Attractions Expert Q&A: Before working for the fourth largest park operator in Europe, Francois Fassier spent 17 years at Disneyland Paris (2024)

In his role at Compagnie des Alpes, Francois Fassier oversees leisure park activities development for some of the company’s most famous parks, including Parc Astérix, Futuroscope, Grévin, and the Walibi parks.

What theme park souvenir might we be surprised to find on your shelf, and what’s its story?

I have so many souvenirs, but my best souvenir – and the event I am most proud of – is the opening ofLes Quais de Lutèce, a hotel and resort in Parc Asterix. It’s set around a Roman-themed quay, and the hotel transports guests to the Roman city of Lutèce, the predecessor of Paris.

We started this project two years before the COVID pandemic and opened it a year after (in June 2020). When I remember the work done by my team during this difficult period to complete the project, that is one of my favorite souvenirs. I was extremely proud of what we created in a very challenging situation, and the Themed Entertainment Association named it the best themed hotel in the world that year.

What theme park have you always wanted to visit but have never been to?

I would like to visit Japanese theme parks. I travel a lot and know the U.S. parks very well. I have also been to Middle Eastern parks, Chinese parks, and European parks, but I have never been to the parks in Japan. The feedback about Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea is so great that I would love to visit them.

Was there a theme park or attraction that made you want to be in this industry, and how did it inspire you?

The first one was in Orlando, and that was Space Mountain in Tomorrowland.

Then my earliest job in this industry was at Disneyland Paris. I started three years after the Grand Opening, and this experience was so important for me because that’s when I discovered this industry and began my career. I became motivated to work in this business on my first day at Disneyland Paris.

What was your favorite ride or attraction as a child, and why?

My favorite as a child was a small park close to Paris named La Mer de Sable. It opened in 1963, and they had an attraction called Train des Sables, a miniature railway. That is a very nice memory for me.

Was there a ride, attraction, or character that frightened you as a child?

Yes, Space Mountain scared me.

What was the oddest or coolest job you’ve had in your career?

The best experience was the opportunity to change the model of our business in Compagnie des Alpes. We totally refocused our products, created new resorts, and completely refurbished two-thirds of our parks. When I see where we are today and the work my team and I have completed, I feel we provide better experiences to our guests.

We offer visitors high-quality attractions and new hospitality concepts. I will tell you that during these last ten years—it’s not one specifically—I’m very satisfied and very proud of all of the work we have done at Compagnie des Alpes.

What ride or attraction do you think everyone needs to experience and why?

Everyone should experience two beautiful parks in our portfolio: Parc Asterix and Futuroscope. They offer unique experiences in Europe.

Parc Asterix (located near Paris) is a park with roller coasters and attractions based on the famous comics. Futuroscope (in Poitiers in the west of France) has technology-based attractions. We are lucky. We have a lot of very nice parks that are less than one or two hours from Paris.

For instance, at Aquascope (we are very proud of this new park, which is part of the Futuroscope Xperiences Resort), we took a risk because we wanted to develop an aquatic park with a totally unique experience. People will discover a very different way to enjoy this type of park. It’s a 6,000-square-meter indoor water park in which we’ve incorporated a lot of special effects, video effects, and projection mapping.There is an area for thrill seekers and a colorful world for children with aquatic and interactive play.We worked with Moment Factory, which produced a very nice video for us, and beautiful theming that guests are completely immersed in. Aquascope has some equipment similar to other aquatic parks, but the way you ride the slides and the other experiences, with all the special effects, is unlike any other water park.

If you were tasked with creating a new theme park food, what would it be?

The answer depends on where because food and beverage consumption can be very different. What’s popular in France, Austria, or the Netherlands will not be the same preference.

If you enjoy a meal in Parc Asterix, it’s a different experience than eating in Futuroscope or a Walibi park. Each park has to tell its own story, and we try to adapt our restaurants and menus. We offer our guests specialty items they wouldn’t have at home or in other parks, like sandwiches, French fries, etc. If we expand on these offerings, more and more guests will stay in our resort and try different foods. Now, we are introducing higher-quality options and table service to allow guests to relax and have an exceptional dining experience during their stay.

