Queues at PortAventura in October. Do I need express?

[T in Travel]

I'm visiting PortAventura for the first time in the middle of October and was wondering what the queues are like? I have heard it can get long queues due to poor operations and queue jumpers. Do you think it's worth getting an express pass?

 

[jasone]

I haven't been in October so don't know what queues are like. But the operations are probably the worst out of any park i've been to. That plus the queue jumping makes for a very infuriating park to visit, so if you have the money i'd say its probably worth it.

 

[Callum]

Are you going weekdays or weekends?

If you're doing weekdays, i'd say no express needed. Just done a few days on weekdays and park was very quiet, operations were fairly decent.

Make use or SRQs too. They were fab.

Weekends will be a different story though I imagine.

 

[TilenB]

Yeah, we were there for two days and a bit last October. Friday was completely doable even without a fast pass (we did have a couple of single shot passes, but they weren't a particular necessity), while a fast pass was an absolute must on Saturday (and the bit of Sunday when we went).

Be prepared to queue quite a bit for Uncharted, but the rest should be fine.

 

[Tonkso]

We visited for the October period 2 years back on the weekend and unfortunately, express pass was an absolute essential. The ops are slow, unfortunately. As TilenB says, be prepared to queue for Uncharted (unless this is on the express pass now?).

When we went back in 2018 we did a midweek and rides were walk-ons.

 

[StevenX]

I went last September for 2 weekdays, and it was fine; as people are saying, the only thing which had much of a line was Uncharted which stayed at an hour or so for the most part. I suggest just getting it out of the way first thing, as it gets longer throughout the morning before dipping a bit a little later in the day again. Then again, maybe over the Halloween season it might get a bit busier.

The only other long line we had was Red Force - but that might have been because it had been closed the previous three days so there were plenty of people, like my partner and I, who had been waiting to use their Ferrari Land entry until it was back up. Or maybe it's normal, as there's basically nothing else in Ferrari Land, I don't know.

 

[Matt N]

I went in September last year (9th-12th September, for reference), and did not find Express an essential by any means. On the two full park days I had, I got 12 rides in on each, and on my first day, I did all coasters bar Tami-Tami, as well as rerides on Shambhala and a ride on two of the water rides, without buying Express.

I can’t vouch for what it’s like in proper peak season, but when I went, I found the park perfectly manageable without Express. And I should also add that one day of my visit fell during a Catalonian public holiday, which was absolutely fine.