HUSS

The Gruffalo and Tiger Rock

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The changes of the past five years

The UK’s greatest theme park has been going through a period of renovation, or rather transformation, for some time now; there is no other way of explaining the changes that have taken place over the last five years – apart from last year’s Adventure Tree Carousel, no new attraction has been added to Chessington World of Aventures. For example, the Runaway Train is now the Scorpion Express, the dark ride BubbleWorks is now Gruffalo’s River Ride Adventure and the log flume Dragon Falls is now Tiger Rock. Sadly, there have also been some retirements, such as the Monorail, which used to dominate the area around the Hocus Pocus Hall and the Zoo, and the Peeking Heights Ferris Wheel.

Scorpion Express

This development started with the Runaway Train rollercoaster, which lost all the artificial rock that had so impressively decorated the ride. Although Scorpion Express now stands relatively naked in the area, it is hard to miss. A huge mechanical sculpture in the shape of a scorpion adorns the rear helix, creating all sorts of effects that make for a very fun and lively ride. There are also a number of terrariums in the queue to entertain the waiting passengers. All in all, the upgrade of the ride has been successful. In any case, a ride on the Scorpion Express is a lot of fun.

Gruffalo’s River Ride Adventure

Similarly, the squeaky duck dark ride BubbleWorks in the Transylvanian area, next to the awesome Vampire suspended coaster, was a lot of fun – let’s see what happened to it.

Originally opened as Prof Burp’s BubbleWorks, the first 15 years were spent in round boats sailing through a fizzy drink factory before Imperial Leather’s ducklings took over the dark ride. In 2014, the soap manufacturer’s sponsorship with Merlin ended and all references to the manufacturer were removed from the park. While the theme of the ride may have lasted for the time being, the design elements used did not. So a new IP was needed, and a classic children’s book was chosen to fit in easily with the theme. The last ride with the old design followed in 2016, before Gruffalo’s River Ride Adventure opened on 18.03.2017.

The ride itself offers a very healthy mix of static design elements and video projections. The atmosphere inside is now very dense; it feels like following a stream through a forest in a small boat. Each room tells a part of the first children’s book, in which the Mouse stops the Fox, the Owl and the Snake from eating him by threatening them with the Gruffalo – a hitherto fictional creature. In the following rooms, the Mouse meets the aforementioned Gruffalo, who also wants to eat him, but does not, thanks to the Mouse’s explanation that all the other animals are afraid of him. Together, the Gruffalo and the Mouse climb up the ride’s lift and then make their way to the former bathing room. There they meet the other animals, who take to their heels. This scene succeeds despite the relatively open design and retains some of its old charm thanks to some of the remaining fountains. On the way back to the station, the Mouse chases the Gruffalo away, leaving him to crack his nuts in peace.

As I am not familiar with the franchise, I will refrain from making a comparison at this point. The ride itself is once again fascinating. The mix of static design elements and video projections works very well and doesn’t seem out of place anywhere; despite the rotation of the gondola, you can actually catch it at any time. In general, the ride is now consistently well attended.

Tiger Rock

The Tiger Rock log flume, on the other hand, is much less popular, although this does not apply to the new and much larger tiger enclosure which now occupies the former open areas of the log flume. This is where most of the work has been done, as the renovation of the log flume was unfortunately not carried out. So you float through a channel that could have been re-coated and have a great view of the animals in the (at least partially) surrounding enclosure. This is a good thing, especially as the animals really do congregate in these areas and it is actually the best view from the Tiger Rock log flume, but it could have been more. The hardware of the ride contrasts with the new layout of the ride and in my opinion this is a missed opportunity. As Tiger Rock is the last remaining log flume of the group in England, it is sadly foreseeable that the ride will be closed in the next few years.

Pictures Chessington World of Adventures

Conclusion about the visit

Of the three theme parks near London, Chessington World of Adventures remains my first port of call. The three major additions of the last five years all have their place and are all either fully or largely successful. With a revamp of the Hocus Pocus Hall walkthrough already announced, we can look forward to more to come. In any case, it’s a park to include in your UK plans, especially if you’ve never been there and want to visit a theme park near London.

