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The Parc du Futuroscope is a French Theme Park located in Southwestern France, near the city of Poitiers. Its construction started in 1984, and it was opened to the public in 1987.

The Futuroscope is mainly dedicated to technology, science and science fiction, with cinematographic and audio-visual attractions. It has several 3D or 4D cinemas, along with other kind of shows, some of which you'll find nowhere else in the world.

The Futuroscope was the brainchild of René Monory, at the time president of the general council of Vienne. It is surrounded by a technopole involving many enterprises, research labs, highschools and universities, a convention center, etc.

Although focused on no particular franchise, some of the attractions are based on popular French fictions, notably Arthur and the Invisibles, The Little Prince, Code Lyoko, or more recently the Raving Rabbids and World Rally Championship legend Sébastien Loeb.

    Pavillons 

Futuroscope pavillons and their featured movies/attractions include:

  • 360° (interactive movie theatre)
    • 2008: Citadel of Vertigo
    • 2011: The 8th Continent, the game
    • 2018: Sébastien Loeb Racing Xpérience
  • Cosmoscopenote  (planetarium dome movie theatre) — Cosmic Collisions
  • Festival du Dynamique (dynamic movie theatre)
    • 1998: Astratour
    • 2011: Lovestruck at Pizza Hill
    • 2014: Virus Attack
    • 2015: EcoDingo
    • 2017: Peril on Akryls
  • iMagic (magic show)
  • IMAX 3D (IMAX 3D movie theatre)
    • 2001: Cyberworld
    • 2013: Savage Destinies
    • 2014: Mission Hubble
    • 2015: The Kube Mysteries
  • IMAX 3D Dynamique (4D IMAX Dome)
    • 2000: Race for Atlantis
    • 2010: Arthur, the 4D Adventure
  • Le Kinémax (IMAX movie theatre)
    • 1998: Alaska
    • 2001: OceanOasis
    • 2002: Trails of the Panda
    • 2007: Blue Nile Expedition
    • 2013: Extreme Tahiti
    • 2014: Born to Be Wild
    • 2018: Through Thomas Pesquet's Eyes
  • Omnimax (IMAX dome)
    • 1998: Everest
    • 2008: Dinosaurs
    • 2016: Mysteries of the Unseen World
  • Pavillon de l'imaginaire
    • Journey into the Dark (walk-through in the dark)
    • Wings of Courage (3D movie)
    • The Little Prince (4D movie)
  • Pavillon de la Vienne (dynamic movie theatre) — Dynamic Vienne
  • Pavillon des robots (Robocoaster) — Dances with Robots
  • Pavillon du Futuroscope — Digital City (video games, artistic and multimedia expositions)
  • Solido (3D IMAX Dome) — demolished in 2017
    • 2007: Beneath the Seas of the World
    • 2011: Sea Monsters
  • Tapis Magique (IMAX Magic Carpet) — Travellers by Air and by Sea
  • The Time Machine (scenic ride with 3D and 4D effects)
    • 2008: Les animaux du futur (featuring beasties from The Future Is Wild)
    • 2014: La Machine à voyager dans le temps (featuring the Raving Rabbids, inspired by the game Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time)

Can also be found in the park: Children's World (outdoor games for kids), Cyber Avenue (an amusement arcade), the Eco-Aware House, the Gyrotour (an observation tower), the Energy Gardens (an interactive course), and water fountains that serves as setting for the evening lightshow. Plus, naturally, many restaurants and souvenir shops.


Futuroscope rides provide examples of:

  • American Gothic Couple: In the queue area for The Time Machine, you have a Raving Rabbids version of this painting, along with many other artwork parodies.
  • Augmented Reality: The older attraction Les animaux du futur used augmented reality goggles to surround you with the animals from The Future Is Wild, including some crawling over the ride carriage itself.
  • Clockwork Creature: Many in The Little Prince, on the planet of the Timemaster. Notably, a clockwork dragon/snake, whose Breath Weapon you can feel thanks to the physical effects (blast of air and bright lights timed to the movie).
  • The Darkness Gazes Back: In Journey into the Dark, the only thing you'll ever see in the darkness is the glowing eyes of the Yeti at the end of the walkthrough.
  • "Fantastic Voyage" Plot: The Virus Attack dynamic movie brings you inside a patient's body in a mission to kill the nasty virus.
  • Historical In-Joke: Plenty of them in The Time Machine. The Rabbids are responsible for the Lascaux paintings, the Venus of Milo losing her arms, the invention of the Olympic games, Beethoven's composition of the Fifth Symphony, etc.
  • It Will Never Catch On: Said a lot about the Futuroscope in its early years. It was even nicknamed "Monory's Madness" ("La Folie Monory", from the name of its main instigator, RenĂ© Monory). But although it has known some difficult times, it is now more than 30 years old, and one of the most visited amusement parks in France (after Disneyland Paris, and along the Parc Asterix and Le Puy du Fou).
  • Magic Carpet: Invoked with Le Tapis magique, a theatre were the movie is not only projected in front of you, but also beneath your feet, for a vertigo-inducing flying effect.
  • Parody of Evolution: The entrance to The Time Machine features the evolution of the Raving Rabbid.
  • Ray Gun: The 8th Continent game involves destroying a sea of garbage with laser guns.
  • Rollercoaster Mine: Part of Arthur, the 4D Adventure involves rolling on mine tracks. The rest of the time, this simulator ride invokes flying instead.
  • Spider Swarm: In Arthur, the 4D Adventure, Betameche flies you straight into a spiderweb, bothering a whole colony of spiders. These wouldn't count as Giant Spiders, except for the fact that you're reduced to Minimoy size...
  • Spiritual Antithesis: As Theme Parks go, it can be considered the opposite to the nearby Puy du Fou, which is focused on the past and historical reconstitutions, while the Futuroscope is firmly oriented toward the future. Both are very popular and quite complementary anyway.
  • Time Machine: The Raving Rabbids' also doubles as a washing machine, as in the game Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time.
  • Time Travel: The Time Machine ride, of course; alongside the Raving Rabbids, you visit prehistoric times, Ancient Greece, 1600s' America, and several other time periods in a row when the machine start malfunctioning.
  • Toilet Humour: Lots of it in The Time Machine, unsurprisingly, since the Raving Rabbids are your hosts.
    • Notably, the seats of the ride are shaped like toilet seats.
    • In the prehistoric scene, the Rabbids land in a big pile of mammoth dung and the caveman discovers fire by making a Rabbid fart.

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