Week 4 group 2 - Attraction parks

Hey, it was Clement who suggested it and the rest of you said nothing.

Perhaps you can talk not only about where you've been but about the attraction of them, the marketing of the different types. whatever you want.

So, before to hunt me down : I didn't have any idea, this is not my suggestion, I only was a messenger from someone else (but I won't give a name!).

And I don't even like attraction parks This is not my kind of "fun". I went to Disneyland when I was a little little little child (I don't remember a single thing) and Walibi Park (I was less young but still young).

I loved only one attraction park in my life : the Futuroscope! 3D immersion, virtual reality, dynamic cinema ... It was great, and it wasn't scary at all (and it wasn't dangerous for people's lifes, brr).

So I'm going to talk about something else. The Voluntary suspension of disbelief. Yeeeeah, do you love social concepts?

The voluntary suspension of disbelief is used in a lot of attraction parks : Disneyland, Asterix Parks, Puy du Fou... It's all the mecanisms used to do "magic". When you go in an attraction park, you go in a universe. It's all FAKE BUT you believe in it. Because if you don't, your experience in the park would be so boring. So for the time you're in the park, princes and princesses are real. Magic is real, castles are true... etc! This is what we call the voluntary suspension of disbelief.

How it works?

It's very easy, in facts. But it's very technical in the same time. You must do everything to trigger the suspension of disbelief. You must hide all technical stuff (cable, mecanic, speaker...), create an atmosphere to "make it real" (like to hire actors to play the characters of the park's universe, music, lights, sounds...). So it's a lot of stuff to manage. All the park must be clean and "realistic". People have to trust it (they don't really trust in it, but it's the VOLUNTARY suspension of disbelief!).

But, why ?

Because it's good for the marketing! How can you be a Disney park without castles, without your characters, without MICKEY or DONALD ? How can you be a medieval park without knights, horses or a medieval village (Puy-du-Fou)? Or how can you be an Asterix park without ASTERIX? You can't! So you have to re-create their universe to attract people in your park.

And it's good for goodies! "Oh I went in this park, look what I bought!" (and you show all your out-of-price goodies that you bought in the park's shop just to show them to your friends).

That's what the voluntary suspension of disbelief is, how and why attraction parks are using it!

A teacher I had in bachelor degree worked for Disney. They asked him to go few days in Disneyland Paris to observe the park, to watch how people were reacting to the atmosphere, and to search where the mecanisms were hidden. And to do a report on what works, and what they should enhanced. He did a thesis on Disney. And he explained this to us, and now I'm explaining it to you.

You're welcome!

Hey Clement, what a great topic anyway. It has been 8 years i didn't return to a funparck, since my first year of High School ! It brought some memories back into my adult head. What you said was really interesting about an individual letting down all his beliefs about reality to enjoy FAKE-ality.... (sorry) And that got me reminding about the video we saw in English class, about Children Marketing. At one point of the video (around 2 minutes) a man said children brains are like sponges, they remember of everything. Applied to attraction parks, you can imagine a kid going to Disneyland or Asterix park for the first time...He will start to nagg his parents to have sweets, to play with that, to go there... He will be so TOUCHED by what's happening to him, he will never forget.

Hi,
In fact, I have never been in Attraction parks. Like Clement, I don't like these types of recreational activities. I have never been to Disneyland, Puy du Fou, Futuroscope...I don't want to go...I don't know, it's just, I will feel uncomfortable in these places. When I see Attraction parks' photograph, a little voice into my head saying to me : that seems boring...
I don't laugh when I see human Disneyland character.
I will tell you a little story ; a friend has a co-worker who loves Disneyland. He is 40 years old and he spends all the week-end at Disneyland. He takes photograph with Dumbo or Mickey and publish on his facebook profil. Sometimes, he sleeps (He has a flat in Paris) in place, to be, he says : "totally in Disney's atmosphere". He spends all his week-end at Disney, he has no other friend : just Dumbo, no family or child, no other activities. In fact, I think that is quite sad because all his life is around an Attraction park.

