Ferrari Land (the Port Aventura one).
Hmm, weird one, this. I mean, do you review it as an integral part of the Port Aventura resort, or do you review it as a standalone theme park in it's own right?
I love Port Aventura, it's my favourite European theme park, and I think it's great that it now has this whole new area to explore. An area that is certainly different to anything else in Europe, was obviously very expensive to build, and on paper has a handful of unique-ish attractions. It has some fairly impressive recreations of Italian architecture, a whole bunch of Ferraris to gawp over and, of course, the Big Red Penis sticking up in the middle of it. Brilliant, so far so good.
The trouble is, they bill it as a separate park, it has its own separate gate and they charge you a separate entrance fee to get in, therefore one has to review it as a self contained unit and it that respect I'm afraid to say Ferrari Land is a bit of a fail.
Bottom line is this: there's simply not enough to do there. Once you look past the glossy facades and the shiny red paint work, most of what is there is actually a bit sub-standard. The shot and drop towers for example; sure, they look cool, vaguely resembling car pistons, and they do offer a different ride experience to Hurakan Condor, but the truth is they're just a bit forceless and naff. It just makes you wonder why they bothered when there's a much bigger, much better drop tower in the main park next door.
And then there's the flying theatre. Not a bad idea on paper, I like flying theatres, and getting a bird's eye view of various Ferraris zooming around some world famous locations (including Monument Valley, yay!) sounded cool, but the pre-show is long and boring, the image quality isn't great, unlike other flying theatres I've been on the safety rail doesn't retract, it just stays there blocking the view and worst of all, the Ferraris in the film don't even drive very fast or rev the engine very much. Who in their right mind drives a Ferrari through a tunnel and doesn't give the engine a blast?? Nobody, that's who.
Fail.
The car-based simulator isn't much better - long and boring pre-show, poor graphics with unrealistic delivery and a wasted opportunity to have an exciting, booming V8 based soundtrack.
Then you've got that tyre change, time challenge thing. I mean seriously, what on earth is that about?
Other than that you've got the kiddie cred, a small flat ride called Crazy Pistons and a small whip ride which we were flatly denied.
That's really about it. Basically then, the only attraction here that's really worth your time is the Big Red Penis. When you look at it like that, Ferrari Land on its own is actually a bit rubbish.
Dunno then. To be recognised as a standalone theme park, Ferrari Land simply needs more stuff. And it needs to be better than the stuff they got.
Otherwise just do away with the separate entry fee and include it as a themed area of Port Aventura.
