Madrid Trip March 2019!

So I am starting a blog! As much as I love posting photos, videos and updates on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter I have always wanted to write a blog. I used to study English Literature and always used to have a desire for being a writer or journalist. So why not bring both hobbies together.

Madrid was quite a last minute planned trip for me and Amy; but some time off work came about, so why not book a trip for some fun and two new theme parks neither of us had been too. (All about adding to the coaster count! ;) ) We booked some cheap flights and a Air BnB and was on our way. The two parks we had booked and planned on visiting was Parque de Atracciones and Park Warner Madrid. Both parks wasn't really on the bucket list, but both was open in early March with a full ride offering and in a nice sunny country! (and it didn't break the bank). So lets go over both parks and ill give my overall experience of the park atmosphere, the rides and about everything else the parks had to offer (Good and bad).

Before we went to the parks, we did have two days before and after to have a look around Madrid itself to experience what the city had to offer! Very interesting place indeed.

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Parque de Atracciones:

So the first park we went to on our Madrid trip was Parque de Atracciones in Madrid! This park was very centrally located in Madrid and only took a short Metro train to get to the entrance! The park was open 12-21 which is really really good opening times for early March!

Rides and attractions:

Abismo - Abismo is a Sky-loop rollercoaster manufactured by Maurer Rides. This was my most anticipated ride at the park and it didn't disappoint at all. Standing at 151.6 feet tall, travelling at 65.2 miles per hour and taking a G-Force of 4!

You start this crazy ride with a vertical chair lift, before tipping over the top and falling down the 151.6 ft drop! You take in a good airtime hill and a really forceful turnaround before flying back through the station and up the vertical hill before coming to a stop and slowly descending back into the station backwards. The one thing that lets this ride down is the restraints on the trains. They clamp down massively as the ride travels around the track. Making a bit of ball ache by the end of the 1:00 duration.

Overall rating: 7/10!

Tarantula- Tarantula is also a Maurer rollercoaster; but this is a spinning coaster model! And I have to say this is the most crazy and amazing spinning rollercoaster that I have ever ridden. With a height of 83.7 foot and a top speed of 42.3 miles per hour, it is great! The ride throws you about, doesn't stop with the relentless spinning and has a really good duration of 2,066 foot.

Overall rating: 7/10! Really top quality spinning rollercoaster!

Tornado - Tornado is a really unique rollercoaster; so was a great credit to add to my overall number ;). Tornado is a Intamin Suspended Looping Coaster; one of only 2 in the world. It is actually a really good, smooth and intense experience that I rate really highly within the Inverted rollercoaster list! The 3 inversions are really smooth and intense and rides really really well. Tornado has a height of 98 foot, speed of 49.7 miles per hour and a length of 2,624.7 foot.

Compared to the likes of B&M inverted rollercoasters, it clearly is not at their level. However compared to the likes of the Vekoma SLC's, Tornado s***s all over it!

Overall Rating: 6.5/10!

Vertigo- Vertigo is a standard Mack Rides Wild Mouse rollercoaster that I really do not need to say much about... If you have ridden one you have ridden them all. However the trim breaks was not turned on at all on Vertigo and it flew around the track. Shame this was not a new credit for me though as I got this coaster credit at Bobbeejaanland when it operated as Speedy bob.

TNT Tren de la Mina- Well... This is a really really good family coaster. Made by Gerstlauer opening in 2012, this well themed coaster dips in and out theming elements. After queuing a hour for the pleasure (which was by far the longest queue of the day) we boarded.

The back row gave a decent amount of airtime down the first drop and the many other little dips and drops around the layout!

Rating: 6/10... Really good family rollercoaster!

The park did have two other credits that we did not bother to queue up for... Not that fussed for credits when a Paw Patrol rollercoaster has like a hour queue. Other than rollercoasters Parque de Atracciones did have a few good flat rides and also a Walking Dead Horror Maze!

Parque de Atraccions is also home to a 260 foot star flyer... which I totally s**t myself on. Despite this the ride gives great views of other attractions and downtown Madrid. Other flat rides included a drop tower (which I didn't go on as Amy is to much of a p****y ;) and I did not want to queue on my own lol), top spin, disco style ride and many more family flat rides such as chair swings and dodgems. Unfortunately on our visit the only rides that was not open was the water rides. The parks rapids and also log flume was not open. However we did ride a very interesting dull boat ride.

