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Eight days
Nine parks
44 roller coasters
ACE Europe chose France for its 2026 Summerfest, Le Voyage Lumière. Sixty-five “Voyageurs” attended the entire Summerfest trip, July 4-12, 80% of whom came from the United States and the remainder included enthusiasts from the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Czechia, Slovenia and Portugal. Twenty-six persons also participated as individual day invitations, which ACE Europe always offers. France is one of the most popular countries in Europe, but many attendees had never visited any other French parks except Disneyland Paris, which wasn’t included on this trip.
The weather started out exceptionally hot for France, 32-35 degrees C (90-95 F) and stayed that way the entire week, with bright sunshine and no rain. But everyone found ways to cool off. Attendees probably rode more water rides than they had in years, got sprayed in water playgrounds and in the heat of the afternoon found big shade trees under which they ate ice cream and sipped cool beverages and beer.
The double-decker bus was easy to find at the hotels and amusement park lots.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
ACE Voyageurs met at a hotel at the Lyon airport for the start of the trip, which was super convenient to reach. Some flew in, some took Le Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV, “the train of great speed”) down from Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt and a few others arrived on the trip’s bus coach from the Netherlands, meeting at the Brussels airport. Everyone was up bright and early for buffet breakfast before boarding the bus. The bus driver, Jeroen Kentie, is himself an ACE Europe member!
Alexandre Roy (France), new Team ACE Europe member, was instrumental in organizing the park visits, along with Regional Rep Jo Pools (Belgium). Assistant Regional Rep Ralf Haan (the Netherlands) organized the hotels, and all of them were top notch and very comfortable. Tera Žáková (Brno, Czechia) designed the trip booklets, lanyards, T-shirt and polo shirt. Dennis Breukelen (the Netherlands) coordinated all online registration. Pools coordinated all of the pieces and details, a two-year project!
Walibi Rhône-Alpes (Les Avenières, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) — Day 1
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
This beautiful park, not far from Lyon, had one of the biggest surprises of the trip. ERT began on Mahuka, a Hawaiian-themed Intamin single-rail coaster that is a steel ribbon of nonstop fun. It was voted No. 2 steel coaster on the trip (see “Favorite France Moments During Le Voyage Lumière”). With two launches and a top hat, which riders travel over and under, it has surprising rollovers, banks, twists and pops of airtime. For a small ride, it really packs a punch. ACE Voyageurs rode again and again to make sure.
Mystic, a Gerstlauer Eurofighter with a voodoo theme, complete with voodoo dolls impaled by pins, also had surprising moments, especially an upside-down stall at the end of the track before rollback.
Also surprising was the very intense Timber wooden coaster by The Gravity Group, showing that a “family” woody can also be very thrilling with lots of laterals and airtime pops.
Generator.
Photo: Patrick Kaak. View full-sized image.
Another surprise was the Vekoma boomerang, Generator, with no over-the-shoulder restraints, smooth and fast — so fast it caused some to gray out!
Le PAL (Dompierre-sur-Besbre, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) — Day 2
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
This zoo and amusement park is known for its conservation, nature foundation and animal habitats, including more than 1,000 wild animals. Attendees met with Operations Director Thibault Montelimard near the elephant habitat before the park opened, and he explained some of the park’s history and vision. Le PAL offers a Savana Reserve Hotel, PAL lodges and guest “Inside The Zoo” experiences for animal care. Guests can enjoy an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience at the park alongside a keeper from the area of the guest’s choice to discover the animals’ daily routines and share an exciting moment. Le PAL also offers summer camp experiences for eight to 17 year olds that include five days of adventure at Le PAL; night camping to discover animals, attractions and biodiversity; and an opportunity to learn to better understand and protect nature.
Yukon Quad.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
Afterward, attendees were treated to ERT on Yukon Quad, a dual-launch family coaster with motorcycle-style seating and lots of high-speed banked turns. From the second launch, it was anything but a “family” coaster!
Fjord Explorer before . . . .
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Fjord Explorer after!
