Credit: PortAventuraA popular theme park is doing the unimaginable and offering free entrance soon. Will this move be a hit or a miss?
The theme park industry worldwide has become an exciting race to provide the most exciting and fun experiences for millions of families, pushing the most influential companies around the world to go above and beyond in trying to enhance the guest’s experience.
The Walt Disney Company approved a multi-million-dollar investment to improve its theme parks worldwide. Meanwhile, Universal Destinations & Experiences continues to evaluate a possible theme park and resort project in the United Kingdom in the wake of the long-awaited opening of Universal Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida.
Related: Dollywood Ceases All Operations: Beloved Theme Park Now Closed
SeaWorld continues transforming its theme parks in the United States and innovating in Abu Dhabi, while Six Flags is developing a $200M theme park in Qiddiya following its billion-dollar merger with Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.
However, a popular European theme park is pushing boundaries and doing the unthinkable, offering free entrance next month.
Belgium-based theme park information account @_ultros recently posted an “official” announcement stating that PortAventura — a popular theme park south of Barcelona, Spain — would “have to open its park FREE of charge on August 3, 2024.
According to @_ultros, this unbelievable offer will be limited between 5 p.m. through 2 a.m.
(Translated) OFFICIAL! PortAventura will have to open its park FREE of charge on August 3 between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m.!
(Can’t wait to see the wait times)
⚠️ OFFICIEL ! PortAventura devra ouvrir son parc GRATUITEMENT le 3 août prochain entre 17h et 2h du matin ! 🤯
(Hâte de voir la taille des temps d’attente 💀) pic.twitter.com/GzodDA2zMt
— ultros : infos parcs (@_ultros) July 14, 2024
Related: Universal Shutdown: Florida Park Officially Closing 25-Year-Old Attraction In Just Five Months
While the news is undoubtedly exciting, netizens were skeptical, mentioning that the offer to access the theme park for free would possibly be limited beyond the restricted hours mentioned above.
Of course, opening the theme park with free entrance for thousands of families would be unusual for any company unless there was a celebration in place, which is the case for PortAventura and Spain.
With Spain reaching the final match of the UEFA Euro 2024, PortAventura launched an incredible offer: free entrance to the European theme park on August 3 if “La Roja,” the Spanish national football team, brought the cup home.
(Translated) Remember, if La Roja wins, the first 10,000 who signed up will enjoy PortAventura Park for free. Once the match ends, you will receive an email to know if you were the lucky winner.
Recordad que si La Roja gana los primeros 10.000 apuntadxs disfrutarán de PortAventura Park gratis. Un vez finalice la competición, sabréis vía email si sois los afortunadxs. Toda la info aquí: https://t.co/bPZFTVcHcD
— PortAventura World (@Portaventura_ES) July 9, 2024
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Ultimately, Spain won the cup, and PortAventura is celebrating by welcoming the first 10,000 who signed up for this exciting offer into the theme park with free entrance on August 3.
However, the overwhelming response caused theme park officials to launch an equally great offer for those who didn’t make it into the privileged group. It provided a 2×1 offer for runners-up, redeemable throughout the 2024 season.
Inside the Magic contacted PortAventura officials to hear more about the theme park’s excitement about Spain earning another title and their comments on this audacious decision and its overwhelming response. However, no response was received by the publication of this article.
What do you think about this bold move? Don’t forget to share your opinion in the comments below!