One of the best attractions at the park was their Walking Dead horror maze. The maze was a 5 Euro up-charge attraction; however this was more than worth the entry fee! The experience probably lasted around 7-10 minutes in total from pre show to running out the end of the maze. Very much like Living Nightmare, the maze starts with who I think was Negan giving a spiel that neither of us understood as it of course was in Spanish. However; holy s**t the theming was quality. Next level compared to Thorpe Park. We went through after this spiel from this unknown man with a gun into a very very dark, however well themed large rundown house. There was strobes, jump scares and special effects going off everywhere. There seemed to be a good 6 or 7 actors throughout who was very very good. The maze was on two levels, with you having to go down stairs after a show section in the middle of the maze. The second half was just as good, with lots of banging noises used as jump scares by actors, lots of sliding windows for the actors to jump out from; and an Asylum classic... STROBES everywhere. The maze did end very samey though, long open room with a chainsaw. Expected by us, however scared the s**t out of the Spanish guests. And with the Spanish seeming to be rather scared of these horror attractions; our group was so so small. We went into the pre show with a group of 8; yet 4 guests left before we left the pre show room! Perfect :)

So... Parque de Atracciones. Its alright. I enjoyed my day there. The overall atmosphere at the park was strange. It was quite, no music playing around most of the park. There wasn't really any 'theming' apart from Nic land. Food was a big let down... Nothing was open. They had a Domino's but it was closed. Apart from that they had like on hot dog stand and a canteen style sit down in Nic Land. By god this was awful. It took 30-40 minutes to order to get our food; and of course it was cold. Not the best. Why we stuffed our faces at TGI when we got back to Madrid!

In conclusion, the rides at Parque de Atracciones are decent. They have a nice little coaster lineup; as well as flat rides. Maybe when the park is busier or during a special event it may feel that bit better. But for now my overall rating for this park is 5/10. If you're in Madrid 100% visit this park. But its not worth a trip specifically for. However linking a weekend with the park im about to talk about next is a great idea!

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Park Warner Madrid:

So the second park of the trip was Park Warner Madrid. This park is about a 30-45 minute train ride out of Madrid city centre. However it is 100% worth the train journey. Especially when public transport in Madrid is cheap as f**k. On arrival at the Metro station at the Madrid airport on our first day we only paid £18 for an unlimited train and bus ticket in Madrid for 4 days! Makes living in London that even bit more pointless... Anyway! Park Warner. To get there you do need to get a train out of the city to a train station in the middle of poxy nowhere. From here the park runs a shuttle bus service to and from the park which comes every 30 minutes. We went on a Sunday and once again the opening hours was fantastic. 11:30-21:00!

Even before I go onto what rides and attractions was at the park... The entrance, atmosphere and the theming in general was amazing, and the first impression for me walking into this park was top notch.

As well as the great entrance plaza and main street in the park; we was greeted by a lovely little opening show features the Looney Tunes characters. This bit of atmosphere and joy made the park already better than Parque de Atracciones within 5 minutes of being in the place!

So after watching the opening show with the Looney Tunes characters, there was only one ride that I wanted to run to. The huge Vekoma beast that is Stunt Fall.

Stunt Fall dominated over the parks skyline and looked like one crazy ride. Standing at 191 foot tall, this Vekoma Giant Inverted Boomerang was on my top to ride list coming into the park. And after only waiting for 5 minutes in the queue we got our ride! Holy s**t what an insane and crazy ride... and its smooth! Back row falling down the 191 foot drop at 65 mph flying through the station was amazing. The 3 inversions are smooth and intense; and then you get to do it all again backwards! I loved this ride from one ride. We rode Stunt Fall 3 times, and got to have a front row ride as well. Could not recommend this ride type enough. There was little bits of theming around the ride area, such as cars and camera equipment, to give the illusion you was filming a stunt for a movie.

Overall rating for Stunt fall has to be a good 8.5/10!

As well as this massive Vekoma, Park Warner is home to 2 B&M rollercoasters! One Invert and one floor less. Both of these coasters are located in the Gotham and Superhero area of the park; and this area is a really well themed area that reminds me of Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios Orlando Resort. First coaster we rode was Superman la Atraccion de Acero, the B&M Floor-less coaster. Before riding this I had only ridden Kraken at Sea World Orlando. I personally wasn't massively looking forward to this ride as im not big on large loopy and twisty B&M's. However I was happily surprised.

Superman la Atraccion de Acero was great! Yes it was big loopy and intense, however there was great moments of floaty airtime which broke up the inversions to perfection. Superman sits at 164.1 foot tall, travels at 62.1 mph and has 7 inversions through a length of 3,608.9 foot! The ride features a vertical loop, immelmann, Zero-G-Roll, cobra roll and a nice set of interlocking corkscrews. The only two downsides to this ride is that there is literally no theming on the ride element itself, and the operations are complete utter dog s**t. Apart from that, the queue line was well themed and the entrance building was big and view able down the street walking down apon it.

Overall, with the themed queue and surrounding area of Gotham and Superhero 'land' this ride gives a great overall experience. Id give it a 8/10. Personally I found Stunt Fall just that little bit better. However my friend Amy who is less of a 'geek' loved this ride a lot more. Probably mainly as it was big and loopy... Saying that. It is good!

