Parc Festyland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Parc Festyland is a relative small theme park situated within the Caen ringroad (A13/A84) in Lower Normandy, France. Sometimes referred to as residing in Carpiquet in terms of Greater Caen, the theme park receives approximately 110,000 visitors a year.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Parc Festyland, like a true theme park, has a prominent style that all of the park follows - from rides to restaurants to surroundings alike. The park is based around the 1066 era of time, but being a family theme park, it mainly concentrates on the architecture and stereotypes of the time. The Parc Festyland logo is depicted by a friendly, young faced dragon sporting a Viking hat and a large grin. Although there have been some arguments over whether this is a suitable logo, the decision was reached that this represents a family theme park very well.
[edit] Visiting Figures
In 2005 the park received 110,000 visitors, compared to Caen's five museums which received 550,000 visitors between them (source: Caen tourist office). Other tourist attractions in Caen include Men's Abbey (or Abbaye aux hommes in French) and the Caen memorial. Parc Festyland is clearly signposted and visible from the nearby motorway.
[edit] Advertising
Parc Festyland runs a successful advertising campaign in association with the Caen tourist office. In all language versions of the booklet, the first inner page is a full colour advert for the park. It consists of the Parc Festyland name and logo, the catchphrase ("defiez le!!!"), contact details (website address and phone number), but most importantly two pictures of females enjoying themselves at the park and a large roller coaster in the background.
[edit] Pictures in the Advert and their connotations
The large roller coaster with a ram's head in the background has been drawn by an artist. However it is the two photos that are most eye catching, and bring attention to the advert.
Picture 1 (nearer the front) has a woman dressed in a white top, with a facial expression that suggests a mixture of fear (due to exhilaration on the rides) and enjoyment. The more unfortunate second picture depicts a female with her arms spread out, her eyes closed, and an expression of pleasure and amusement on her face. It is this that some people seeing the advert take as the woman having an orgasm, although this ultimately creates interest in the park.
[edit] The park's catchphrase
Defiez le!. Using the translation from the English Caen tourist office booklet, the phrase can be confirmed to mean 'brave it'. It refers to braving the main attraction (a 59 second long roller coaster). The ez form on the end of a French verb without a subject (I, it, you, he etc.) indicates the imperative form of the verb. So in this case it can be safely assumed that the park is giving you the challenge to brave the roller coaster (and the park).
[edit] Features of the park
[edit] Admission Prices
12€ for those aged 12 or over, 10€ for those under 12. For large families and seniors (no exact description given) the cost is 10.50€ per person.
[edit] Opening Hours
As a general guide: Between April and September: At least between 13:30 and 18:00
Between July and August: Between 10:00 and 19:00 However in June the park may be open more often than stated here. The park is also open at certain points in January and December for 14:00 to 18:00, see the website for more details.
[edit] Rides in the Park
- The Drakkar Express is an attraction that is suitable for all ages. It is basically a steel roller coaster, with the cars designed in the same way as viking ships.
- The bumper boats are most easily described as dodgem cars on a lake. The cars seat either one person, or an adult and a small child, however height restrictions do apply. Each car consists of a plastic moulded steering platform, riding on an inflated rubber cushion. The bumper boats attraction prides itself on giving "complete freedom to sail, whether large or small"
- The bateaux les pentes vertigineuses du Piratak (seen on the right), are a very clever solution to have a water slide in a park where no one is expecting to get wet. People wishing to go on this ride simply climb up some stairs, then sit in a small dinghy when one becomes available. A member of staff will then start to push them down one of the three slides. As the boat reaches the bottom of the slide, it will decelerate due to the high friction cushion of water that is created underneath the boat. This may result in some wetness, but enough to cope with on a sunny French day. Again this ride is suitable for children of all ages. As seen in the image to the right, the park have gone for a similar tactic to that of their advert. They have obtained pictures of people reaching the bottom of the slides, with arms outstretched and an expression of pleasure and fun on their faces. Again, many viewers of this advert comment on the fact that they look like they are having orgasms.
[edit] Other Park Attractions
Among the other main rides in the park, there is also less full on rides that don't give the pure adrenaline rush as the rest of the park's rides may causes visitors to have. These areas are more relaxing, and visitors often visit these at either the start of the day to warm themselves up for the action to come, or at the end of the day to calm themselves down.
[edit] Prehistyland
A section of the park designed in the prehistoric era, instead of 1066 like the rest of the park. The area includes life size models of dinosaurs and a rope bridge traversing a lake. This is generally viewed as the more educational part of the theme park, due to the value that younger children can take away from seeing scale models of prehistoric creatures that may fascinate them.
[edit] Floral Decorations
The park advertises the fact that there are special snail shaped vehicles (on a fixed track), that will take you on a tour of their gardens with "splendid floral decoration"
[edit] Contact Details
Telephone: 02 31 75 04 04
Website: Park's website
Caen Tourist Office: Caen tourist office website
Email: festyland@festyland.com
