KIRMES & Park REVUE (English) Special: Rouen (Vorschau)

COASTER
Fast and snappy
rotations promise maximum
disorientation in the middle
of the French jungle
There are many small to middle
sized theme parks in the whole of
France where the quality or alternatively
the supply of attractions
teeter. A big exception to the rule
is Parc Le Pal near the well known
health resort Vichy, the registered
office of the manufacturer of cosmetic
products with the same
name.
Text & Photos: Stefan Peck
The station building may
well be very functional inside,
but it looks excellent outside
Le Twist
Le Pal is a mixture of zoological garden and
theme park, although a strict separation of both
areas is in evidence here: the zoo is located to the
ride side of the main entrance, and various theme
areas for ride attractions are located opposite.
The most modern attractions are in the relatively
new African area. The new kind of major attraction
of ride type “King Kong” from Huss was
opened in 2009, and is the second of this type
following the opening of the prototype the year
before at Belgian’s Bobbejaanland.
But a “Disk’O Coaster” from Zamperla also saw
the light of day a year later at the French Park Le
Pal. Whilst a similar construction already opened
two years ago at California’s Knott’s Berry Farm,
“Le Twist” is the first Spinning Coaster from Mack
Rides for Europe. Although there are in the meantime
a number of manufacturers producing this
type of coaster, the Southern German manufacturer
Mack, which included this art of track attraction
relatively late into its ride supply, is one of
the very few that offers this coaster type with trains
instead of conventional single cars.
The use of trains is very interesting for many
operators, as larger theme parks keep an eye on
high capacity. For this reason the operator of
Universal Studios also decided on such a track
construction from Mack Rides for its park in
Japan.
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