Paris' Jardin d'Acclimatation to get a steampunk makeover

It seems like an April Fool's Day joke in September but luxury brand conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (80% owner or Jardin d'Acclimation) wants to give Jardin d'Acclimatation a steampunk themed makeover, including 17 new rides and attractions added to existing offerings.

https://www.pedestrian.tv/travel/paris-making-one-oldest-playgrounds-90m-steampunk-theme-park/

Paris Is Making One Of Its Oldest Playgrounds A $90M Steampunk Theme Park
By Lucinda Price
September 4, 2017

There are a million excuses to visit France.

Half of those reasons involve croissants.

And now, there’s another reason why the sophisticated destination ought to be on your ‘go as soon as financially possible’ bucket list.

Paris is getting a brand spanking new, $90-million-dollar amusement park next year.

The project is led by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the French multinational conglomerate that owns pretty much every luxury brand under the sun, and their plans to reinvent the city’s Jardin d’Acclimatation have just been approved.

Despite the fact that LVHM own fashion favourites Kenzo, Fendi and Céline, the theme park won’t be fashion focused.

Instead, it’s gonna be a full-blown steampunk paradise.

Steampunk is a style of design and fashion that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features inspired by science fiction. Think Mad Max, The Wild Wild West and some of the goggle-themed fashions at Burning Man.

At the moment, the Jardin d’Acclimatation is a 19 acre park – the country’s oldest leisure park. It was opened in 1860 by Napoléon III as a zoo before becoming a children’s leisure park, complete with rides, in the 1930s.

The park already boasts an archery range, house of mirrors, miniature-golf course and pony riding among its attractions, as well as a puppet theatre, shooting galleries, a science museum, and an art museum for children.

Around 17 new Jules Verne-inspired steampunk rides and attractions will be built between 4 September and 1 May 2018 as part of the AUD$90-million-dollar upgrades.

Delphine Pons, head of development at Compagnie des Alps, said at a press conference that the goal of the park is “to rank second or third among theme parks in France.” (Of course, they’d be going up against Disneyland Paris, no mean feat.)

Full-steam ahead, baby.

Last edited by larrygator on Mon May 21, 2018 4:31 pm.

Cool! I did enjoy the park as it was, with the amusement area in one section, and a bit of a zoo in another. And the stables and the big spots where mass meals were served for groups and organizations. A great city park. Hope the Punk Style works for everybody involved.

Awesome! I'm hoping David and I can go back to Paris in 2022, our 50th Anny, and we would definitley look into le Jardin.
If everything was running by then.

Attachments

Paul and me on the Alice/Wonderland Spinning coaster ride. Thanks SteveC for the photo. TPR 2008 Europe Tour.

SteveC_05Jardin_PaulBill.jpg (143.03 KiB) Viewed 1781 times

BUMP, because I am curious whether there's anything happening, by now, with the makeover on this Park?
Has anyone been near it, to see any construction, etc? Thanks in advance if anybody has.

By the way, I finally looked up the actual English translation of this park's name: Garden of Acclimatization.

Which is a whole f-ing definition unto itself! Look it up and try to remember what you just read.

Attachments

Found concept artwork of a new coaster built, in another site about the park. And this is called Les Rockets.

More artwork found of Les Rockets on the net.

^ That's quite the translation!

The artwork for the coaster looks cool. It sort of looks like it could be a Gerstlauer bobsled but the inline seats don't match (granted that could have just been artistic liberty there).

^ I am pretty sure that's what maker I read, who was building it. But I didn't want to post, if I was wrong.
But that was the name of the company, that was in another article I read about this park's future coaster project.

And yes, it's probably "liberty in artwork", lol. I also remember reading that the cars would/could each be two rows, two across = 4 riders per car.
Also, I really don't see any "Steampunk" in this artwork. So again, it's just "generic" before the actual design of it, and building of it, happens.

By the way, this is a really awesome HUMONGOUS PARK, that you can spend the entire day in! They have/had a bit of a zoo, riding stables, and lots of forest to wander through, too. A train ride through the forest is awesome, as well. A few children's play areas too, with good solid structures for them to climb up and over, etc. It's really a great green space, including the amusement park in it. We're definitely coming back to it, in 2022, after our last visit in....2002? And my TPR pre-Europe Tour Add-On visit in 2008.

The Gerst Bobsleigh is finished and *maybe* opens with the rest of the park on June 1st

Some construction pics from Pear on Coaster Force

You ask for more pictures. You get more pictures!

Some concept-arts






Source: Le Parisien

Pictures from the end of april:
















Source and more pictures: Le Parisien

And that Clock Tower thing - that's a children's drop/sky tower? Very cool for the kids!

Wow, that is a lot of new stuff to ride, there! ^ and ^^ Thank You for the photos and artwork, posted!

We definitely have to go here, when we visit Paris in a few years.

Everything looks great--very eye-catching and different. Steampunk isn't my favorite thing ever, but it seems to generally lend itself well to ride and park theming.

Seems like a nice thematic overhaul of the park! Curious to see what the fully finished product looks like!