 

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Chessington - World of Adventures

Le King et la Foire du Trône

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Preface

Originally it was not planned to visit the Foire du Trône on a Thursday. However, as the French train company SNCF was supposed to go on strike the next day and it was therefore unclear whether and how often the Paris regional train RER would run to and from Torcy, I simply moved the planned visit to the French capital one day forward. Since it should remain dry until the evening, my first destination on this day was the Bois de Vincennes and with it a visit to the Foire du Trône.

Foire du Trône

The funfair officially opens at 12 o’clock. When I entered the square an hour later, there was naturally not much going on. Here and there there were some groups of visitors, but there was no trace of the showmen. Sometimes you didn’t even find them during the whole day. Good, in the evening it should rain. This might be reason enough for a French showman to stay away from work, but it casts an unnecessary shadow on this big event. Imagine such behaviour at a large funfair in Germany, at some point nobody would ever go there again.

Without being able to leave a great deal of money on the Foire du Trône, I was nevertheless happy to have some rides on rides that I had already had on my to-do list for some time. Only the main reason for the visit – a ride on the infamous Le King roller coaster – was to take longer. The start was made by the Jet Star roller coaster of the showman Montalétang.

Jet Star

This chic little darling from Schwarzkopf spent years in Holly Park, France, before it finally closed its doors in 2014. Prior to that, the Jet Star had stood for 24 years as Cortina Bob under the showman Steindl in Vienna’s Prater, before he ordered the Megablitz from Vekoma. In fact, the ride is the first Jet Star produced in Münsterhausen.

The ride begins with a short right-hand bend, which is immediately followed by the ride’s lift. At a height of 13m, we then pass through a rather wide bend, with the words Jet and Star on our left, briefly interrupted by the Olympic Rings on our right. With momentum we now rush down the first slope and it’ s steep! The bob-like sitting position does its best and thus provides the first moment of surprise of the ride. We whiz through the valley at full speed and immediately throw ourselves into the steep curve close to the ground, which revolutionised the roller coaster world at that time. Just below the lift hill we finish our ride and immediately start a longer ascent. Now on the second level we follow the track before the first gradient, before we say goodbye to the right and enter a Bayernkurve via a small gradient. Over hill and dale we now turn left along the front of the ride. In the following valley there is a short change of direction, whereupon we go through the back of the ride a third time. After a short left bend, we fall to the ground once more, whereupon we ride for a very long time through a right bend close to the ground, which tapers to an upward helix towards the end. This is followed by a short dip and an equally short ascent before the final downward helix awaits us. With momentum we then reach the brakes, which bring us to an unexpectedly gentle stop.

After having already tested two of the later City Jet rides, I was very excited about a ride in an original Jet Star and was very positively surprised. The ride on the meanwhile 50 year old roller coaster is simply a lot of fun due to its racy curves and the straight drop at the beginning of the ride. The ride characteristics are still indisputably great, a real Schwarzkopf roller coaster. It’s just a pity that you can’t find a roller coaster of this series on German fairs since a very long time. I would have liked to ride it much earlier. Accordingly, I would like to thank Mr. Montalétang, who recognised the gap of the Jet Star of showman Lapère at the Foire du Trône, which moved to Babyland-Amiland, and was able to close it seamlessly. A really cool move.

La Pomme and 1001 Pattes

On the way to the Jet Star, the worm of the Big Apple La Pomme of the Pouget Groupe was already smiling his way through the course, while his colleague 1001 Pattes of the showman Perc was still wrapped up in the children’s corner on the other side of the Foire du Trône. Interestingly, one worm stopped running after the other one finally revealed himself to the public in the late afternoon. Strange, but still CC+2; it’s fine with me.

Crazy Mouse

The prototype of the Reverchon spinning coaster shows itself to its potential passengers as new. The roller coaster Crazy Mouse of the showman family Degoussée not only looks good, but also performs well during the ride. As usual from the manufacturer, the second part of the ride resembles a wild merry-go-round, which becomes more and more intense in the hairpin curves. So far, so good. While after the last curve the brakes are already waiting for the passengers, the prototype goes one better: There is a bonus dip! Although this is also the end of the ride, it’s definitely a cool gimmick.

