Do you notice something strange in this merry-go-round in the Far West area?
One of my favorite dates of the year is approaching - everything that implies eat chocolates, dress up and watch scary movies I think it's fine – and the amusement parks are decked out for almost two months to give us time to celebrate it properly.
Having children probably prevents you from doing an intensive session of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but instead it gives you the perfect excuse to escape to places like PortAventura , who dresses up for **Halloween** until November 18.
I remember how heavy I felt when this park opened in Tarragona more than 20 years ago and how I convinced my (poor) mother to take me and a friend to visit it during the day, for which we had to travel two hours by bus from Zaragoza.
Arrive at Callaghan's Hotel, no zombies in sight.
The park's communication team tells me that, at that time, a survey was carried out to determine which exotic places most attracted Spaniards, which is why it was divided into Polynesia, China, Mexico, Far West and, as hostess, the Mediterranean area.
As I say, I well remember the emotion I felt upon entering, so taking my two children (Daniel, 6, and Máximo, 2) **to the most visited amusement park in Spain** (and the fifth in Europe ) seemed to me, in conscience, almost obligatory. Although spending a weekend in the complex, with the credentials of having had 4.7 million visits in 2017 and, for 2019, the plan to open a new hotel and a new family attraction, I liked it more than to them, to tell the truth...
Especially for that of staying in one of the hotels integrated into the enclosure. Could there be anything better than staying in a Wild West hotel? Yes, because here the formula is applied that adding zombies to anything always works (tell Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies), and this is no exception.
Soak in the Shambhala roller coaster.
Our expedition walks happily through the area of themed hotels, where there is also the beautiful opera restaurant , from the Gold River Hotel, where we dined on Friday night. “Because western towns are beautiful, mom?” Dani tells me, and I couldn't agree more.
But our enthusiasm increases when the next day –after a hearty breakfast at our four-star Callaghan's, whose buffet is next to an artificial stream that has dazzled Max– we enter the amusement park through a security turnstile and some cowboys from beyond the grave begin to appear in our path.
Opera Restaurant, in the Far West.
Dodging each other, we spent Saturday morning debating who goes where. The passage of terror based on the movie Rec, the longest closed tunnel of fear in Europe , it's my husband's turn, a fan of the saga and an undaunted person who, however, finds it difficult to maintain his composure at some of the moments of the attraction (although he reaches the end, which not everyone can say...).
He doesn't want to give us a spoiler, so he doesn't reveal much about what happened in there, though he does warn us that anxiety attacks are not uncommon among visitors.
I have to mess with a group of archaeologists in the Mayan Apocalypse passage , taking advantage of the fact that Max has fallen asleep and doesn't grab me like an enraged cat every time a vampire, a second cousin of Hannibal Lecter or the girl from The Exorcist approaches us.
"Don't yell so much, they'll come after you more," a fellow sufferer tells me, although the bloodied man who welcomes us at the entrance to the tunnel assures us that the rules here are "don't touch and no one will touch you."
Beware of this man in the Mayan Apocalypse tunnel.
Not running is another of the rules, and I must say that this one becomes complicated at times, especially when you fear for your life . I will not give many details either, since it is not a matter of gutting anything (or anyone), but I do recommend reaching the end. There is a moment of the journey in which you are given the option to quit. Being scared is human, but getting to the climax of the matter is much more fun!
Throughout the day, we hear rumors of some mysterious events in the cemetery of the place and some man-eaters in the Polynesian jungle, but we decided to ignore them and headed to The Enchanted Expedition of Tadeo Jones , where you have to put your shoulder to find Tadeo and the mummy. Warning: it is not very easy between so many spider webs and poisonous plants.
You have to lend a hand to find these two.
Then we end the morning dancing in the Halloween Family Festival , a musical show for children in the area of Sesame Adventure , where, let's face it, the queues are also a bit scary. Note: in this part of the park it is not valid the fabulous express bracelet that they have given us at the Callaghan's hotel, unfortunately.
At noon we get our strength back in a strange inn run by a family that is familiar to us. The chatty father, the elegant mother, and the quirky uncle, all in mourning, are friendly enough, but the butler does not inspire confidence in the younger members of our group, nor does the daughter, who she goes everywhere with a knife in her hand and she invites us to experiment with a portable guillotine.
Do you remember the movie Rec?
To eat, they serve us a Sorceress Witch Soup made of pumpkin, a Morticia Sirloin and a Bloody Panna Cotta with berries, which sound a bit like that, but the truth is that they are very good.
We spent the afternoon fleeing from monsters of different kinds, thanks to the kind instructions of the staff who have not yet succumbed to the zombie plague, in different vehicles: logs of wood suddenly falling down a waterfall , circular boats that are three-quarters of the same, dilapidated-looking train cars…
And, between one thing and another, we bend our necks looking at the spectacular Shambhala, a roller coaster with a drop of 78 meters that intertwines with the Dragon Khan and makes my youthful feat of riding the latter (remember those _I survived... Dragon Khan?) T-shirts _ into something far less remarkable.
No running allowed, BUT.
In the end, the smartest thing seems to us to join the enemy . With the help of one of the 20 makeup artists that swarm the park (coordinated by the 2018 champion Alejandra Alcañiz), we said goodbye to Dani and We welcome a little walking skeleton with a wicked look who can now look face to face at the strange beings that lie in wait for us.
After having a pizza dinner at the Raco de Mar restaurant two strange things happen. First we see a joyful parade of people worshiping a kind of giant diabolical effigy and, immediately afterwards, we witness a battle between luminous and flying beings in the enormous artificial lake. It's all very unsettling, but we're so tired we go back to Callaghan's and we fall exhausted in bed.
Red Force attraction, in Ferrari Land.
The next day, we still have time to visit another area of PortAventura World (which, by the way, also includes a golf course and a water park, we can't keep up!): Ferrari Land.
Okay, for a while now, I'm not the most adventurous person when it comes to roller coasters, but just going under the Red Force 'Challenge the wind' makes my hair stand on end.
As if going up and down vertically wasn't scary enough, keep this in mind: depending on the weather conditions or the load, the train can fall forwards (completely turning the U-shaped circuit) or backwards, returning to the starting point. of departure. Don't worry, everything is under control!
Roller coaster for children, in Ferrari Land.
In the children's area, recently inaugurated, Dani has a terrifying time competing in the Maranello Grand Race . Then we savor a Italian food at the Cavallino trattoria and we are ready to return to Madrid by AVE, in the blink of an eye, with our little group increased in number: we take Epi and Blas, whom Máximo has rescued from an uncertain fate.