“Spark”: what is the new Futuroscope attraction worth?



Un monstrous villain straight out of a comic book. A powerful black opal hidden at the top of the Eiffel Tower. The young supervisor of a museum propelled, in spite of herself, a superheroine to save Paris. This is the new adventure offered by Futuroscope to its visitors since Saturday 4 February. Disneyland Paris has Marvel, but with “Spark: the curse of the black opal”, the Poitiers amusement park prefers to rehabilitate French superheroes, unjustly erased from the cultural landscape.

Because comics were not imported from across the Atlantic: there were dozens of French superheroes at the start of the 20th century.e century. Until a post-war law in 1949 censored these publications, which, it was said, perverted the youth. Fallen into oblivion, here is Étincelle once again on the front of the stage, in an adventure that shakes… literally! The film, which mixes live action and animation, is viewed standing on a mobile platform. All enhanced with 3D, laser effects and high quality sound.

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best attraction in the world

For this successful rehabilitation of an old attraction on the franchise Ice Age, Futuroscope spent 2.8 million euros. A drop of water in the historic investment plan launched in 2020, in the midst of a pandemic. More than 300 million euros by 2025 to modernize the park and transform it into a real tourist destination. Last year, it opened its first themed hotel, Station Cosmos, where visitors sleep in space cabins. A second is opening this summer: the Ecolodgee, centered on nature. The goal: to extend the length of stay, while one out of two visitors only comes for the day.

In terms of attractions, Futuroscope offered its first roller coaster, Objectif Mars, in 2020. This was by no means obvious for a park that is above all intended to be fun, originally created by the Vienne departmental council, which still owns it – the Compagnie des Alpes, which owns Parc Astérix and the Walibis, exploits it. “We decided to assume that we were first and foremost an amusement park, explains Rodolphe Bouin, the general manager. But no question of a coaster [montagnes russes, NDLR] just for the sensations, it tells a story. »

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The park has found its trademark: innovation. Which he puts into practice again, in 2022, with Chasseurs de tornades, a unique attraction in the world that takes visitors on a rotating moving platform in the heart of a storm. The biggest investment in its history – 21 million euros – crowned best attraction in the world, the Holy Grail in the profession.

Next steps: a water park in the Futuroscope style, with special effects and slides, which will come out of the ground in 2024, and a sensational water attraction for 2025. While developing the extras, like the other novelty for 2023, a visit stunning view of a house upside down.

Ambitious goals

To finance these 300 million euros, the objectives set are ambitious: + 75% turnover and + 650,000 annual visitors. But the boss assures him, the trajectory is good, with in particular 40,000 more visitors won in 2022, or 1.9 million in total, consolidating Futuroscope as the fourth most visited leisure park in France behind Disneyland Paris, the Parc Astérix and the Puy du Fou.

The park has finally recovered from Covid-19 and is, for the moment, facing soaring energy prices, limited to + 30%. Now open almost all year round, Futuroscope is hiring: 170 new permanent employees over two years, bringing the total to 500. poitevin as high as his super-heroine Étincelle.




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