Richard Bannister

Papea Parc has expanded significantly since my last visit just two years ago. The first change to catch the eye is a new entrance, which is now at the edge of what was the hostel car park; the old parking area is now within the park boundaries. Though there's nothing much to see there as yet, some landscaping work was in progress today; presumably it will look more presentable in the future. The back end of the park has also seen substantial expansion, with a number of new rides as well as two new coasters.

Roller Coaster was moved here from the now defunct Geauga Lake, and it takes pride of place as the largest coaster (for now) in the park. Its new owners have painted it in a rather striking shade of blue, which managed to look just fine despite some rather dismal weather in the background. This expenditure on appearance has sadly not been extended to the Petite Chenille (#1519), an unpainted Big Apple with a totally uninspired design on the front board which might as well not be there. It does at least ride okay, but a little bit of decoration really wouldn't hurt.

With the new credits out of the way, I elected to go for a quick lap on the Papea Express even as the sky began to get darker. As it was, my timing was close to flawless; I'd just made it back into the station when the heavens opened. Rather than get soaked I decided to abandon the park in favour of the shelter of my rental car.

Holly Park is another park that has added a Big Apple equivalent this year. Family Coaster (#1520) has been installed immediately behind the park entrance gate, and its gleaming white painted track and rainbow coloured train catch the eye immediately. Unfortunately the rest of the park now looks decidedly shabby, with the Alpine Bobs being particularly forlorn. While it still rides well the amount of visible rust on this coaster hardly inspires confidence. One need only look at some other classic Schwarzkopf rides from this era to see what a new coat of paint can do!

Several of the rides at Parc de la Vallée were closed when I arrived in mid-afternoon, including the coaster, the ferris wheel, the pony ride, and the up-charge water park (containing two slides and a miniature pool). Though there was no indication that any would reopen I'd bought my entrance ticket, and with my day otherwise complete I figured I might as well sit back and enjoy a coffee.

In due course a chain smoking ride operator turned up and began to cycle test trains on the Magic Pomme (#1521) before opening it up. This ride used to operate on the travelling fair circuit in France, but it has been parked here for five years. Though its trailer still carries the tag of 6426 VQ 17 it seems unlikely that it will ever move again.