 |
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Travel: A Theme Park Convert  We sent a slightly wary Raisingkids' member Denise and her family off to Port Aventura in Spain to review the theme park and its hotel for us. She came back a total convert!
When I was invited to spend a long weekend in a theme park in Spain, I can't say I was exactly jumping with joy. For me, theme parks conjured up memories of cold English weekends at places packed full of screaming teenagers, burger bars and chip wrappers strewn all over the floor. I knew where I stood. This trip was purely for the kids. Port Aventura however, has transformed me into a theme park evangelist. I’ve been back just over a week and the vivid memories of all the fun we had, with the help of some beautiful Spanish sunshine have helped in the battle to ease my way back to earth amid the particularly grey skies of London. We arrived in Reus on Spain’s Costa Daurada in the late afternoon on Friday. It's about an hour away from Barcelona and only a fifteen minute car journey to the Hotel Port Aventura where we were staying. We settled into our large and very comfortable double bedroom which had a TV, tea and coffee and a mini bar – what more could a girl want? For a fleeting moment I must confess that we did wonder how the kids would get to sleep in the evenings in our room with two double beds and no partitioned section. But that thought lasted for just an instant after which we reminded ourselves that we had indeed left England and here in Spain, the very concept of spending time on your own on a family holiday doesn’t compute. When you see how child friendly the restaurants are and all the evening kid’s entertainment that's on offer, you realise why. Armed with a map of the park, the first few hours were spent wandering around in a semi-dazed fashion becoming accustomed to the Spanish idea of a theme park which appeared to replicate an idyllic pacific island. Had we come to the right place? To our left were picturesque mountains and straight ahead was the blue sea. There were definitely screams in the distance so we knew that we had actually come to a theme park but it was a close call. The park is divided up into themed areas - the Wild West, Mexico, China, Polynesia and the Mediterranean. I have to admit that they all had a pretty convincing feel to them. Dinner at the hotel's Port Regata restaurant was excellent. There was a very good children’s menu with generous portions. They even put on a show at about 10pm – an all-singing, all-dancing wizard of Oz with a fantastic breakdancing lion who mesmerised my son Solomon. Lunch was at one of the park's restaurants ‘Emma’s place’ where we not only had one of the best and largest three course meals I’ve had in a while but also enjoyed a full on performance by Woody Woodpecker with a special appearance from Betty Boop. If however, you didn't feel like a two hour lunch, there were plenty of fast food places in each themed area. And in addition to the countless popcorn and candyfloss stalls which one would expect in any theme park they actually sold water and freshly-cut fruit throughout the park. Our day ended with a wonderfully produced Polynesian show of Aloha dancers and warriors. This was no tacky stage show– all the national theme shows were high quality and authentic. My sons are still re-enacting the dance scenes. The day was wonderfully topped off at the Beach Club restaurant where we had the most fabulous five course meal looking out onto the ocean. We did visit Port Aventura slightly out of season so the huge water play area and the swimming pools were all closed – but the place felt very relaxed. If you were to go in season you’d have the choice of spending a day at the water parks and another day at the Beach club. I would definitely take the children back to Port Aventura and probably stay for longer, taking advantage of the beach and pools. It was a weekend to remember and definitely one that will be etched into the memories of my two – well three boys! For more information about holidaying at Port Aventura click here. |
|
| |
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Advertise with us |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After a very warm welcome to the hotel by a larger than life size Olive Oyl and her friend The Pink Panther – I’m not sure who was more excited by this - me, who felt it was like meeting some very old friends, or my two little boys Solomon, 5, and Jarvis, 2, who totally believed they were absolutely, unquestionably real.
After a good night's sleep and a superb breakfast in the hotel, we went into the park. The children were in heaven. I had been a little worried that there may not be enough rides for two-year-old Jarvis to go on but there were plenty. Solomon took on the mini rollercoaster and the rapids whilst Jarvis went on the Chinese teacups and the bumper cars. It was so relaxing – all my pre-conceived ideas of a theme park went out of the window. We never worried about what we should do next; we simply strolled from one piece of entertainment to the next. 
We spent the last day going on as many rides as possible! I would definitely recommend the Express Tickets if you can afford the slightly extra cost to avoid long queues for rides. Both myself and my partner Michael have never been adrenalin junkie types but it was hard to resist the lure of the rides and before we knew it we were both taking turns to scream our way round some of the wilder rides. Well Michael did most of it - I did one or two to keep face with the children who seemed to be getting more daring by the day. 