In Parc Asterix, we try to translate what’s happening in the story to real experiences in our restaurant. You eat can sanglier, which is a wild boar, because it’s in the Aztec story, and the character Obelix enjoys this type of food (which he hunts with the character Asterix). We try to adapt our menu to the themes of our parks. As we do with Aquascope, we use video, special effects, and theming. The objective is to tell a story. It’s not only about the food; it’s about the dining experience.

At the end of the Asterix books, everyone enjoys a big French banquet—it’s for all the people in the village—so we prepare the Gaulish Banquet for our guests, an unforgettable culinary experience alongside the heroes of the comic strip.

You’re a walk-around character for a day; who do you choose?

That would be Asterix. He is dynamic, always wins, and is afraid of nothing. He has a magic potion that is known to grant superhuman strength and swiftness to anyone who drinks it. Its recipe is a close-guarded secret, and it allows him to fend off the Romans.

What types of attractions would you like to see more of and why?

Attractions that incorporate a physical experience, with emotion, media, and special effects. Attractions like Harry Potter, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, and the shows at Puy du Fou, where all the elements combine to enhance the quality of your experience. You have media, video, and physical and special effects. Also, the types of attractions that you can ride together with your family, like Toutatus in Parc Asterisk.

Was there any challenge or surprise in your career?

When I was the CEO of Parc Asterix, I was faced with a very unique and challenging situation. We worked very hard to open the park for Christmas during the winter season. In the beginning, this park was not designed to be open 365 days per year, but we did a lot of work to heat spaces, protect water from freezing, and so on. On the opening date, the temperature was minus 15 degrees. Nothing worked in the park—none of the attractions—and there was no water anywhere. It was a mess. I had media at the gate because it was our Grand Opening for the season, and guests were waiting behind me, not happy about the situation. That was, and I remember well, the worst experience ever during my career.

Also, COVID was a very strange experience. We stopped all our activities around Europe. I would say, though, the best decision we made during that time was to continue to invest in our products. We didn’t stop working and made good decisions because as soon as this period ended, we could offer very nice parks and resorts to our guests. We saw growth in 2022, just after this difficult period. We also knew we had to keep people motivated and ensure the welfare of our employees because we were closed, and some of them were not able to work. That was very important to us. But I think that because we took care of our team, we didn’t lose many of our people. We were able to restart very shortly and reopen all of our locations in good condition.

Our business is unique because we are not international parks. We have national and regional parks. More than 60% of our guests are repeat customers. That means we have to offer new entertainment and hospitality each year if we want them to return. In the last seven years, we have seen a 30% increase in attendance. We approximately doubled the turnover and the profitability of the company. And we still invest a lot in a good product. For me, the most important business model is to continue to invest so we can offer the best we can to our guests.

Can you talk about what you are working on these days?

We have been developing new resorts for some of our parks, which will open in 2026 and 2027. We also created a new land for Parc Asterix and have worked on new attractions in all our parks. That could be a roller coaster or a new theater and show. We have a huge investment plan for the next five years, which we are in the process of developing, but we are also looking for other parks to operate around Europe. We have a lot of projects to work on.

It’s exciting. We are convinced that this business will continue to grow. We are confident that if we offer the best quality, we will continue to develop our business. Today, we don’t see any reason why we would not be able to continue to grow and expand.

You are going to your favorite theme park; which industry people (dead or alive) are you taking with you?

My kids. My oldest child is 35, and my youngest is 13. All of them have grown up very close to this industry because my career has been with Disney for 17 years and Compagnie de Alpes since 2006. That means they have been to Disneyland Paris and the parks of Compagnie des Alpes around the world, and they really appreciate the experience every time. When visiting parks, I always try to have my daughter, mom, or son come with me to enjoy it.

Writer Kendall Wolf is a long-time consultant inthethemed entertainmentindustry. She hasworkedwith designers, producers, and fabricatorstohelp developers create unique and successful projects around the world.In 2017,she introducedMerlin Entertainments to adevelopmentgroupinSichuanprovince forthe first Legolandparkin China. Kendallcontinuestoconsult forthe developerto openmorethemed resorts in China.