Infernal Toboggan

Another ride that started early was the roller coaster Infernal Toboggan by the showman Lapère/Roopers. This SDC Galaxy, which was built for the Belgian showman Bufkens sometime in the 80s, has been in the hands of the showman family Lapère since 1997. The ride through the compact layout with its tight support structure and seemingly endless helices scores above all through a tunnel that covers the complete second exit including the ascent. A nice ride, even though the coaster itself has seen better times.

Moonraker

In the same series, another SDC classic started up in the afternoon. After having already tested a Centrox of the same manufacturer or at least a Spanish copy at a Spanish funfair, I was now very excited about the ride on a Galactica/Moonraker – because the basic ride sequence of both rides differs from each other only in one important detail. Basically, both rides are a slightly more modern round-up, which is ridden in a sitting position and is equipped with shoulder restraints. The rotation of the gondola can therefore be variably controlled; but in general the ride is quite fast and powerful. The maximum inclination of the boom is similar to that of an Enterprise, so the ride is quite steep. The difference between both carousels is an additional function in the ride. While the nacelle of the Centrox can be moved into the horizontal position via hydraulics, the whole centre boom of the Moonraker can rotate 360°. However, this is done at a moderate speed and not against the direction of rotation of the disc, which is why there is no luffing effect similar to that of a hully gully. A third version of this ride was intended to combine the two functions, but was never built.

Although I was the only passenger during the second trip of the day, the ride on the Moonraker was really successful. The ride and the staging of it speak for themselves. The additional rotation of the boom is a welcome addition to the grandiose, albeit somewhat monotonous, pressure spectacle. It is nice that even today a showman takes the time to keep an 80s classic alive.

Le King

Le King, la montagne russe 100% français, was built by Soquet, like many other fairground coasters in the country. Most of these were looping coasters that eventually found their way abroad. Le King is different. The layout of the roller coaster, built in 1995, is very similar to the Alpina Bahn, but also sets many own accents. The intricate layout with its many steep curves promises an exciting ride, which is also advertised on countless screens. As a roller coaster fan you are of course aware of the ride’s style. It is not without reason that it is considered one of the most terrible Adrealin rides in the country, after all the shoulder bar contact is supposed to be guaranteed as high as the share of French components. And yet the train is extremely comfortable. You sit very freely. The shoulder restraint gives you a lot of leeway to the right and left; contact with it seems to be rather distant. But then the journey begins.

After a short S-bend along the sidetrack we are constantly pushed up a ramp towards the lift hill at the back of the ride. This brings us up to the starting height of 26m. After a short pre-drop we fall down a steep curve without great expectations. This is a very decent ride, but the further we go towards the valley, the more the train is inclined. In fact, we can see the approaching disaster mercilessly coming up. The moment the train starts the next ascent, we get wiped out. The following ascent with an integrated change of direction, on the other hand, is again going quite well. Arriving on the next hilltop, we have a short moment to somehow cling to the stirrup, because the next steep curve is already waiting for us. Once again we drive through the following valley with a much too high cross slope, whereupon the contact with the stirrup is established. Over a longer ramp we reach the first block brake of the ride.

Past the King logo we are pulled down once more in a curve. Here one of the worst parts of the layout awaits us. After a proper clamp, it goes up again rapidly. Following a short dip we rush down another curve against our will. Fortunately, the slope in the valleys is now a little less steep, but a series of wild curve manoeuvres awaits us now. Over several hills with integrated turns we now ride criss-cross through the ride before we dive into a tunnel. Through several containers we now go at full speed over smaller ascents, as well as a left/right turn, before we come back to daylight. After another right turn we reach the braking section of the ride and soon the station.

Le King is actually a very passable and funny roller coaster, if it weren’t for these terrible valleys. Without the constant contact with the shoulder restraints, the roller coaster would be extremely entertaining. The ride itself is quite smooth and the layout with its many curves, funny dips and the extremely fast tunnel finale is a bit strange, but not bad at all. Basically, it’s what you would expect from an oversized Soquet roller coaster. The strokes on the other hand don’t really fit to it and make you forget about any repetitive rides. Quel dommage.

