Parc Astérix

Parc Astérix is a theme park in France based on the comic book series Asterix by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny. There are approximately 2.3 million visitors to Parc Astérix each year,[1] making it France's second largest theme park, after Disneyland Paris, which attracts approximately 14 million visitors each year.[2]

Parc Astérix
Goudurix, the park's inaugural roller coaster
LocationPlailly, Picardy, France
Coordinates49°08′04″N 02°34′13″E
OpenedApril 30, 1989
OwnerCompagnie des Alpes
Area83 acres (34 ha)
Attractions
Total44
Roller coasters8
Water rides7
Websitewww.parcasterix.fr

It is especially renowned in France for its large variety of roller coasters, which exceeds the amount of most other parks in the Hexagon. Park Astérix has begun incorporating rides and themes from historic cultures like the Gauls, the Romans, Ancient Greece and recently Ancient Egypt, but always in the visual style of the related comic books, and most usually reusing characters, scenes and sounds from the Astérix media. The park is located approximately 35 km (22 mi) north of Paris, 32 km (20 mi) from Disneyland Paris and 20 km (12 mi) from the historic Château de Chantilly, in the commune of Plailly, in the department of Oise. Opened in 1989, the park is operated by Compagnie des Alpes and located right by the A1 motorway ( Paris ↔ Lille ↔ Brussels), having its own highway exit and interchange.

History

Conception and inauguration
Romus et Rapidus, river rafting ride

Largely funded by the Barclays financial company, with 20 other investors including Compagnie Générale des Eaux, the Havas group, Union des Assurances de Paris and the Picardy region, the park cost 850 million French francs to build and generated 1,200 jobs. The location was chosen due to the transport network: a private interchange connects it with the nearby A1 autoroute and a bus shuttle service connects it with Paris Métro Line 7 at La Courneuve's 8 Mai 1945 station.[3] Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture, inaugurated the park on 30 April 1989 after two years of work.[4]

The opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992 caused Parc Astérix's attendance to fall 30% and its revenue by 19%.[5] However, attendance soon stabilised to around 2 million visitors per year.[6][7]

Recent developments

In October 2005, Parc Astérix ran La Fête des Druides ("The Festival of the Druids"), as a way of "thumbing their noses" at Halloween.[8] Season 2007 saw the Parc Astérix opening for the first time during the Christmas holidays.[9] In 2009, for the park's 20th anniversary, it opened during the weekends in September and October and ran a Halloween event called Peur sur le Parc Astérix ("Fear at Parc Astérix").[10][11] In May 2018, the park's then Head of Construction, Thomas Dubosc, announced on television the construction of Toutatis, a new multi-launch roller coaster manufactured by Intamin, scheduled to be opened in 2021 yet only opened for season 2023 due to COVID-19 and woodcutting delays.[12] In January 2021, the park announced it was closing its dolphin and sea lion enclosure, the Delphinarium, in order to focus on rides and other shows.[13]

Attractions
L'Oxygénarium, river rafting ride

The park features many attractions and shows including:

Economic and Operational Data

Management and Personnel

The park scheduled recruiting around 2,000 people for the 2023 season, which is a record number compared to previous years.[15]

Attendance

In September 2022, Parc Astérix achieved a record yearly attendance of over 2.6 million visitors.[16] This record is expected to be broken again in 2023 due to the opening of the park's seventh large-scale rollercoaster, Toutatis.

Incidents
  • In July 2004, an 11-year-old boy was hit by lightning at the foot of the Trace du Hourra bobsleigh, despite 3 lightning rods located less than 20m from him. The park had continued operating despite weather warnings.[17]
  • On 5 July 2006, a 6-year-old Belgian child drowned on the Descente du Styx river rapids ride, sucked in by the water pumps used to create the flow in the bottom of the ride's canal.[17] The ride underwent various security measures; it was renamed to Romus et Rapidus in order to cast off the bad memory and unfortunate implications of the tragic accident. In Greek and Roman mythologies, the Styx is the river of the Underworld that has to be crossed by the dead.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parc Astérix.

References
  1. Abbatescianni, Davide (20 April 2022). "At Cartoon Next, Céleste Surugue shares the secrets behind Asterix's success story". cineuropa. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  2. "Parc Asterix facts". Paris Digest. 2018. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  3. "Partners - lesoir.be". Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2014-03-23.
  4. "Inauguration du parc Astérix - Vidéo Ina.fr". Archived from the original on 2014-05-03. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  5. Roffat, Sébastien (2007). Disney et la France: Les vingt ans d'Euro Disneyland. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan. p. 124. ISBN 978-2-296-02989-7.
  6. "ASTERIX A LA COTE - Le Soir". Archives.lesoir.be. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  8. "Astérix fait un pied de nez à Halloween". Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
  9. "Le parc Astérix ouvert avant et après Noël". Lefigaro.fr. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  10. Lombardo, Propos recueillis par Anne. ""Le Parc Astérix est ouvert chaque jour pendant les vacances de la Toussaint"". Tourmagazine.fr. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  11. "Astérix fête Halloween". Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
  12. "New for 2021 Parc Asterix, Intamin Quadruple-Launch Coaster + POV". Amusement Insider | Theme Park News and Rumors. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
  13. "France's Asterix park shuts down dolphin show as debate on animal rights starts". RFI. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  14. Roffat, Sébastien (2007). Disney et la France: Les vingt ans d'Euro Disneyland. Paris: Editions L'Harmattan. p. 122. ISBN 978-2-296-02989-7.
  15. Ruault, Margot (February 6, 2023). "Par Toutatis, le parc Astérix compte recruter 2000 personnes en 2023". Le Fiagro.
  16. "By Toutatis, Parc Astérix plans to recruit 2,000 people in 2023". News In France. 6 February 2023.
  17. "Un garçon de 6 ans se noie au Parc Astérix". Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.
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