AD | I was invited to Portaventura to review with my family, all views are my own.
On Friday 7th June, we were kindly invited by PortAventura to stay for the weekend, as you could imagine we was SO excited and headed to the airport after Ellie finished school. We landed at Barcelona airport, it was about an hours drive till we reached our hotel Colorado Creek which was just beautiful. PortAventura is located in Salou and it is Spains most popular theme park and the 6th most visited in the world, I can definitely see why!
What I loved about PortAventura is everything is on site so easy to get around and you don't have to leave the complex, you also have direct access to the parks. Colorado Creek is a brand new hotel, which only opened in June, its a Western themed hotel and is luxurious. We had an amazing big family room with two double beds, lots of storage and a lovely bathroom It's perfect for a long day after the parks to relax and unwind. The staff are so welcoming and helpful, rooms and the whole hotel was so clean and inviting, the decor was just incredible, my favourite was definitely the fireplaces so cosy!
There is a buffet restaurant at the hotel which served a lovely breakfast with pancakes, fresh fruit and hot food which filled us up till lunch time, and the dinner buffet was perfect for fussy eaters like my children and also catered for everyones needs. The theme park is just a short walk away from the hotel and perfect for photo opportunities as theres so many western themed spots along way!
The main PortAventura Park was just incredible, perfect for all ages and great for families whether you have toddlers to teenagers theres things for everyone! I loved that when you walk through the park you enter different countries such as Mexico, China, Far West etc... Very well themed and so much to take in, Ellie learnt so much about around the world too so great for education! There are plenty of restaurants, shacks, ice cream/waffle stalls as of course kids are always hungry and in the heat you definitely need a ice cream or slush! Another thing I loved was, there was plenty of shaded areas, in the heat it can get too much sometimes and you just need a break from the sun. Theres also characters around the park such as Woody, Elmo, Cookie Monster etc, which is fab for the little ones! You can rent strollers/buggys if needed, I wish we rented a double one as Ellie hates walking a lot so bare that in mind if you have children.
A little tip, as drinks, ice creams can get a little expensive in the parks, is to bring your own drinks in, or bottled water, even buy the mini squashes to add to your water if your kids prefer that & of course there are plenty of water fountains around so you can refill.
The rides are amazing! There is a ride for everyone, whether its for a toddler, teenager, adult, I get asked all the time is it worth going to theme parks with young children and the answer is definitely YES! They have a 'Sesame Street' area which is based around young children, Ellie & Harry loved it and we spent a good couple of hours in there. Of course you are going to have to que up for rides and we didn't find it too stressful, there are boards up with the waiting times so you can keep an eye on that but we didn't wait no more then 30 minutes. The thrill seekers would love the big rollercoasters and I would definitely recommend maybe getting fast passes for the popular attractions. Their was also a few water rides which looked really fun and if you get soaked their are body dryers around for only 2 euros!
My favourite area of the park was the 'Med' area it was so pretty, perfect for photos and had a few shops and restaurants. The 'Med' area was where we had our first lunch and I felt like I was in Italy with beautiful background music, a glass of Sangria (which was my drink of the holiday) Paul had a nice cold beer. The menu was perfect, plenty to choose from to pizzas, fish, meats, of course we had to go for the pizzas, Ellie choose the Pasta of course, it was absolutely delicious and finished off with a ice cream.
If you like shows then your in for a treat, there are plenty of choose from, but a little tip is to plan out your day a little, see what times and what part of the theme park they are in as we missed a couple and didn't have enough time to get there. We did however watch the 'Lets Dance' show with all the Sesame characters, the kids absolutely loved it, it was cheesy, fun and the little ones had a blast! We also got on a boat at the 'China' area of the park and it took us to another part of the park which saved our little legs as it can get too much for the kids in the heat, it was lovely to take in all the park on the boat ride.
Ellie's favourite ride had to be 'Street Mission' which is a new ride in Sesame Street, it was a 3d, in the dark, shooting attraction which Ellie went on about three times! Unfortunately Harry couldn't go on that one as he was too small, so check the height requirements before.
We then headed over to 'Caribe' Aquatic park, which is next to the main park. The kids were so excited as it was mid day and very hot and they could have a splash about. A top tip bring your swim wear & towels, its easily forgotten as you might not know the Aquatic park is next door! There are plenty of lockers to rent out, and lots to do, you could easily spend a whole day there. It was really impressive, it was spacious, plenty of sun loungers to relax, lots of food and drink places and of course slides! I was most impressed with the children's area, there was lots of splash parks, one was also under cover so was shaded. Harry loved the fountains that sprayed water up in the air, he was fascinated by them. Ellie was too small to go on some of the slides, which was fine for us, as she's a little bit of a wimp when it comes to water slides haha. After a good couple of hours at 'Caribe' the kids were definitely worn out and hungry, so we headed back to our hotel for the buffet dinner which didn't disappoint, then back to our lovely hotel room for an early night ready for a fun filled day the next day!
The final day was Sunday, we had a evening flight so still had pretty much the whole day. We headed to 'Ferrai land' which really surprised me! Paul of course was most excited about this one being a car mad bloke and loves supercars and racing. I couldn't believe how stunning the decor and theming was around the park! I thought there wouldn't be much for the kids at this park and more thrill rides, but I was wrong, Ellie absolutely loved the 'Children's World' and Harry enjoyed hearing all the car sounds around the park. One ride that really caught my eye and I wish I experienced was the 'Red Force' it was crazy, 112 metres high, Feel the speed as you accelerate from 0 to 180 km/h in 5 seconds with a force of 1.3 g. Again, lots of rides, Pauls favourite was the 'Pole Position Challenge' which was a stimulator ride and he took very seriously haha. The buildings were beautiful, I felt like I was in Rome or Venice was great for photographs! There was plenty of restaurants and shops we had a lovely baguette as we missed breakfast that morning and finished off with a cheeky doughnut.
After a few hours in 'Ferrai Land' we headed back over to the main park for our lunch reservation at the far west area. We had lunch at the 'Iron Horse' which was very family friendly and the food was incredible very much like home cooked American food and lots of choice. I went for the bbq ribs and Paul had a lovely bacon cheese burger, the kids menu was great and had pretty much everything a fussy child could want. A little tip is too book the restaurants if you can, as it does get very busy and lots of ques around lunch time, we booked for around 1:30pm. After a delicious lunch we then wondered around the theme park and went on all the other rides that we couldn't do the previous day before heading back to our hotel to meet our driver who took us to the airport.
Another great thing about the hotel, you can leave your luggage in a safe room near reception so you can still enjoy your last day at the parks and you haven't got to drag all your belongings and luggage with you, this really helped us! It was about an hours drive to Barcelona airport where we boarded our flight and I can safely say the kids were super as they was so worn out from all the fun they had in the parks, Ellie was so upset when we had to leave, she wanted to stay forever!
I would highly recommended if you are visiting Salou to have a day or even a couple of days at 'Portaventura' you will not regret it, theres SO much to do, great family day out and we will never forget this amazing holiday!
Have you visited Portaventura? Would love to hear your thoughts! x
