France Coaster Tour

After a quick visit to Lyon, I joined the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) for the main portion of my trip - a bus tour to multiple French theme parks. I'm not going to go into the ins and outs of each day and other specifics, I mostly just want to put some pictures and highlights here so I can look back at the trip in the future. It was a fantastic time, despite a heat wave with temps in the mid to upper 90s the entire time. On to the pictures!

The first coaster of the trip, Mahuka at Walibi Rhone-Alpes.

Ladybug Coaster group selfie!

The final barrel roll on Mahuka is excellent.

The dive show.

Back on the bus!

There was great scenery on the drives.

Watching the world cup games in hotel lobby bars would be a theme of the trip.

The second park of the trip, Le Pal.

Backstage tour photo of Fjord Explorer.

We also had a tour of the maintenance area of Fjord Explorer.

I got third place. Lets do better next time.

Le Pal is also a zoo.

Small clawed Asian otters! I love them!

You do you, Le Pal.

Another night, another game.

That's certainly an odd warning at our hotel...

They weren't kidding!

Winnoland was the next park, with a Q&A session from the owners.

Wheeeee!

Log flumes in France were very often named "Canadian River."

Not the first and not the last ice cream of the trip.

Highly questionable decorations.

The next park was Jardin D'Acclimatation in Paris, which had this adorable little flume. Don't mind Kyle.

Second place this time... that's better!

They had a 100 year old boat ride.

View of the Paris skyline from the ferris wheeel.

Behind the scenes tour of Defi du Dragon.

And exclusive ride time to wrap up the evening.

This was the typical scene arriving at each hotel.

By far the best hotel of the trip, Les Quais de Lutece.

Can't beat that hotel room view.

Magical nights in the hotel.

Why not start the day with a conga line with the Parc Asterix mascots?

Another behind the scenes tour.

Zeus, featuring pigeon.

Parc Asterix is a lovely park.

They were filming a cooking show in the Egypt section.

A new coaster credit for me.

Mummy Paul.

Lunch was a great buffet in a cool setting.

The newest area of the park looks great and has Toutatis, the best coaster of the tour.

Ready to ride Zeus - which is half horrible and half excellent (where it has been re-tracked).

Improvised World Cup watching at the hotel.

The next day we went to Mer de Sable (sea of sand), a great family park. 

Is the Mexico Menu in the room with us now?

Starting off with a special tour of Wild Buffalo.

EXTREME CLOSE UP!

The park is cute.

They are famous for their series of wild west shows.

The boat ride was incredibly weird and surprisingly elaborate, and we rode it 5 times because it had the best AC in the park.

The log ride was a soaker. Wettest I got on the trip!

Wild Buffalo in the distance.

Taking the train, which stopped at a petting zoo.

The eponymous sea of sand.

This guy had an Atlanta shirt! I talked to him and he had never been, he just got the shirt online.

I said there would be more ice cream.

The final show of the day was a horse tricks show.

See ya later, La Mer de Sable!

The next park of the trip, Nigloland, was a delightful surprise. A very charming park.

Look at that theming!

Alpina Blitz and the ferris wheel.

They even had an indoor space-themed roller coaster.

An America section that was broadly 1960s California/Nevada.

They had a little exhibition hut for the new ride they're building.

Did I mention the park was charming? This is a little hedgehog hole in a fence.

This is a theme park lunch? Yes please!

They had a big indoor history exhibit with models of former rides.

And even the train from their old dragon ride!

The whole park is shaded and landscaped.

Another Candian-themed log flume.

"Nigloshow" was a Showbiz Pizza (or Chuck E Cheese, if you prefer) style animatronic show.

More impeccable landscaping.

A tongue-in-cheek Disney reference.

Alpina Blitz was the best coaster in the park, and we had evening exclusive ride time.

It was foretold that there would be ice cream.

Ending the day with a Q&A with park leadership.

I mean the real end of the day was watching the World Cup in my hotel room, but you knew that!

Arriving the next day at Fraispertuis City, which I still don't know how to pronounce.

The new coaster had what I call "the descent into hell."

Morning Q&A with the park owener.

They had the key to Tulsa!

Shameless kiddie coaster credit.

Welcome to the Grand Canyon.

This was a great family park with lots of wild west theming.

I heard y'all like Canadian log rides?

I mean there's no way you didn't see this coming.

And now for something completely different - that evening 3 of us took a quick Uber into Nancy, where we had about 45 minutes to walk around.

This car drove by right as I was taking a picture, I assume to add a certain Je ne sais quoi.

A lil gargoyle.

Nice details on the buildings.

The cathedral.

Craig and Viki enjoying our short tour.

Delightful lil pedestrian street.

Me in the UNESCO center of the city.

Golden gate at sunset.

Aaaaaaand another World Cup game in the hotel bar.

Final park of the trip, Walygator. Unfortunately the worst park of the trip, and no new credits for me either.

Monster is a great ride though, and we had morning ERT.

Lori got her 800th credit!

Best kiddie coaster picture ever?

At least its photogenic.

Star, both Trek and Wars.

Steve and Jordan got stuck on the ride.

Last ice cream of the trip!

EXCUSE ME!?

The last hotel of the trip had great country side views - this was near Arlon Belgium.

The last morning the bus continued to the Brussels airport, but I stayed behind with Kyle, Viki, and Steve, for an add-on to the trip.

That wrapped up an excellent coaster tour. Next stop - Luxembourg, then Europa Park!