Before I get onto Batman Arkham Asylum; I needed to talk about the Gotham area of the park which is between Superman and Batman. I love love loved it. Was home to a show venue, food outlets and of course Batman.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a B&M Invert; and has one of the best queue lines that I have seen outside of Disney and Universal. Just look at some of the photos below (feat. Amy) It was great. Things to see and do everywhere. The ride itself is a 105 foot, 49.7 mph, 2,700 ft long beast. Batman also features 5 inversions within its circuit. This coaster all does feature virtual reality as an optional choice, with half of the rows being VR and half of the rows being non VR. Ill come back to this... The ride itself is actually a really good invert. In general im not a big fan of these; however Batman is definitely on par with Nemesis etc. Forceful, fast and smooth.

As I was saying with the queue... it is very Insta worthy in Amy's words. But look at it. Its amazing. Coming back to the VR on the ride; its one of the best experiences with virtual reality I have experienced. It was smooth, no lag, the headset was secure and the story was great. When VR on a rollercoaster is done like this it is acceptable.

Overall Batman is a good invert coaster with a great themed area and queue. 8/10 again. Park Warner has a really good big three rollercoasters! Unfortunately their wooden coaster was closed for re tracking work when we did visit. So unfortunately we didn't get no wood on this visit ;).

The next coaster we went on was a interesting one... Tom y Jerry; a Zierer Large Tivoli coaster. Now... I am a tall individual. 6 foot 6 inches to be exact. Me and Amy somehow fit into the train together, having to contour, break and bend every limb to get into the poxy thing. We did get a back row ride though, giving a nice bit of whip and air. Tom and Jerry is a part of the Cartoon Village kids area of the park, and this area is really really good. Especially for the kids of course.

As well as Tom y Jerry, Cartoon Village is full of many other rides including Rapidos ACME, Correcaminos Bip Bip and many different kids rides. The rapids are amazing! Fast, spinny, and you get wet. Which is great when the weather was 20-25 degrees; unless you're my friend Amy who moaned every time we went near any kind or water ride or ride that got any moisture on you... The other credit we got in this park was Correcaminos Bip Bip is a Mack Rides Young star Coaster; and this was really fun. Themed to road runner the ride was good. Wasn't to long or fast; but was extremely smooth and fun. Just what you want for a family coaster. Good 6/10.

The last major ride in the Cartoon Village was the Scooby Doo interactive dark ride. One of the biggest queues all day for complete s**t. Awful theming, bad ride system and just so short. If you want a positive review ask my friend @AmyViolet10...

The Old West Territory is the wild west themed area of Park Warner and is home to two water rides, coaster express (the wooden coaster) and a amazing horror maze. Rio Bravo is a flume style water ride; with the same system Valhalla uses at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. I managed to trick Amy into riding this ;) Rio Bravo has two drops. One amazing indoor backwards drop which gives great airtime, and one huge final drop which does get you rather rather moist. This really put a Smile onto Amy's face. After riding this, I had no chance of getting Amy on Cataratas Salvajes; which is a shoot the shoot style water ride. To be fair we did leave the water rides till late in the day for some reason. However what we did do was Pasaje del Terror... f**k me sideways. This amazing horror maze is themed to Annabelle, the Conjuring and the Nun. Safe to say this was extremely f*****g creepy. Just when you thought it was only creepy with dolls everywhere, b*****y huge actors dressed as demonic nuns was flying and screaming in our faces out of nowhere. The theming was next level good and the experience lasted a good 10 minutes. Is you visit this park do not hesitate to spend the 5 Euros on this amazing experience. 9/10!.

The park is also home to a good selection of flats rides from a massive set of shot and drop towers to dark rides to top spins. The park really does have a great selection of themed rides and areas that you really get immersed into. Especially if you're a superhero, cartoon or wild west fan! The park is also full of great character meet and greets which Amy creamed herself when she got to sit on Bugs Bunnies lap. Think Bugs liked it too tbf... As well as meet and greets the park is home to loads of different stage shows around all the different areas of the park. Theres something to do for everyone. To end the day there was a great parade running down the Hollywood section of the park; which included a catchy sound track and all the characters from around the park! Amy become a little girl at this. It was quite enjoyable to be fair.

Overall this park is a great visit for thrill seakers, families and even little kids; there is something for everyone. The atmosphere in the park is great, there is music playing in every themed area. There is always something going on. The park was very much like Universal Studios. Which is one of my top parks in the world! The big three rollercoasters are a real big catch for the park, and the water rides we rode were ace. The only thing to let this park down was once again like Parque de Atracciones was the food. Took so long again, was cold and just s**t.

My overall rating for the park would be a good 7.5/10. I would 100% recommend visiting the park if you are in the area. And combining this park and Parque de Atracciones for a weekend in Madrid was a really good and cheap getaway.

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Thanks for reading my first Blog post! Will hopefully continue to write different posts about upcoming park visits and foreign trips!

Thanks!