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Attendees got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Fjord Explorer maintenance shed.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
Another perk was a backstage tour of Fjord Explorer, a Mack water coaster with some unique twisting elements, including areas behind the coaster as well as the maintenance shed.
Tigre de Sibérie.
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Twist.
Photo: Sascha Schwarzer. View full-sized image.
Other coasters at Le PAL are Tigre de Sibérie (“Siberian Tiger”), an enjoyable family coaster with tiger-head lead cars; a smooth mine train coaster, Azteka; and a spinning coaster, Twist.
Winnoland (Saint-Pierre-du-Perray, Île-de-France; and Jardin d’Acclimatation (Paris, Île-de-France) — Day 3
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
Wild West Coaster.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
Geoffrey Lapère gave attendees a brief history of the park and his family’s involvement in it.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
At Winnoland, we were welcomed by General Manager Geoffrey Lapère and his father, Xavier, who founded the park. “Winno” was the name of Geoffrey’s pet rabbit. Recently, they installed a delightfully fun custom Vekoma family coaster, Wild West Coaster, with fast turns, which was a big investment for the park and of which they are very proud.
Bûche Dansante.
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Other coasters were Grosse Pomme (“Big Apple”), a Wacky Worm, and Bûche Dansante (“Dancing Log”), a small spinning coaster. The wooded grounds made for a nice shady place to relax.
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
Jardin d’Acclimatation, founded by Napoleon III in 1860, with exotic plants and animals, is the only amusement park within the city limits of Paris. This charming park, just a stone’s throw from the Eiffel Tower, contains gardens, trees and landscaped paths. Attendees started with a ride on the Ferris wheel, La Grande Roue, to enjoy the view, and followed that with a pastoral boat ride, Les Gondoles, which floated through tranquilly landscaped gardens.
Speed Rockets.
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Fort des Pirates.
Photo: Robert Ulrich. View full-sized image.
Next up were Speed Rockets, a zippy and highly landscaped Gerstlauer bobsled coaster; Souris Mécaniques (“Mechanical Mouse”), a longer wild mouse; and Fort des Pirates, a pirate-themed Wacky Worm.
Défi du Dragon.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
But the best was saved for last. The park opened the coaster just for ACE to have ERT on Défi du Dragon, a unique Gerstlauer family coaster with two tire launches, a reverse track and a turntable to return to the station. ACEers looped the ride repeatedly; it was so much fun!
Parc Astérix (Plailly, Hauts-de-France) — Day 4
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
Tonnerre 2 Zeus.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
Attendees got a closer look at the Tonnerre 2 Zeus trains.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
Tuesday was officially trip T-shirt day, so group members could be spotted easily in their red shirts at Parc Astérix. Named after the French comic book character, Parc Astérix is the most popular park in France after Disney, with nine unique coasters. Attendees were treated to a discussion with park leadership regarding upgrades to Tonnerre 2 Zeus, followed by ERT. The Gravity Group performed a major retracking of the ride in 2022, and the Philadelphia Toboggan Company trains were replaced by Gravitykraft trains. Problems remained, however, and in 2026 Rocky Mountain Construction began retracking with Titan Track. The retracking will continue into 2027. Currently, T2Z is breathtaking, with a smooth and powerful first half on Titan Track, followed by a raucous, barnstorming second half (anyone who rode Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce during Coaster Con 48 will understand the experience). Once the retracking is complete, watch for this coaster to rise in the rankings. T2Z was rated the No. 2 woodie on this trip.
Toutatis.
Photo: Jonathan Hymes. View full-sized image.
Toutatis is a massive, extremely powerful steel Intamin launch coaster with multiple reverse points and blasts of ejector airtime. Two event participants achieved their 700th ride on it, too. It was rated by Les Voyageurs as the No. 1 steel coaster on the trip.
OzIris.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
OzIris is one of the best Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) inverted coasters after Alpengeist — long, smooth and with good transitions and a surprise ending. Just when riders think the ride is headed into the station, it has one more surprise below-ground dive followed by a heart line roll as the finale.
Goudurix.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
Le Vol d’Icare.
