I went to Portaventura and ran from zombies – then chilled out with a TV legend

AS the zombie lunged at me with a knife I was beginning to think I was getting too old for theme parks.

I’d signed up for the Rec Experience at Portaventura World, which recreates scenes from the Spanish horror movie franchise.

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As much as you tell yourself that it’s not real beforehand, when you’re in the middle of it you’re not hanging about to argue with the monsters.

But one of the big selling points about Portaventura, in Salou, Spain, is that there is something for everyone no matter what age, and how old and grizzled you are.

I visited with my wife Lyndsay and four-year-old son Joel and discovered a whole new world had opened up for me because of him.

And after being scared out of my wits I was able to go and chill out with my boy and the Cookie Monster.

After this trip we can finally answer the question of how exactly you get to Sesame Street.

The legendary TV show has a section in the park all to itself called Sesamoventura.

Childhood favourites including Elmo, Bert and Ernie and Oscar the Grouch roam about and stop for selfies.

The Cookie Monster made a fan for life when he gave my boy a giant hug.

That section of the park is home to a surprisingly fast rollercoaster for kids and a host of fun little rides including Grover’s plane and Elmo’s tractor.

But the star attraction is Street Mission, where you jump in a New York cab and help solve the mystery of who stole the cookies.

The culprit is not hard to guess.

And when you’re looking for a breather you can sit down and watch the colourful characters put on a song and dance show.

We enjoyed it even though it was all in Spanish. And my wee one also got his face painted to look like his newfound biscuit guzzling hero.

The park itself is split into six worlds, Mexico, Polynesia, China, Far West, Mediterranea and Sesamoventura.

There are heartstopping thrill rides like Shambala, Dragon Khan and Furious Baco.

I managed to slip off for a solo run on Dragon Khan and loved the endless loops.

But alongside those there were loads of rides that we were able to go on as a family.

In the West we went on the carousel, which had buffalos alongside the more traditional horses.

And the Silver River Flume was a smash hit. While my missus put on a poncho the boys just got soaked.

We met park mascot Woody the Woodpecker alongside classic cartoon character Betty Boop.

Angkor is incredibly good fun but not for those who don’t like getting very, very wet as you get blasted by water cannons fired by others on the ride.

Thankfully the Spanish sun meant we were dried off in no time.

The Tomahawk is probably the fastest coaster wee ones can get on, and was another repeat rider for us.

As if there wasn’t enough to cram into a day, alongside the main park is Ferrari Land.

Here you can get a taste of what it’s like to get behind the wheel of the fastest cars in the world.

The centrepiece is the 365ft high Red Force coaster which hits speeds of up to 112mph. It’s Europe’s tallest and fastest thrill ride and you can see it for miles around.

We raced against each other on the Maranello Grand Race and hopped on the Junior Red Force before going to La Liga Twentynines, a sports bar themed around the Spanish footy league, for dinner.

We loved every minute of our time at Portaventura and a day is definitely not long enough.

Joel is already asking how we can get back to Sesamoventura.

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