Pictures Foire du Trône

Conclusion Foire du Trône

That’s it from the Foire du Trône. As mentioned at the beginning I could not ride very much on this visit. At some point I didn’t see any reason to want to ride anything anymore, although at that time the Mondial Power Maxx swings up, as well as the HUSS Pirate directly on the main row. Shortly after one of the two tagadas opened its daily business, I left the Foire du Trône.

In general, I found the Parisian funfair to be very unorganised. There is no round trip, in many places there are several rows parallel to each other. I would recommend a visit only in the late evening or at the weekend, otherwise you will find yourself in front of closed rides. Why the rides start around noon was not clear to me.

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Île-de-France / Tron-Tron-Trône Day 5 to 8

The roller coaster within the zoo

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Le Pal

The origin of the Le Pal animal and theme park dates back to 1973, when Moulinois André Charbonnier decided to build a zoo on his family’s farmland and sold his food factory in Moulins (Allier) in return. He was assisted in this by a veterinarian from the Paris Zoo de Vincennes.

Although the zoo has had a park railway from the very beginning, it was not until 1981 that it was converted into a theme park, when the King Kong observation ride moved into the park. In the same year, however, the park’s founder died. The following years are characterised by a rather fruitless interim management, which, however, was able to realise some large installations. In 1990 Andrés stepson Arnaud Bennet took over the management of the amusement park. The park has ever since been growing steadily.

Le Pal with its 640000 visitors is now one of the five most visited theme parks in France, behind the parks of Disneyland Resort Paris, Parc Astérix and the Futuroscope. The park is probably only known to the common German amusement park fan with the opening of the roller coaster Le Twist. This year, the Family Launch Coaster Yukon Quad has been added to the list, so a visit is now a must. At least that’s what I thought, which is why I wanted to go to France for the planned opening of the roller coaster. A tour was planned and finally the visit was postponed to the second day of the ride; Walibi Rhône-Alpes was too far away to justify a visit on the second day of the journey.

Shortly before the park opened, I reached the car park of the animal and theme park and quickly bought my ticket at one of these incredibly practical ticket terminals on the right side of the entrance. But before we start our tour of the park, here’s a quick note: The Le Pal amusement park is incredibly large and its rides take eftelingesque forms, plus there’ s the zoo. Even on an off-season visit day, it’s a good idea not to go wildly back and forth between the park’s attractions. A second visiting day is advisable and can be combined with an overnight stay at the Lodges du Pal.

Le Twist

In this respect I was completely surprised and after a one kilometre long walk I reached the first attraction on the map: the spinning coaster Le Twist from Mack Rides. Naturally, there was the longest queue in the morning, and I also overlooked a small detail, but more about that later.

After the train has left the station, we soon climb the lift to the starting height of 22m. At the top we have enough time to enjoy the view in a short turn before we plunge into the valley below us. We glide powerfully through an elongated curve at 70 km/h, cheerfully turning around our own axis. In the following Immelmann Turn we look at the sky, the ground or our passengers, just before we fall to the ground again. In a right-hand bend we immediately start to climb up again to initiate an unprecedented spin in a wonderful sloping position. After a downhill left turn, we now make a short zigzag curve combination, which then changes into a curve in the shape of an eight. This is followed by a few shorter swings, whereupon the final brake is already reached and the fast, funny and by no means powerless ride ends.

Le Twist, like its sister ride Dwervelwind of the Dutch amusement park Toverland, is completely convincing. The ride also offers everything a good spinning coaster needs; after all, the passengers can enjoy a nice flow and a certain amount of spin on the ride. Simply, a really great ride!

King Kong

With the next ride, however, one can argue about such a statement. I will make it relatively simple this time and concentrate on the historical significance of a King Kong ride in Le Pal. The park needed a new edition of the HUSS ride, because many customers remembered the typical French panoramic ride from their childhood (an active ride can still be found in the Cigoland amusement park today) and thought it a pity not to find that ride in the park anymore. The design of the queue with the curved railway wagons in the forest is also very successful. In contrast to the Belgian amusement park Bobbejaanland, the ride appears harmoniously staged and appropriate. But I don’t know whether these points overlook the inconsequential wobbling around at lofty heights.