Hey!
Comparing to you, I like attraction parks, well I'll not say "no" if you give me a ticket to go to Disneyland or Astérix. Btw, Clément, the social concept you explained is really interesting. But for me, the atmosphere of a park is the most important. I go there to be immersed in an unreal environment and feel something special for one day. Obviously I know that it is fake. Even if Disneyland was more incredible when I was 8 I don't feel duped and I still loving this magic place. And I find crazy that they can recreate universe with decoration, characters, staging according to a specific topic.

About attractions, I really love having sensations so my favorite are roller coasters (as Space Mountain). I saw that in Port Aventura there are so much roller-coasters but I've never had the opportunity to go there. By any chance if someone of you have already been there do you recommend it to me ?

Nolwenn Lautredou wrote:Hey!
Comparing to you, I like attraction parks, well I'll not say "no" if you give me a ticket to go to Disneyland or Astérix. Btw, Clément, the social concept you explained is really interesting. But for me, the atmosphere of a park is the most important. I go there to be immersed in an unreal environment and feel something special for one day. Obviously I know that it is fake. Even if Disneyland was more incredible when I was 8 I don't feel duped and I still loving this magic place. And I find crazy that they can recreate universe with decoration, characters, staging according to a specific topic.

That's exactly what the voluntary suspension of disbelief is You know everything, but you choose to forget that this is not reality. You go in there to be out of the reality, to feel something different. It's all about choice! It's a very important thing for attraction parks to satisfy their visitors, and it's the reason why they put lots of efforts in the atmosphere, the design, the magic ... So you will come back one day, or you will say to your friends or family "oh it's so cool, you should go in!".

But like Marion told, some people can be traped in this fake universe... :/

Hi,
This post is not of particular relevance to the topic "attraction parks" but it also in the
entertainment field. It's about the english television series that we have to choose.
I'm going to comment on the english series that I will present in class on the 21th November.
I choose to present "The prisoner", an 1967 British TV series, co-created by Patrick McGoohan...I know, some of you will think that : "oh my God, it's an old old serie...but an absolutely fantastic serie.
I will tell you more details last week...

Oh my ~, I'm sorry if you don't like this topic.
I really love attraction parks, especialy with scary attractions because I'm always researching for this special sensation like Nolwenn.
I agree with both of you Clement and Nolwenn. We know that every thing is artificial. It is marketing, their goal is to bring as many people as possible and make lot of money ! We can say that is misleading children. When you are around 4, you think that evrything is real and now, you know everything but it's just nostalgia.
When Clement say "it's all about choice", it reminds me of the Platon's cavern, when people refuse to see the light, the "truth".
Even if we can admit that the work for decorations and all that makes you believe in it is impressive!
Personally, I like Disney's univers but if I go there, it will be for the attractions and not the "magic", same for Asterix.That's why my favorites parks are Universal Studio in USA, Movie World, Dream World and Sea World in Australia.
I hope I will go to Japan to do crazier attraction parks !!!

Nolwenn Lautredou wrote: About attractions, I really love having sensations so my favorite are roller coasters (as Space Mountain). I saw that in Port Aventura there are so much roller-coasters but I've never had the opportunity to go there. By any chance if someone of you have already been there do you recommend it to me ?

I've never been to Port Aventura, but if you like roller coasters, you should try the "Silver Star" attraction in Europa Park. It's in Germany but not too far from the border ! And there are many others !

Pochic Morgane wrote:

Nolwenn Lautredou wrote: About attractions, I really love having sensations so my favorite are roller coasters (as Space Mountain). I saw that in Port Aventura there are so much roller-coasters but I've never had the opportunity to go there. By any chance if someone of you have already been there do you recommend it to me ?

I've never been to Port Aventura, but if you like roller coasters, you should try the "Silver Star" attraction in Europa Park. It's in Germany but not too far from the border ! And there are many others !

I've never been there either ahah thank you very much for you advice Morgane, I will definitely try it in the future if I go to the East of France or Germany. I found pictures from Google images and this attraction seems scary and nice !!

