The various attractions at the park
Rides, attractions, roller coasters and thrills: all these terms are enough to make your head spin. So what’s the back story? Some of the earliest rides were carousel rides: a rotating platform housing seats of various shapes. Later, the term “ride” came to include a whole host of attractions.
HONOURING TRADITION: CHILDREN’S RIDES
Carousels are also known as “merry-go-rounds”. These very popular attractions are found at almost every amusement park and funfair. The first carousels came from farmers who tied their animals to their mills with a rope to turn the mill. It wasn’t until later, in 1605, that carousel rides were created.
Parc Astérix has several of them: The King’s Horses is a double decker medieval-style carousel, located in the Through Time area. Further on, in Ancient Greece, you’ll find its Roman ancestor Caesar’s Carousel. And lastly, as Parc Astérix is a park that the whole family will enjoy, it has kid-friendly attractions including The Mini Carousel in the Viking area.
And while we’re on the subject of carousels, we would be remiss not to talk about Flying Chair rides. This variation on the carousel has fascinated fun-seekers since the start of the 20th century. On this ride the seats are securely suspended from a rotating platform using metal chains. When the ride rotates, the centrifugal force spins them outwards. Parc Astérix invites our older guests to experience zero gravity on The Flying Chairs in the Through Time area, The Tower of Edifis in Egypt and for our younger guests, visit The Mini Flying Chairs in the Viking area!
A NEW TAKE ON THE CLASSICS AT PARC ASTÉRIX
As spinning rides are so popular, amusement parks are including more and more different types. Sensational rides like teacups, airplanes, octopuses and the music express are some classic favourites. And there’s no way we were going to let you miss out!
Like the real sea creatures, which are both fascinating and frightening, octopus rides are rotating attractions with several tentacles, or mechanical arms, that lift the cars. The Hydra of Lerna works on the same principle: the terrifying mythological creature with its regenerating heads can be found in the Ancient Greece area of the park.
In a different vein, teacup rides are generally vehicles shaped like teacups on a rotating platform. In the Gaul area of Parc Astérix, The Cauldrons replace the teacups for a dose of magic potion! That’s right... The same type of cauldron Obelix fell into when he was young.
Other rotating rides at Parc Astérix include The Ace Flying Squadron, a favourite with our youngest guests. Like other airplane rides, it gets its name from the style of the vehicle. The chance to let your kids really soar!
And last but not least in the Gaul area is The Mini Storm, a “music express” or “caterpillar” type ride. On bumpy tracks that feel like waves, our boats move in single file around a central pole. A treat for our youngest guests!
Discover all the other attractions that Parc Astérix has to offer: water rides and roller coasters... you’ll be amazed!