Ronde des Grenouilles and Disque du Soleil

While others are still allowed to think about it, we very quickly devote ourselves to two perennial favourites from Italy. With the Ronde des Grenouilles we have a brand new Jump Around for the smaller park guests and with the Disque du Soleil a Disk’o Coaster in a sleek Aztec look. Both rides are fun, but you won’t expect anything else from Zamperla. Interesting at the Disque du Soleil is the evacuation platform in the second valley – the French are probably a bit more careful there.

Azteka

Past the Rapido dinghy boat slide, the path leads us to the Azteka roller coaster. Somehow the roller coasters of the French manufacturer Soquet nowadays seem to exist only in two versions, one with several short trains and one with a long train.  This ride is one with shorter trains, which again looks quite impressive.

After leaving the station in a right turn, the lift hill of the ride is already waiting for you. At a height of 17m, you immediately start a lively 360° helix sightseeing tour. With a very high speed you will now plunge over a narrow hilltop and immediately hit the ground. With full speed, you will now rush through a curve close to the ground, which will gain more and more height over time. As in an inclined loop, you now pass through a sloped curve, whereby the crest has only little inclination and offers a short moment to catch your breath. Also the following valley does not spare neither its pressure distribution nor its cross slope, which leads to an interesting driving experience. After the following ascent, we now quickly pass through a block brake, just before we throw ourselves into another downward helix. With a running start we now reach a short ramp, on which we change direction very leisurely, which makes the transition to the following right-hand bend quite interesting.  After a short camelback an upward helix follows, which then changes into a kind of steadily widening up and downhill curve and then into the braking section of the ride. Shortly afterwards the ride comes to an end.

Azteka is quite an interesting roller coaster, as it combines the thrilling ride of the Mine Trains with the sloping valleys of the Le King roller coaster by Soquet. As a solo traveller you will be shaken up quite a bit. As the ride is not very small, the ride can be described as impressive. It is surprisingly wild and untamed, just as you like a ride by Soquet.

Chaises Volantes

You still remember the little detail I kept from you on the roller coaster Le Twist? Good, because at the latest at the wave swinger Chaises Volantes it became clear to me that the park is a single rider park like no other. While other amusement parks abolish their queues for single riders, here in Le Pal there is the possibility to fill up seats at almost every attraction. This is exemplary and ensures that the use of the single rider queue is considered normal in the whole park – no envy, no vulgarity, nothing. Le Pal is just great!

Tigre de Sibérie

After such a peculiarity, the park certainly doesn’t offer any more peculiarities, does it? Well, you thought wrong. Right next to the wave swinger, the Tigre de Sibérie roller coaster extends into the sky – a large roller coaster made by Reverchon. What the carousel builder and later specialist for spinning coasters had in mind for this ride is best experienced by taking a seat directly in the hard shells of the train.

Directly adjacent to the station, the lift hill of the ride is already waiting to take us up to a height of 13m. At the top we cross a short hilltop, followed by a slightly longer curve. After the last car has left the lift, we soon fall down a steep curve. In a flowing movement we maintain the radius of the curve and storm skywards, which causes pronounced centrifugal forces especially in the valley. On the upcoming hill we change the direction of travel quite leisurely and enter a somewhat oversized downward helix with up and downhill sections. Thus we descend steadily over two valleys before leaving the element on a long ramp. After a short bend and a very wide right-hand curve, we reach the braking section of the ride. Since we are just too high to pass under the monorail shortly before the station, we have a short dip in the final bend. Shortly after that the ride is over again and we get off.

The Tigre de Sibérie is a very interesting ride with excellent driving characteristics. Unfortunately the ride flattens out towards the end. The reason for this might have been the former roller coaster Chenille Fantastique, whose thematic remains still characterise this part of the ride today. Nevertheless, the ride offers really nice curves that should not be missed.

La Randonnée Africane, La Conquête de l’Ouest and Lac de Chercheurs de l’Or

Nor should we miss the old theme area we are now entering. Passing by the vintage car ride La Randonnée Africane, which reminds us of Danish dark rides of the same theme, and the French Old’99 La Conquête de l’Ouest – which is just as long – we are drawn to the Lac de Chercheurs de l’Or on which a raft ride is taking place. This is how fast the transition from Africa to North America can go.

