kontiki (the pirate ship) instead, as it was a walk-on.

I convinced Rich to come on Magic Fish in the Sesame Aventura area with me as I really enjoyed it last year – there was a 10-minute queue and there were a couple of annoying parents barging past to “get to my child who’s on their own”. It was good fun again, and Rich enjoyed it too 😊.

Arty pic from the queue line...



It was starting to get dusky by now, so we decided to have another single-rider go on Shambhala – this time I was next to a French guy who decided to get his phone out and film the entire ride – not good! I was sat nearer to the back this time and could definitely feel the difference – much more intense and really nice in the twilight, but still not quite Taron at Phantasialand! (Sorry Shammy B no #1 coaster spot any more)

Dragon Khan had a short queue, so we did that next – it’s ok, but is starting to show it’s age now (23) and it’s a bit rough. I don’t mind it, but Rich isn’t a fan. The sunset made it more enjoyable through...








We walked down towards El Diablo Tren de la Mina, but there was a bit of a queue so we left it and just took some pics in the area…







Then we decided to do Hurakan Condor– this is one that we wouldn’t normally be too bothered about doing as, although it’s tall, it’s a bit of a damp-sqib of a drop-tower, but we thought we’d give it a go as it was almost dark and the queue was only 10-minutes…



I'm quite proud of this shot (especially as most of my night-pics are awful and blurry)...



It was so worth it though – the night-ride more than made up for what it what it lacks in the day! We did Tower 4 which is the stand-up one and the view was fab 😊.

We both really loved the park at night – the lighting is lovely and the ambience is amazing 😊. It's a shame my pics came out so bad

We headed back to China, deciding on the way give Dragon Khan a go in the dark – again, the dark helped give the ride an extra edge, but it really is rough, and Rich came off with a bad headache.

It was finally time to ride Shambhala in the dark – this was the one that we’d most been looking forward to when we saw the park hours were 10am-12pm during our trip. It was only a 10-minute queue, so we decided to ride together for this one and, double bonus, we got the back row! It was an awesome ride – so intense on the back and brilliant in the dark...



Rich’s headache was really bad now though, so he wasn’t feeling up to any more rides. He took some tablets and said I should go around for a single-rider ride, but I resisted as we were in this (Port) Adventure together.

We had a bit of time before the evening shows, so we had a slow mooch through Sesamo Aventura and Polynesia – spotting a random kitten at one point...











I took loads more photos, but they didn't come out well at all

We got down to Mediterranea by about 11pm-ish. The crowd was starting to build up, so we found a spot opposite Records de Port Aventura and just sat on the floor and chilled until the parade at 11:30pm...



The parade was good fun, and really nicely lit - I filmed it on my phone, so the pics below are screen grabs that I captured whilst doing so (hence they aren't great)…













I do love the theme tune – it really sticks in your head 😊

End of parade show at Town Hall...



Fiestaventura started at 11:40pm and it was excellent. A combination of music, fireworks, water projections, jet skis and floats. The finale included two guys flying around in LED suits on aqua-jets and they were brilliant. A really excellent show that wouldn’t look out of place in Disney or Universal…

My pics aren't very good - here are the best of a bad bunch...













This one from the PortAventura Website does it more justice...



We left the park just after Midnight...


We walked back down towards the hotel. We both suggested going for a KFC, so we walked straight there and arrived at 12:35am.

I went for an Original Chicken Meal...



...and Rich had the BBC Meal (€14-odd) - sorry no pic of Rich's food

The food was really nice and we got great service too. A sign said that we could have unlimited drink refills for an hour after purchase, but just the one drink each was enough.

It was just over a 10-minute walk back to the hotel and we got in at 1:10am. We were absolutely shattered after a long but brilliant day.

The step count for today was 29,812 before midnight and 4,855 after – so 34,667 in total, beating yesterday’s record. That’s 29.43Km and 1567 calories burned, so we earned the late-night KFC 😊

Day 3 is here

Edited at 04:44 PM.
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Old 11 Aug 19, 08:20 AM  
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Loopylooloo
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A great day, apart from your sore eye and head (I always get an irritated eye on holiday too I can sympathise) you are brave to ride Dragon Khan! I hated it! Beach looks beautiful too.
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Old 11 Aug 19, 09:05 AM  
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A great day, I’m enjoying reading along to get ideas. I’m considering a trip at Easter next year, although not sure if it will be totally rammed!
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Old 11 Aug 19, 11:43 PM  
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HEMANCLOFTY
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Originally Posted by Loopylooloo View Post
A great day, apart from your sore eye and head (I always get an irritated eye on holiday too I can sympathise) you are brave to ride Dragon Khan! I hated it! Beach looks beautiful too.
For some reason it's always my left eye too - probably because it's lazy.

I don't mid Dragon Khan but Rich really isn't a fan - last year a wasp flew up the back of his t-shirt and he could feel it all the way around
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Old 11 Aug 19, 11:44 PM  
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Originally Posted by Cutiepie View Post
A great day, I’m enjoying reading along to get ideas. I’m considering a trip at Easter next year, although not sure if it will be totally rammed!
Thanks for reading along. I'm not sure about Easter crowds, but I'd definitely recommend May Half Term - we had a great week last year
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Old 12 Aug 19, 12:18 AM  
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Enjoying reading your trip report, we visited PortAventura 10 years ago (our first theme park holiday) and had a wonderful time.

We are returning to the area in October for our first holiday without children for 32 years. We are staying at the new adults only hotel in La Pineda. We aren’t planning on visiting PortAventura as DH isn’t a big theme park fan and this is going to be a relaxing holiday, but I’m tempted after reading your report 😀
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Old 12 Aug 19, 12:43 PM  
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Originally Posted by HEMANCLOFTY View Post
Thanks for reading along. I'm not sure about Easter crowds, but I'd definitely recommend May Half Term - we had a great week last year
Unfortunately we don’t get the may half term in N Ireland or I would definitely be going them!
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Old 15 Aug 19, 09:42 PM  
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Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil View Post
Enjoying reading your trip report, we visited PortAventura 10 years ago (our first theme park holiday) and had a wonderful time.

We are returning to the area in October for our first holiday without children for 32 years. We are staying at the new adults only hotel in La Pineda. We aren’t planning on visiting PortAventura as DH isn’t a big theme park fan and this is going to be a relaxing holiday, but I’m tempted after reading your report 😀
That sounds lovely. If you do end up in the park, I hope you enjoy it. There is so much to do, even without the coasters 👍🏻😀🎢
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