JAW-DROPPING TRAVEL TIPS

wowing white-knuckle fans ever since with its 256ft initial drop at 83mph and 77 degrees – and five ‘camelback’ plunges.

There’s a 3.8g moment, plenty of ‘airtime’ – feelings of weightlessness – and one of the most dramatic dives into a tunnel you’ll ever encounter.

3 FERRARI LAND

The newest part of the site is of course a petrolhead paradise themed on the Maranello marque and opened in April 2017 after a €100million investment. It costs €22 per person, though there are combo tickets with the other parks.

Clearly Red Force is the highlight and there will be queues, so you can pay an extra €20 for a fastpass, which covers most of the main rides and experiences.

The twin Thrill Towers are modelled on engine pistons and one does a freefall while the other bounces up and down. Good fun and you’ll want more than one go on each.

The Racing Legends 3D CGI ride takes you on an enjoyable, immersive journey through the Scuderia’s racing history (and into the future), while the Maranello Grand Race is your chance to ‘drive’ a Ferrari on a track. It’s really one for youngsters, but loads of adults seemed to be enjoying it too.

There’s also a new kids’ zone, F1 simulators and a competition to see how quickly you can change a wheel in the pits.

Besides the a la carte Cavallino trattoria, there’s a self-service cafe and a Ferrari shop, where prices seem to be geared to someone on a Grand Prix driver’s salary.

4 THE CLOSING DISPLAY

Portaventura has a huge range of shows – I also caught the Templo del Fuego which was flaming good fun, Indiana Jones-style – but don’t miss the end-of-day fiesta.

It showcases the themed lands in an eye-popping display on the central lake. It starts at 11.40pm and you really should miss some beauty sleep to take this in.

Giant Mexican dancers twirling across the water, a dragon which seemed as big as those in Game of Thrones ‘swimming’ around, fireballs, fireworks, illuminations and a pair of stunt riders flying around on illuminated water jetpacks.

Great stuff !

You’ll need to get there early to bag a good spot in the Mediterranean village waterfront.

5 CARIBE WATER PARK

Now I do like a water park with a lazy river and this is a nice one. El Río Loco had loads of tubes to jump in (I hate it when you have to hang around for ages waiting to grab one) and it’s a languid 10 minutes or so to circle the park.

Note: if the wave machine in the main pool is going, the lazy river actually gets quite active in parts!

Of course you’ll be wanting to check out the flumes, and King Khajuna is Europe’s tallest free-fall slide with a 1,032ft drop at 55 degrees. I was so knackered after climbing all the steps up I forgot to chicken out. Yikes!

I also dived into El Torrente, which you ride on a circular raft (good fun) and El Tifon twin slides, which were dark, fast and twisting, and involved bumped heads (not such good fun).

There are plenty of places to grab food and drink, and when I visited for the afternoon there were plenty of spare sunloungers.

NB! The locker rental system is confusing and an expensive extra at €6-9 per locker per day.