Florida in Europe? Disney (Cruise) and Theme Parks - Day 1 - Travel Day

[Sotong]

Monday 17 August – Travel Day – arrive at Port Aventura

Alarm was set for 5am but I was awake at 4 as hadn’t slept well, Harriet had so not all bad! I had a coffee in the room and a shower whilst Harriet had a cup of tea, then off into the airport and security at about 6am. We were fairly quick through security and went to Starbucks for breakfast of juice, coffee and toasted sandwiches. Quick look around the duty free where I bought a pack of mini Absolut flavoured vodkas (£17) and then we stocked up on magazines, drinks and sweets in WH Smiths before a fairly short walk to gate 45H for boarding. We were one of the last to board at 7.30am with a scheduled departure time of 7.40, however soon after boarding we were advised that due to thunderstorms in Barcelona there would be at least a 20 minute delay and we finally took off at 8.30am so arrival was delayed from 10.45 to 11.10 (Spanish time). Second breakfast on plane of croissant, muesli & yogurt pot, juice and coffee.

We landed just after 11 and went through security and found our bags, there was a long queue for car hire (Avis / Budget) but eventually served by David whose English was great luckily for me as my Spanish is very limited. He tried to allocate me a VW Polo and then a Mini both of which I deemed weren’t in the class of car I had booked (category C – intermediate) he then offered me an Audi A1, perfect as I drive an A3 at home. When we got to the car park it was black with a silver roof, a great start to the holiday, really easy to drive although the on board computer was all in Spanish, but we were very pleased with ourselves when we worked out how to make it English! I’d also brought my TomTom from home to provide directions.

We were soon out of the airport and on our way to Tarragona and Port Aventura on the motorway, which took just over an hour but via 3 tolls (total about €15). We initially missed the entrance to the Hotel Caribe where we were booked to stay until Friday but after going round the block we pulled up and were directed to an underground car park, it was very full but I eventually squeezed the car into a space on the end of a row. Into the lift, which almost immediately jammed and didn’t arrive at floor 1, the doors opened between floors, but after going back down and then up we arrived in the hotel reception, Harriet was not happy as she isn’t keen on lifts anyway!

View from the motorway of the Park!

Reception of the hotel was really busy and I joined a long queue for 30-40 minutes before got checked in and eventually got keys for our room, number 836 in Block 8 – Guadelope.

The main hotel buildings and communal areas were lovely with gorgeous pools and water features, however the hotel room itself was just OK not really 4* but had a huge double bed, a balcony and a decent shower. We walked around the grounds and went to look at the 2 hotel pools, then we had a drink and borrowed some pool towels from the pool side kiosk.

As part of the hotel half board package that we booked we could eat in the hotel buffet restaurant each evening or have €22 credit per person for any restaurant in the park, we decided to book dinner at the ‘Iron Horse’ inside the Far West part of the main Port Aventura theme park for 7.30pm and then went for a swim and some sun bathing. I spent most of the time reading my Kindle and catching up on my phone, the free wi-fi was good.

At 5.30pm we went back to the room and got changed ready to go and explore the theme park itself, we had a short wait for the land train and then a 10 minute ride to the park entrance. The park wasn’t too busy when we got there but we did find it difficult to begin with to navigate our way around.

First stop was the Ice Age 4D ride, which is a movie and simulator experience in 3D, we had a 30 minute wait and in the queue there were trivia questions in Spanish and English but the ride movie itself was in Spanish!
We then went and found the ‘Iron Horse’ restaurant we had booked, we ordered onion rings to share as a starter, I had a burger and Harriet had chicken, for puddings I had a crepe with Catalonia crème which was good and Harriet had chocolate cake but it was very rich and too big a portion. The bill totalled €57 euros, so we left €20 to top up the €44 credit and leave a tip.
We spent time wandering around the park until just after 10pm and then went back to the hotel, we heard fireworks from the park at after 11 and then were woken by thunder and lightning at 3am!

[Gill H]

This looks amazing. Have to admit I didn't realise there was so much at Port Aventura. As Queen of Team Wimp there probably aren't many rides I would do, but having had a sneaky look on YouTube I am really surprised by how much there is to do there and how nice the hotels look.

[Sotong]

Hi, thanks for reading.
Bearing in mind Harriet couldn't do any fast rides there was loads to do for 3 or 4 days, there is also a water park and shows which we didn't do.

Gillian.

[Scruffette]

A lovely relaxed afternoon! The hotel looks lovely

[disney owl]

a good travel day

[galaxyflorida]

We've been to PA loads of times and never knew you could convert your buffet into a €22 credit. How do you ask for it?

[Sotong]

Re dining credit it was on the info we were given at check in and then booked the table at the info desk in the hotel.
Gillian