Hi everyone! What a weird topic haha i never thought we would ever talk about attraction parks !
I can see you all have different opinions about those parks, but I am a little bit surprised when you put Disneyland, and the Puy du Fou in the same category because if Disneyland can be considered as an attraction park because there are attractions in it, the Puy du Fou is more about shows and historical drama
Personally, i was born in Poitiers so of course, I've been to the Futuroscope soooo many times that I can't remember how many! It is very easy to go for free when you're from Poitiers, I have a lot of friends who've been working there for the summer and who have free tickets and almost every lottery, game or sports event organized in the region is sponsorized by the park and offers free tickets too.
I am completely aware of the impact that the Futuroscope has on the tourism in the region and I am really glad to see that the people who come to go to the park often take the time to visit Poitiers and the region which is, according to me, really rich in terms of cultural heritage (ask me if you want to know about it I am a specialist
But to be honest, I am sometimes a bit sad to see that the region is even called "Le pays du Futuroscope" and that when you heard "Poitiers" you first think about the park because in my opinion, the region has so much more to offer
Furthermore, the park only hire people on fixed term contracts because they know lots of people want to work in here so it gives them a lot of power on their employees and I don't think that's very fair :/
Ton conclude, I agree with you Clement the park is really nice and the concept is completely different from the rest but to me, in the space of 20 years, the park hasn't improved so much in innovating and it is becoming a bit boring for the customers of the region who represent a big part of their visitors

Hi guys,
Like Nolween and Aurélie, I love having specials sensations too. I've never been in attraction parks in Europe. But they are really interesting ones like the Futuroscope in Poitiers or Disneyland Paris. I want to go there some day.
In my country, when we were young, we used to go every year to the attraction parks in group organized by our schools. There are a lot of attraction parks in Seoul : Seoul Land, Lotte World, Ever Land which are the biggest attractions in South Korea. I used to go to an attraction park almost every vacations with my friends. Everything is so expensive there, so money was gone before I knew it, but it left us with unforgettable memories with friends and family. There we can find many couples too because it's a great spot for going out with somebody.

Normally, I don't like something fierce. But everytime when I  was in a park, whatever it is a theme park or amusement park, I would always find the roller coaster, the pirate ship，the freefall, and...the bumper car. I think the bumper car is the most gorgeous invention in the world! We can bump others, we could also be revenged. For me, the most splendid time is the crash moment, I could experience the feel of a car crash. I imagine that could be the problem that I dare not to drive even though I have had my driving license for 4 years.
Apart from these, I have to say that the nature of all parks are the same. Amusement parks are homogeneous, theme parks are only the combination of amusement parks and themes. The theme could be arbitrary,This summer I went to the Asterix with my friend. Perhaps that we had never seen the comic, we had totally no feelings about Asterix or Obelix. There's only the roller-coasters who attracted me a lot.
So I want to ask a question, is someone think that Asterix is so small? (Sorry but I have to say that Asterix is the smallest theme park that I have ever visited...)

Hey guys! I am not a big attraction park fan but I am ok going to. I do not really like having too big sensations, I am a chiken...
Anyway, but if friends of mine wants to go I am ok following them. A only do some attractions, not all of them. For example, when I was studying in Florida I had friends who wanted to go to Universal. And actually, even if the attractions were more frightening than the attractions in French parks I think, it was really nice because they recreated the universe of several Universal movies, like Harry Potter, Transformers, Despicable Me, etc.
If you can go to Universal you should, it is a really beautiful attraction park!

[quote="Nolwenn Lautredou"]

I've never been there either ahah thank you very much for you advice Morgane, I will definitely try it in the future if I go to the East of France or Germany. I found pictures from Google images and this attraction seems scary and nice !! [/quote]

Yes it was so scary, I thought I was dying there But you have to try it once in your life

Hello everyone! I was living in Paris before so I went to Disneyland so many times. When I was a child, it was so magical for me each time we go to Disneyland. You really have the impression that you are in an other world. Last time I have been to Disney was in 2014 and it was like always : magical, because it reminds me my childhood. But, I can understand if people don't feel comfortable in these parks. I want to go to the Futuroscope too because I heard a lot of positive thing about this park.

Hi !!

I have the gift at my 7th birthday to go in Disneyland. I don't really remember the rides that I did. But the VOLUNTARY suspension of disbelief worked on me. I know the universe captivated me, it had senery everywhere not knowing where to look.

