PortAventura to Debut Europe's Tallest Roller Coaster in 2012
PortAventura is getting ready for it's new ride arriving in 2012 - Europe’s highest roller coaster! A new challenge that will allow you to live the same sensations experienced by the greatest adventurers. It will take you to great heights, terrifying descents, and journey through dark tunnels and mountain lakes. A new ride that will allow you to experience many sensations and spectacular surroundings.
Watch what PortAventura has instore for you...
This 25 million Euro project is PortAventura's largest investment in a ride
On 21st October 2011, PortAventura laid the first stone for the construction of his new roller coaster, destined to be the tallest in Europe. With this new ride, which will reach 76 metres at its highest point, PortAventura sets a new challenge for its visitors, who will be able to experience the same excitement as the great mountaineers. This structure will certainly change the park skyline by creating a new "mountain range" visible for miles around.
A Unique Adventure
The new ride will be a roller coaster belonging to the group known as "hypercoasters", typically characterised by their immense size and height, as well as a long track without loops and the capacity to reach impressive speeds. This will allow the most intrepid visitors to enjoy a true adventure jam-packed with dramatic sensations.
With this ride, PortAventura proposes a challenge to emulate history's most unforgettable expeditions. It will have all the ingredients of a fantastic and memorable adventure: scaling the highest summits, descending into abseil chasms and journeying through dark tunnels and mountain lakes, all on a ride featuring an outline reminiscent of a real mountain range.
The great mountaineers are often asked why they feel such passion for climbing and generally are unable to provide a logical answer. This is the experience the new ride will bring. Each person must take it on as a personal challenge to be defeated in their own manner. According to the great mountaineers, conquering a summit is the closest one can get to mental and physical ecstasy, in short: an almost mythical experience. This mix of ingredients perfectly summarises the experience awaiting the adventurers that try it.
Nobody will be left indifferent. Unlike the other speed attractions within the park, the new roller coaster will offer the visitor a veritable catalogue of emotions as well as spectacular views of their surroundings.
The highest point of the new ride will reach 76 metres, rising up in a svelte and majestic steel formation that will completely change the park skyline, characterised up until now by Dragon Khan, a symbol of the park since its opening. In fact, PortAventura's new "mountain range" will be visible for miles around.
What's more, the ride will also set three new European records!
1. It will become the tallest roller coaster on the continent.
2. It will have the longest drop of 78 meters.
3. It will be the fastest hypercoaster in Europe reaching 134 km/h on the first descent. The speed will vary along the rest of the journey as, just like Dragon Khan, the complete trajectory is dependent upon the inertia from that first drop down.
Apart from its incredible height and speed, PortAventura’s new ride will consist of various other elements to provide visitors with an action-packed experience. Highlights include the tunnel situated at the bottom of the spectacular first descent that, due to its vertical nature, generates the sensation of cutting neck – an optical effect that from above creates the impression that the tunnel entrance is too narrow for the train to pass through.
Also worthy of note are 5 camelbacks (elevations in the track), the shortest of which is as high as a 7-storey building. On each of these camelbacks the rider will experience an effect known as air time, losing contact with the seat, just like a car hitting a bump in the road but far more intense.
PortAventura is investing 25 million Euros in this new ride, which is scheduled for completion by spring 2012. The planning and development of this ambitious Project is the result of collaboration between PortAventura and the firm Bollinger and Mabillard, which also designed Dragon Khan, the symbolic attraction of PortAventura and a favourite with visitors since its opening in 1995.
Shambhala Construction
Discover how to build Shambhala, the new ride that Portaventura will launch in 2012. In this video you will find out the extraordinary capabilities and intensive work is required to build the highest ride in Europe.
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Starting your holiday to PortAventura for 2012 couldn't be easier thanks to the wide range of exclusive benefits included with your booking. For more information about our fantastic holidays to PortAventura visit our onsite hotels and offsite hotel pages where you can find the best accommodation in and around Salou!
