Park Profile
La Mer de Sable
La Mer de Sable is one of the oldest and perhaps most unusual theme parks in France, writes
François Mayné. Now part of the Looping Group, it launched three new rides for 2016, and more things are on the horizon for 2017 and beyond
French park welcomes fresh investment under new ownership
Bandidos by SBF/Visa
Simoun (Zamperla Disk ‘O)
L Familly- friendly fun
With more than 80% of its rides accessible to children from 90cm/35 inches, La Mer de Sable focuses on families and school groups with extra attractions that include live stunt shows, entertainment and street performances. Attractions are divided into three zones which fit in well in this remarkable natural environment, where kids of all ages are considered to be adventurers and are invited to escape in the Wild West, the desert and the jungle.
ocated in Ermenonville, just 45 minutes’ drive from Paris, La Mer de Sable is built on an extensive area of natural sand which was formed about 30 million
years ago. This unique geological curiosity has been fullt integrated into the park, which was founded in 1963 and is now the oldest operating theme park (as opposed to leisure/amusement park) in France. The 2016 season ended with an attendance of
approximately of 330,000, similar to the previous year but quite a good performance for the park considering the anxiety-filled atmosphere that exists as a result of recent terrorist attacks, not to mention the half-mast economic situation and the awful weather conditions this spring. “To be honest, we are not really satisfied with our overall
performance because the first part of the season was quite complicated to handle due to all these elements," says Thierry Morice, general manager of La Mer de Sable. "But the park was resilient during the summer with a 5% increase in attendance compared to 2015. The average guest spending is also increasing, which is a good news." La Mer de Sable's summer resilience is also a consequence of the investment policy led by its new owner, Looping Group, which took over full ownership in 2015 after signing a deal with Companie des Alpes (along with the wildlife park Planète Sauvage located in Nantes, west of France) for a total amount of €15.4 million. Soon after finalising the acquisition, Looping's plan was to
add several new rides in order to diversify the park’s offering and increase capacity for peak days. “We also needed some new additions, our most recent ride being Tiger Express [Mack Wild Mouse coaster] which opened in 2011”, adds Morice. The French group, which aims to become a European leader in the regional amusement parks market, decided therefore to invest €1.8 million this season in the addition of three new family rides and the renewal of all shows. Opened at the beginning of the summer, Bandidos is a
brand new custom-themed compact spinning coaster by the SBF/Visa Group. The Italian-built construction is a MX609 model featuring a 88m/289 ft long figure eight style track with a small footprint of just 35 x 12m/115 x 39ft and a maximum elevation of 45m/15ft. The single train with 4 free- spinning cars and individual lap-bars accommodates 16 passengers sitting in pairs back to back. The Belgian theming company Giant supplied some funny cactus theming elements to complete the installation. Zamperla also delivered its first version in France of one of its latest products, the family ride Watermania. Named Aquasouk by Le Mer de Sable, this colourful interactive tea cups on water features six 4-seater gondolas, from which passengers spray one another with water blasters, while those outside of the ride can also splash those inside with their own blasters. Giant was again commissioned to design and build scenery for this ride, using concrete to construct an oriental
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Horses shows are a popular feature of the park
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