PortAventura Launches New Mixed Reality Experience
© Image: PortAventura World
(eap) On 26 November, the Spanish leisure resort PortAventura World will debut a new mixed reality experience that sends visitors on an immersive journey into the cenotes of Mexico, where they take on the role of scientists and suddenly encounter impressive prehistoric creatures… “Expedición ULUM: El despertar jurásico” is the name of the new experience, which blends the real world with virtual elements.
Guests wishing to search for fossil remains of aquatic dinosaurs put on a mixed reality headset (model: “PICO 4 Ultra Experience”), allowing them to see their real surroundings and other people present, as well as virtual content overlays. Together, they venture into the cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico to carry out their scientific mission. But suddenly, dinosaurs long thought to be extinct appear – creatures that seem to have lived hidden away for millions of years…
The storyline is inspired by Mayan legends and tales and has been brought into augmented reality by PortAventura Labs in collaboration with Spatial Voyagers. The experience, designed for groups of up to six participants per session (with a minimum age of six years), aims to combine technology, emotion and storytelling. The immersive journey lasts 12 to 15 minutes and is, according to the park, unique in this form within a theme park. “Expedición ULUM reaffirms PortAventura World’s commitment to innovation and technology in the service of emotion. We want every visit to our resort to be a unique experience where imagination and also science can go hand in hand,” says Andreu Tobella Brunet, Digital Director at PortAventura World.
The mixed reality experience, available in Spanish, Catalan, English and French, marks another step forward for PortAventura in the field of new technologies. Most recently, in May of this year, the park added “El Diablo Neo”, a mixed reality content overlay for its mine train ride, to its visitor offering (c.f. EAP News of 27 May 2025), and with the 2024 opening of the horror attraction “Hysteria in Boothill”, it had also introduced a mixed reality scare experience. Further attractions of this kind are planned in the future, developed by the dedicated PortAventura Labs division established specifically for this purpose (see Barcelona trade show report, EAP 5/2025). ■
