“Uncharted”, the PortAventura new unique ride… Is it worth the visit?
PortAventura Park, the most visited theme park in Spain and sixth in Europe, opened last June its brand new ride: “Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence”.
Apart from having the first lateral drop in Europe, the dark ride coaster based on the homonymous film and created in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment also includes a 15-metre-high inverted free fall with a 70-degree incline, an inverted launch, audiovisual effects and a sideways drop in its 673m of track. Sounds promising, but is all that worth +two and a half ours of queue?
After experiencing that nightmare (especially in the begining when you have to wait in the sun), I wouldn’t make my worst enemy go through it. Once you get inside, after the first half/whole hour, you get to see some pretty decent theming and the AC is on, so it isn’t as terrible. The most annoying issue is that sometimes the line is really fast, and others the carriages stop working and you don’t move for eternity. You never know.
That’s why I will list some recommendations you should bear in mind if you want to enjoy this new ride without dying in the attempt:
- It opens at 8:30, but you won’t be able to acess the park until 10:30. What does that mean? That only the people staying in the PortAventura hotels will be able to be the first in the queue, and by the time you get to the ride, there will already be a massive line.
- If you are in one of the hotels, wake up early, go a couple times in Uncharted, go back to sleep, and then keep enjoying the park.
- If you are not, I would advise going to other attractions and heading to “Uncharted” at around 20:00/21:00, when there will be less people and also the heat is way more tolerable. Be careful not to go past 21:30, because even though the ride closes at 22:30, they might not let more people in before that time.
- Single riders queue!! It is one of the very few rides in PortAventura with this option. For any newbies, it is the line for people who go by themselves. Although the theming in the normal line is worth seeing and it is always fun to hear your friends/mom/siblings/whatever showcase their most embarrassing screaming, the coaster will be the exact same if you go by yourself, and you will save a whole lot of time. I got in after waiting between 30–5 minutes.
My overall critique would be positive and I do recommend going at least once. It is not too strong or fast and it doesn’t last long either, so the whole family can have a really fun time in this unique new acquisition for the Spanish entertainment.
And thats about it. I hope you can use this knowledge -also called learning from my mistakes- to have a lovely experience in “Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence”.