Photo: Robert Ulrich. View full-sized image.
The park also offers several unique coasters including Cetautomatix spinning coaster, the notoriously aggressive Goudurix custom classic multilooper by Vekoma and La Trace du Hourra bobsled. Family coasters included the very enjoyable Pégase Express by Gerstlauer; SOS Tournevis, a Zierer powered coaster with great laterals; and Le Vol d'Icare (“The Flight of Icarus”), a Zierer comet model.
Romus et Rapidus, with Pégase Express in the background.
Photo: Dave Jackson. View full-sized image.
Attendees joined in the fun at Le Quais de Lutèce, the park hotel.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
On a hot day, the Romus et Rapidus river rapids ride, the wettest ride of the trip, was a welcome relief. Afterward, attendees enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner in the beautiful park hotel, Le Quais de Lutèce, themed like a medieval French village.
La Mer de Sable (Ermenonville, Hauts-de-France) — Day 5
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
La Grande Chevauchée de l’Ouest was the last of three live Wild West shows at La Mer de Sable.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
Themed entirely on the Wild West, this park, whose name translates to “Sea of Sand,” is built on an ancient sandy seabed east of Paris. It features three unique live shows, culminating in a spectacular horse riding performance, La Grande Chevauchée de l’Ouest (“A Grand Ride Through the West”).
Photo: Dave Jackson. View full-sized image.
Attendees had an opportunity to check out the cars and track of Wild Buffalo.
Photo: Matthew Pearce. View full-sized image.
The park’s Great Coasters International, Inc.-designed woody, Wild Buffalo, was the No. 1 woodie on this trip rated by participants. Although modest in size, it has many bobs and weaves, reminiscent of a stampeding buffalo. The park offered attendees the first rides of the day, and later in the afternoon an informal takeover time was scheduled to ride Wild Buffalo multiple times in a row.
Tiger Express.
Photo: Dave Jackson. View full-sized image.
Tiger Express, a Mack wild mouse; Silver Mountain, a Vekoma junior coaster; and Bandidos, an SBF Visa spinning powered coaster, rounded out the coaster collection.
Riders on the Cheyenne River log flume not only got soaked but also got airtime!
Photo: Patrick Kaak. View full-sized image.
Cheyenne River log ride requires two separate lift hills to reach the high summit, followed by a truly humongous drop that was very refreshing on such a blazing hot day. Many attendees also strolled through multiple “rinse cycles” of spraying water in the children’s water playground to beat the heat.
Nigloland (Dolancourt, Grand Est) — Day 6
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
Krampus Expédition was both a fun and practical way to beat the heat.
Photo: Dave Jackson. View full-sized image.
Les Voyageurs were easy to spot at Nigloland because it was blue polo shirt day. Truly the most beautiful park in the trip, Pools described it as “the Europa-Park of France,” with incredibly detailed and pristine theming, beautiful landscaping and immaculate atmosphere. With hundreds of trees, including giant sequoias, this park was a welcome respite from the heat. Krampus Expédition, a thrilling Mack water coaster, also helped everyone cool off.
Descente en Schlitt’.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
Noisette Express.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
A car plus diagrams and artwork were on display for Supersonic 1887, a Mack launch coaster that will premiere in 2027.
Photo: Matthew Pearce. View full-sized image.
All coasters were impeccably maintained, and the wild mouse with the unforgettable name of Descente en Schlitt’ was the smoothest mouse ever ridden. Donjon de l’Extrêmeis (“Dungeon of the Extreme”) is the highest rotating free-fall drop tower in the world, giving a jaw dropping view of the pristine little valley. Noisette Express, by ART Engineering, was a peppy, fun family coaster. Diagrams and artwork were on display for the upcoming Supersonic 1887, a Mack launch coaster to premiere in 2027.
The singing animatronic hedgehog characters in the Niglo show were a fun surprise.
Photo: Robert Ulrich. View full-sized image.