Rivière Canadienne

As in every French family park, a good log flume is a must, usually called the Rivière Canadienne, as is the case here. The ride in Le Pal is made by Soquet and is particularly impressive because of its course up to the lift hill – after all, you pass the lift hill twice and bob along the landscape for a surprisingly long time. The ride itself is very wet. All in all a really solid ride.

Les Caravelles

If you are not careful, you will end up in a dead end at the Forêt Enchantée. As we are less interested in the toddler ride than in the ride whose passenger carriers have passed us several times before, we quickly look for another way. On an island we then meet the cog ride Les Caravelles, which looks really good both forwards and backwards.

Alligator Baie

But just before we reach our actual destination, another ride magically attracts us. I don’t know how I could have missed it completely in advance, but here in France we have Alligator Baie, probably the most stylish Splash Battle from Mack Rides. Thematically beautiful and also technically wonderful, a truly extraordinary ride is presented here in Le Pal. Unfortunately there were no rivals for a splash water battle. But those who were there made good use of the system.

Descente du Colorado

Now finally arrived at the Descente du Colorado it doesn’t take long until we take a seat in one of the rafting boats. The trip through the beautifully designed canal, which is full of rapids at the beginning, convinces all along the line. On the way we will experience the proven elements of a European rapid river of the early 90’s, such as a tunnel with an included waterfall and a waterfall section with falls on both sides. However, the actually obligatory wave machine is missing. The level of wetness is manageable.

What fascinated me personally is the station of the ride, as this is also where the unused boats are stored. A crane is available for this purpose, which can be moved into position via a rack. What is amazing is the adjustment of the jetty roof so that the crane can be used without major conversions. Another fun fact is the circumstance that the ride used to use boats with individual seats and later replaced them with the manufacturer’s proven 8-seater boats.

Voyage au-dessus du Monde

Fun facts are almost as exciting as Easter Eggs. One such can be found at the station of the Voyage au-dessus du Monde – i.e. the journey around the world or, more appropriately (if translated literally) the journey above the world – where we encounter the Tigre de Sibérie as painting. Shortly afterwards, the ride in the monorail also offers an excellent view of the aforementioned roller coaster.

Ciné Dinamique 3D

Past the station of the Train Aventiers, a park railway with special effects, the tour continues into an oriental-looking area. Here you will find numerous rides by Zamperla, including a teacup ride and a children’s free-fall tower, a Fabbri ship swing, and the 4D simulator Ciné Dinamique 3D. The latter one interested me very much, because it shows the 4D film Happy Family, a Mack Media production. Many of you may know the film from Europa Park, but I personally didn’t know the film before. I was quite astonished when half of the film was told in the pre-show and you were only invited to board the simulators shortly before the roller coaster sequence of the ghost train ride. Other parks would have shown the full movie in the pre-show. The ride in the large-capacity simulators scores with its timing and the beautifully animated film. Hats off!

The Zoo

On the way to our last attraction, we now enter the park’s zoo. First we follow the Circuit Court with its 90 minutes, before we change to the Circuit Long with its 3 hours, after all we want to see the meerkats. French people have to sprint through a zoo, because both times are wrong, here you can easily spend a whole day. At a normal visitor’s pace, 4-5 hours should quickly come together here.

Passing the giraffe enclosure we follow the signs before we come across a large lake. There we watch the hustle and bustle of the squirrel monkeys a little closer before we enter the farm area with its integrated petting zoo. I like the concept and the animals have really large areas of retreat.

Past the chimpanzees, the path now leads us into the predator area directly at the entrance. Both lions and tigers have enormously large enclosures here, which teem with retreat areas. Since the enclosures are only visible to the visitor in a few places, you have to search for a long time until you meet the animals.

Just wow, but the elephant enclosure in the immediate vicinity clearly hits the target of species-appropriate enclosures. The enclosure is larger than many German zoos or amusement parks! You’d think Flamingo Land in Yorkshire would have big enclosures, but Le Pal tops it all. I did not expect that in advance. The amusement park is already great, but the zoo has a lot more to offer and we have only managed a good third of it.

