Since Thursday, it's gone. One by one, following government announcements, the French amusement parks located in the green zone announce their restart for the summer. If some had anticipated the call, others were awaiting the speech of the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, who confirmed a possible reopening on June 2. However, on this date, few sites will welcome the public.
Zoos and green parks will be pioneers. That of Beauval, the most visited in France, launches on June 2. In Ile-de-France, Thoiry, although in the orange zone, has obviously obtained an authorization to welcome the public from the 3rd, after having already restarted its safari part by car. Near Angers, Terra Botanica, entirely dedicated to plants, will be open to the public from June 4.
Several sanitary measures are implemented at ZooParc, as soon as it reopens on June 2! 🎥
To consult all the measures in detail, it's here ➡ https://t.co/nABtU7h7oX#PrenezLairAbeauval #BeauvalVousAttend pic. twitter.com/UyGohXVbuJ
Side amusement parks, the big wave should follow. The PAL (Allier) will reopen on June 6, the Puy du Fou (Vendée) on June 11 and the Spirou Park (Vaucluse) on June 20. Since this Thursday, new announcements have come to complete this calendar. At the gates of Paris, in the Oise, the Saint-Paul park will be operational on June 6 and the Mer de sable will be ready for June 27.
Near Poitiers (Vienne), Futuroscope will take off on June 13 and will finally be able to inaugurate its new attraction, "Objectif Mars". In Isère, Walibi Rhône-Alpes, in the top 10 of the most visited parks, communicated on June 20. Vulcania (Puy-de-Dôme), in the heart of the Auvergne volcano park, will wait for July 1st. In Alsace, the Parc du Petit Prince (Haut-Rhin) will wait until July 4.
One of the giants of the sector, Parc Astérix (Oise), is expected to decide shortly. But it won't be until June 22. Same story at Disneyland Paris, awaiting the third phase of deconfinement and a decision from the United States.
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Of course, all the sites which have already communicated about their reopening have, on presentation of a precise and adapted health protocol, obtained the green light from the prefectures. Suffice to say that everything was fine in the little world of rides until a little sentence launched yesterday by Edouard Philippe in his long speech and evoking an entry gauge set at 5000 visitors. For outdoor or covered gatherings? Nobody really understood.
5,000 visitors? "It was never discussed"
Not even the president of the Amusement parks union (Snelac), Arnaud Bennet, upwind in front of this blur. “If this is to apply to amusement parks, it is incomprehensible and even inept. It surprised everyone, even at the Ministry of Tourism. It was never discussed during the discussions we had beforehand! This would mean that no large park could be opened this summer. Worse: the State will have to judge all its prefects who have given the authorizations! I hope the Prime Minister just sinned for lack of precision. Otherwise, it would be a real sign of contempt for our profession and our visitors. "