I was several times at the Futuroscope because I come from there. Fanny I confirme it was really nice to do with friends. The attraction introduces us in some good stories, for instance "La vienne Dynamique » or « Arthurs et les minimoys ». My favorite attraction is "La dance des robots", because there are big sensations.

The last year, I went to the Puy du fou. The last attraction is le dernier Panache : a story of a french naval officer, a heroe of the American War of Independence. A greatest theatrical performance !
Marion I recommend The Puy du fou to you, because is most an adventure in the time more a « fake » universe.

More, I love big sensations too and for that I went to the fairgrounds and I rode the Turbine ride (a long arme with two seats of 4 side, over 50-60 meters high). It was so funny !

ClémentJaunay wrote:
The voluntary suspension of disbelief is used in a lot of attraction parks : Disneyland, Asterix Parks, Puy du Fou... It's all the mecanisms used to do "magic". When you go in an attraction park, you go in a universe. It's all FAKE BUT you believe in it. Because if you don't, your experience in the park would be so boring. So for the time you're in the park, princes and princesses are real. Magic is real, castles are true... etc! This is what we call the voluntary suspension of disbelief.

I agree with this, especially for Disneyland, I think it is the principle of this park because there are attractions if they had not history they would be so boring. But when I was young, I loved Disneyland for the universe, but now I like attraction parks for the strong feeling, I don't care about the universe! In France, this kind of attraction parks where the strong feeling is more important than universe doesn't work, for example in Montreal, there is an attraction park "La Ronde" with a lot of strong feeling but with a universe very weak! I think it is more for adults but it is very fun!

But me I like every attraction park as "Parc Asterix", "Disneyland, "Futuroscope" or aquatic park!

Hi,
For my part I love amusement parks, as much for the attractions as for the atmosphere and the decorations. I went a few times In Disneyland Paris when I was young, I don't remember of all but the souvenirs I have are very good, and I'd really like to go back there soon. I think the Halloween or Christmas time should be so good to go there !
A year ago, I went in Europa park in Germany, and Nolwenn I confirm that you will like it, there are so many thrills ride, with the biggest, "silver star" as Morgane says. I did it only one time because I thought that I was going to do an heart attack ! My favorite is the blue fire, there are a lot of loopings, it is very fast, I did it more than one time
Finally I am going to conclude with the futuroscope, where I went a lot of times, to talk about the last attraction which is "le voyage extraordinaire". It is really beautiful, I can't really explain but you see different landscapes in different country, you feel the odors of the environment where you are, you are on a sit and it moves like you're flying. I recommend this one for all

Nolwenn Lautredou wrote:Hey!
Comparing to you, I like attraction parks, well I'll not say "no" if you give me a ticket to go to Disneyland or Astérix. Btw, Clément, the social concept you explained is really interesting. But for me, the atmosphere of a park is the most important. I go there to be immersed in an unreal environment and feel something special for one day. Obviously I know that it is fake. Even if Disneyland was more incredible when I was 8 I don't feel duped and I still loving this magic place. And I find crazy that they can recreate universe with decoration, characters, staging according to a specific topic.

About attractions, I really love having sensations so my favorite are roller coasters (as Space Mountain). I saw that in Port Aventura there are so much roller-coasters but I've never had the opportunity to go there. By any chance if someone of you have already been there do you recommend it to me ?

Hi Nolwenn,

I was in Portaventura last july and it was amazing.
If you really like to have sensations I really recommend to you.
there is an attraction called shambhala, it is the biggest Russian mountain in Europe.
you have to wait 45 minutes before you can climb in, but I think you can have a ticker to pass the waiting line for a few extra fees.

Hi everyone,

I really like hard sensations, so I love attractions parks,
My favorite ose is Nigloland because it's very close from my Hometown, close to the City of Troyes.
In this park you have a lot of sensation and not too much line, it's very good.
My favorite attractions are the roller coaster and the fast-moving tower.
I was also in Disneyland many times, I really love to go on Xmas time is so amazing.
I never go on Futuroscope, but I will because this not too far from Angoulême

Hi Joachim ! I recommend you strongly to go see the Futuroscope because il's really awesome and not that expensive. Their new attraction is particularly great