Parc Astérix, Theme park in Plailly, France.
Parc Astérix is a theme park in Plailly, France, built around the famous comic book series. The site divides into several themed areas with more than 40 rides, including roller coasters, water attractions, and live entertainment programs that recreate scenes from the stories.
Albert Uderzo conceived the park after visiting Disneyland in California in 1981; construction began in summer 1987 on a 155-hectare site in Plailly. Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture, inaugurated it on 30 April 1989, with Goudurix and the dolphinarium among the original attractions. Grévin et compagnie, a subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts, has managed the park since 2002.
The zones across the site take their names from the world created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in their comic series, and characters from the stories move through the pathways and appear in live performances. Visitors see recreated Gaulish villages, Roman camps, and other scenery modelled on the pages of the books, with the humor and historical references of the original stories woven into the decoration and performances.
Visitors can purchase entry tickets with a fixed date online, and the park is reachable by car or by organized buses from Paris. Most rides and areas are accessible during opening days, though some attractions have height or age restrictions.
Tonnerre 2 Zeus, the wooden coaster built by Custom Coasters International in 1997, was renamed from Tonnerre de Zeus. In 2005 the park staged La Fête des Druides as a retort to Halloween, and in 2009, for its 20th anniversary, it ran Peur sur le Parc Astérix.
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