Spanish theme park PortAventura (part of PortAventura World resort, Salou – Spain) opens a new roller coaster today: Uncharted: El Enigma de Penitence. The enclosed roller coaster, based on the video games and movie by the same name, features multiple dark ride elements, qualifying it as a semi-dark ride. Riders follow the main protagonists of the series in a search for a hidden treasure, facing unique roller coaster elements adding a special twist to the adventure.
El Enigma de Panitence is Spanish for The Enigma of Penitence, with Penitence being the name of the western themed town in PortAventura, where the new coaster is located. In the attraction, guests will follow Nathan Drake, Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan and Chloe Frazer, the main characters of the franchise, in the search of an Aztec gold treasure that is hidden somewhere in Penitence. During their search, they have to try and stay ahead of the villain of the story, who was conceived especially for the ride.
While Uncharted: El Enigma de Penitence is mostly an indoor roller coaster in the dark, the attraction features three dark ride scenes. Two of which feature a multimedia scene, the other being a more classic dark ride scene that includes an animatronic. The backstory of the attraction is told in elaborate scenes during the queue line, featuring animatronics of Drake and Chloe and video footage of Chloe and Sully.
Uncharted utilizes the Multi Dimension Rollercoaster by Intamin Amusement Rides. This is a roller coaster type that can feature special elements, such as (backwards) launches, track switches and turntables. Other notable attractions with this ride type are Movie Park Studio Tour (Movie Park Germany, Germany) and Objectif Mars (Futuroscope, France). The theme of the attraction was designed by Sally Dark Rides, who worked for PortAventura before on the Sesame Street – Street Mission-dark ride.
PortAventura presented the attraction to the press yesterday during a large Media Day. Team DRdb was present during this presentation and spoke with Sally Dark Rides’ chief creative officer Rich Hill and PortAventura park director David García. A full report on Uncharted: El Enigma de Penitence, including the interviews, is coming soon.
