Abandoned £118million fairytale theme park that would have been a Disneyland rival – but closed after four years

The Irish Sun

07-06-2025

AN abandoned fairytale theme park that cost just under £118million was forced to close after just four years.
Mirapolis opened in 1987 in Courdimanche,
France
- less than an hour via train from Paris - featuring French legends and stories throughout the attraction.
5
Mirapolis originally opened in 1987
5
The theme park was based on French legends
5
One ride was inside a statue of Gargantua
Credit: Getty
Architect Anne Fourcade was inspired to create the park after visiting the Disneyland theme park in
California
in 1980.
Rides included 'The Dark Ride', which was inspired by 'City of Ys' legend.
The ride was modern for the time, with a terrifying sea monster, sunken head and an underwater scene that even had animatronics.
It was thought it could have been a rival to
Disneyland Paris
, which opened in 1992 and was around an hour away, with both based on fairytales and childhood stories.
Read more on theme parks
Not only that, but it hoped to welcome as many as 600,000 tourists a year, according to
Yet according to the
After just four years the park was closed, waiting to be rebuilt.
It was reportedly one of the biggest financial fails of the
history
of France.
Most read in News Travel
The expectations for the park were said to have been too optimistic and were based off of incorrect market research.
This included looking at American tourists compared to French tourists, when it came to elements like eating habits and ticket prices.
I took my family to the perfect first UK theme park for little kids
Not only that, but the stories and characters the park was based on were mainly only known to French locals, unlike the international fame of
Disney
's characters.
After the closure of the
When a buyer didn't emerge, a crew of journalists and operators created a
film
on the closed-down park with the attractions being opened for one last time.
From 1993 onwards, the buildings were gradually demolished, with some of the
For example, the ride 'Dragon des Sortilèges' went to Spreepark and Les pirates went to Meli Park.
In 1995, arguably the most iconic part of the park - the Gargantua statue - finally lost it's head.
The statue was the second tallest hollow state in the world behind the Stature of Liberty, and was of the giant from the story 'The Life of Gargantua' and of 'Pantagruel' from the 16th century.
The Dark Ride was located inside the statue and took guests on a journey through the giant's body with 120 animatronics.
In 2017, the park would have celebrated its 30th anniversary and to mark the occasion, an
history
of the park.
And in 2018, plans were revealed to built an "eco-friendly tourist resort" on the same site although this was also abandoned in 2019.
There was also a
Plus, the £346milion theme park that wanted to be the 'English Disneyland' in the 1980s… but was never built.
5
The park was only open for four years
5
Over the years, the park was eventually dismantled