We flew from Stansted at lunchtime and arrived at the hotel at 15.30 (I went with my boyfriend and 2 of my friends who are also a couple). We had in total 2 days at the theme park and 1 day at the waterpark and the rest of the time relaxing (and we visited Tarragona)
Monday - we visited the park, arriving around lunchtime (on the land train L4 so taking in some of Salou on the way) and joined a queue to pick up our tickets, we were queuing the best part of an hour in baking heat, but eventually we were in. We headed to the Estacio del Nord and headed first of all to Angkor, the Splash Battle, the first one I have ever been on and boy was it fun... and hard work! I fully appreciate why you wouldn't go on Battle Galleons unless you happened on a fabulously hot day in the UK, the theming was spectacular (even down to the lizard we saw in the queueline), got soaked but we were dry within about 10 seconds of getting off the ride! From there we went to Shambhala where we queued 40 minutes. Loved the ride, such a great feeling, just not made for anyone with thighs like mine and I had to undergo the ground swallow me whole feeling of having 2 ops trying to release the restraint after forcing it down and cutting off the circulation. From there we grabbed a burger €10.95 with fries and a drink then headed to Dragon Khan. Struck me as a far smoother colossus, one of my favourite rides there. My boyfriend and friend watched the Chinese Gymnasts show while my other friend and I were on the ride (30 min queue). We did Secreto de las Mayas, which was a really weird mirror maze where we had to wear gloves so as not to leave marks on the mirror. We then went on the Rapids which didn't seem as lengthy as in the UK, to my dismay. Our final ride of the day was on Stampida which was only the second woodie I've been on, and ouch.... the bruises I sustained.....The red car may have won... at the cost of being in pain, that said, it was good if you took away the roughness.
Tuesday evening we went to House of Illusion, first recommendation is go, the front of house stuff is amazing, the show was equally as good. Second recommendation is get there very early (9pm for the 10pm showing) so you stand a better chance of not being stuck at the back of the room getting drunk on free red wine.... not that I did that O:) It is quite a long way from the beach front (llevante beach) but a nice way to spend the evening.... I think I drank best part of 3 bottles of wine but we were at the back of the room and seeing what was happening sometimes was difficult.
Wednesday we went to the waterpark.
Didn't do that much there as I chose to spend a bit more time with my boyfriend. I went on Ciclon Tropical which was the tall red slide. Enjoyed it but surprised it doesn't come with a force warning! We went in the playa paraiso pool which had a shaded bit, nice to escape the sun a little. My friend and I did the Rapid Race which was a face first mat, where you get sprayed a lot, a lot of fun though, raced like on depth charge. El Torrente was a multiperson ring, so me and my 2 friends went down, cosily, almost tipped out of the side as it goes with some speed, and we had a giggle (just a good job they're good friends, if they weren't at the top, they would have been by the bottom. El triangulo de las bermudas was a wave pool where they had big waves for about 20 minutes on the hour every hour. We also went on El rio Loco, the crazy (lazy) river, which once you got a dinghy was really relaxing, especially under the sun. The food was similar priced to on park, and we took our own drinks, advised by the staff on the turnstile to hide our drinks or they'd be confiscated, so we did
Friday, park was open until 8pm again, but we arrived about 11am and headed straight for Furios Baco, as the previous visit hadn't seen the queue drop below 1h30 all day and it was listed as 45 min queue. Got on it eventually, after spending our queueline translating the Catalan/Spanish signs and looking at the difference in how they word things (the joys of holidaying with 2 language students) Really smooth during the launch, then you hit the oh hell is it over yet stage until you round the final corner back into the station. Is it really that bad I hear you ask.... yes, yes it is! We enjoyed the Wild West Show, and a second trip to the Happiness Station (thank you to Michelle for the tip), grabbed some souvenirs and completed the rides, the order of which I don't recall aside from Kontiki (Pirate Ship) was the last ride as we made our way for the Happy Birthday Parade and Show. We did Hurakon Condor, which was amazing, we did the oh we have to be almost there *looks up to see we've still half way to go*, we were seated, and part of me wanted to be on the standing no floor bit, but quite glad I wasn't with hindsight as it was a hell of a lot higher than even I anticipated. and I think the only other ride we went on was the Mine Train, which unfortunately puts RMT to shame... it just lacked an enthusiastic Choo choo... which my friends and I attempted to bring. We did split up though as my boyfriend and I attempted to have a nice meal, to find there was a 45 minute wait and decided to go to a café instead.
The only outstanding recommendation I have for Salou... El Toro is an amazing steak house/grill - please go!
And here are my pictures, including le font illuminoso (or something like that) and lots of other prettiness, and me