Not on the coaster agenda but not to be missed was the Niglo animatronics show, which apparently was inspired by the Country Bear Jamboree at Walt Disney World. Audience members started singing the “Niglo song” before the hedgehog characters even appeared onstage. You had to be there.
Inside the museum were an antique carousel, retired rides and models of rides, band organs and an old train car.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
One of the animals on the antique carousel.
Photo: Lee Ann Draud. View full-sized image.
Nigloland included a fascinating museum of its history, with scale models, an antique carousel and luxury antique train car with reclining couches. Several ACEers may or may not have had a half hour (or was it an hour and a half?) nap inside the air-conditioned car.
Alpina Blitz.
Photo: Dave Jackson. View full-sized image.
After closing, the park treated attendees to ERT on the Mack launch coaster, Alpina Blitz, a very satisfying way to end the day.
Fraispertuis City (Jeanménil, Grand Est) — Day 7
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
Fireline Redwood on its run through the station.
Photo: Robert Ulrich. View full-sized image.
The owners of Fraispertuis City spoke with attendees (and helped with pronunciation of the park’s name).
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
The hardest park name to pronounce. A park team member pronounced it “Hhhhay-spare-TWEE.” This western-themed, family-owned park was delighted to have ACE visit and was very proud of its brand new heavily themed Vekoma family boomerang with smoke and fire. Fireline Redwood pays homage to wildland firefighters. Attendees were given park stickers and patches to take home.
Ronde des Rondins.
Photo: Heather Macdonald. View full-sized image.
Grand Canyon.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
Timber Drop.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
Two other family coasters, Ronde des Rondins and Grand Canyon, and an S&S Worldwide El Loco coaster, Timber Drop, rounded out their collection.
Riders could choose from four positions when riding the drop tower.
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Also popular was a 216-foot drop tower, Golden Driller, that offered a unique four positions for riding. The stand-up-and-lean-outward position was not for the faint of heart! In front of the tower was a replica of the 1966 Golden Driller statue from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Late afternoon became quite hot, so Les Voyageurs cooled off in the shade and water playground before topping off the day with a cool drink.
Walygator Grand Est (Maizières-les-Metz, Grand Est) — Day 8
Photo: Jo Pools collection. View full-sized image.
The Monster.
Photo: Alex Rigsby. View full-sized image.
The Monster.
Photo: Heather Macdonald. View full-sized image.
For the grand finale, Walygator treated us to an hour of ERT on The Monster, a near-clone of Raptor, the inverted B&M at Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio). No need for more espresso after riding this powerful G-force machine! As a tribute to late ACE member and previous ACE Europe Summerfest participant Albert Wolfkiel, attendees took the first ride on The Monster in silence.
Le Family Coaster.
Photo: Paul Schramm. View full-sized image.
Anaconda.
Photo: Viki Chaffee. View full-sized image.
Tasty grilled bratwurst sausages made for a hearty lunch. Other coaster offerings at Walygator included Le Family Coaster, a Wacky Worm; Comet, a vintage Vekoma loop/corkscrew; and Anaconda, a large family woodie by Morgan, with a worrisome giant snake hanging above the entrance.
On the final night of Summerfest, attendees enjoyed a delicious, extensive gourmet banquet at the swanky Van der Valk Hotel Luxembourg on the outskirts of Luxembourg. In fact, all hotels on this trip were top-notch, comfortable, stylish and ones to visit again. Pools thanked the ACE Europe team for all of the hard work planning the trip.
As the bus dropped everyone off the next morning at the Brussels airport, Les Voyageurs said “au revoir” until next time. Some continued on to additional parks in Germany, and others toured Brussels, Paris and Luxembourg. Attendees were grateful to ACE member and bus driver Kentie, the ACE Europe regional rep team and all the park personnel who helped make the trip memorable.
ACE Europe Summerfest 2027 (Viking III) will happen July 2-11 in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The event will begin in Copenhagen on Friday, July 2, 2027, and end in Oslo on Sunday, July 11, 2027. ACE Europe encourages everyone looking for an incredible adventure to join.
— Jamey Frank, ACE Europe Assistant Regional Representative
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