Spain's Port of fun - Port Aventura

Aug. 31, 2010 - PRLog -- There is a theme park in Spain that is one of the top theme park's in Europe, it has gained worldwide recognition and is the biggest resort in the south of Europe.

PortAventura is a theme park that is owned by Caixa that is located one hour away from Barcelona, at Salou, Taaragona.  It was built as a joint venture between the Tussands group (who are known for Alton Towers) Anheuser-Busch (Busch gardens) and Universal Studios.  It was bought by Universal   by 1997 and they rebranded it 'Universal's Port Aventura'.  In 2000 two hotels were built and also a water park was constructed called Costa Caribe, they further rebranded it as 'Universal Mediteranea'.  In 2004, Universal sold all their rights in PortAventura and Caixa banking group’s investment vehicle Criteria runs the park and by 2005 the Universal name was dropped.

The Theme Park is split into five sections each with different themes they are Mediterrània which is the main entrance of the park it has Furius Baco the fastest roller coaster in Europe, the next are is Far West which is themed as an old Wild West town which has two water based rides.  Another area is Mexico which is themed after Mayan Mexico which features a drop tower ride that provides a great view of the park, China is another area based on a country this section has one of Europe’s top thrill seeking ride Dragon Khan a roller coaster that has 8 inversions and was one of the two that the park had when it opened.  The last section is the Polynesia which is an area that has less thrill seeking rides such as the Sea Odyssey which is a 4D theatre.  In total the park features six roller coasters and three water rides out of the 30 total.

For the Future the park is going to focus on entertainment, they plan to release three new shows that will commemorate 15 years of the theme park.  They feel that the festive spirit will be breathed into every corner of the park through the decoration of the 15th anniversary and the presence of animations throughout the park.  The Gran Theatre Imperial China will be the area of PortAventura LIVE!, this will be a show based on dance and acrobatics that is suppose to show the heart of the theme park and show the five themed areas of the park.  The Far West area, which is one of the guests favourites will have two new live shows one of them will be the Long Branch Saloon in the tireless dancers Can-Can which will encourage to public to join them in the dance.

There will also be a new area in PortAventura and that themed area will be Sesame Street, spawned from the popular children's television program the Sesame Street area will bring a world full of imagination, color, fantasy, amusement, games, restaurants and entertainment.  The area will teach young children (or at least young at heart) the same values as the television show does.  This will be only the third time that the Sesame Street brand will be used in a theme park; it joins Universal Studio Japan and Busch Gardens and is the first in Europe. 2011 is the scheduled period in which the doors to Ernie, Bert, Elmo and co, to the rest of the world.

This is a top place if you are staying at one of the many Spanish villas in Barcelona or in the region that the park is. You won't regret your decision.

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