Time for a show. Along the enclosures of the red pandas, gibbons and jeladas, we will go to the big bird of prey show. We will have a look at it from the entrance path, because in Le Pal the paths are blocked right on time at the beginning of the show. So it is not worth coming late. But what is very worthwhile is the show itself. One by one, numerous birds of prey are presented, before the park moves on to the brilliant finale and releases all the large birds present to the show visitors. All of a sudden storks, ibises and cattle egrets are in the middle of the crowd. This show is not to be missed!

I was immediately drawn to the next show, which was to start just a few minutes later. Parrots are the stars of the Carnival des Plumes. Although not everything went well so shortly after the start of the season, nobody should be forced in animal shows. Here, too, the educational approach is dominant, but even those who don’t speak the language get their money’s worth. After all, you can watch parrots during recycling.

The next show will be a while away, so let’s get into round no.2 through the magnificent zoo. This time we concentrate on native species and watch wolves and lynxes before we turn to snow panthers and exotic birds. The Alligator Park – a fully themed walk past American alligators and turtles – is a particularly interesting attraction, which could be standing around somewhere in Florida.

After a fleeting glimpse of the flamingos, the time has come to take a seat in the large stadium, as the sea lion show Le Ballet des Otaries is about to begin. Apart from all kinds of slapstick, visitors can expect a brilliant spectacle of balancing tricks, jumps, swimming passages with the trainers and a nasty shower for selected park visitors. You should have seen this show too.

Slowly the review of Le Pal is coming to an end here, but the zoo is still not quite finished yet. Hopefully you had enough time to take a breather, so let’s go for round no. 3. This time the path leads us to the big steppe, where zebras, numerous antelopes and ostriches cavort. On the opposite side of the steppe there is a kind of game park, which is beautifully situated in a wooded area with a treetop path, from which you have an excellent view of the great novelty of this year.

Yukon Quad

Past the meerkats, whose enclosures are literally hidden away, as well as the kangaroos, hyenas and emus, we are now drawn to the park’s largest and longest roller coaster, the Family Launch Coaster Yukon Quad. It’s not my fault that Le Pal really did put the ride in the middle of its far too big zoo. Although the ride is still brand new, it already looks incredibly harmonious, as the vegetation also plays along. But the general design of the ride is a class of its own. But before I go any further, let’s take a seat on one of the quads.

The Preshow tunnel is quickly reached. A few light effects, some fog and zack, you will be accelerated by the friction wheels. With a pronounced speed we now throw ourselves into a left turn close to the ground before we climb a hill. We cross this hill with shallow airtime, but the following course presses us well into our seats. With good luck we now go over hill and dale in a curve and then wonderfully alternate between left and right curves close to the ground. On the following straight the second launch follows, which, as we all know, adds a good amount of fun. With 90 km/h it goes immediately into a right turn close to the ground, which changes into a short zigzag passage. Now one races up and down through a turn-around curve before a change of direction close to the ground follows. The following curve leads into a higher hill, which results in a turn close to the ground. Now two straight hills follow crosswise to the other end of the ride. After a right bend close to the ground, which changes into a wide left turn, the braking track of the ride is reached, whereupon the ride of more than 1000m slowly comes to its end.

Those who know Juvelen from the Danish amusement park Djurs Sommerland will also get their money’s worth with the mirror-inverted Yukon Quad. The ride convinces with its near-ground and quite wild curve manoeuvres. Furthermore, the pacing of the roller coaster is simply fantastic. It is therefore hardly surprising that the ride was immediately well received by the park’s family visitors. As the wildest family roller coaster since Taron, it can’t be marketed Europe-wide, but for France this statement is absolutely true. A great ride, which hopefully serves as a beacon in the French park landscape.

Pictures Le Pal

Conclusion Le Pal

We are now done with Le Pal. I hope you enjoyed this park as much as I did. The mix of zoo and amusement park is presented here in perfection; thanks to Yukon Quad, the areas are also becoming increasingly mixed. Nevertheless, each area can fully convince on its own. The amusement park is great and the zoo is terrific, so you should definitely take enough time. The advice about the two visiting days is serious, because even on my visiting day, time was running out quite quickly.

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Le Pal / Tron-Tron-Trône Day 2