The eerie £1.3bn theme park meant to rival Disneyland that now lies abandoned

A theme park that was created to rival Disneyland Paris is now a particularly eerie and creepy site in .

Mirapolis was once dubbed “France’s first large amusement park,” but now sits completely abandoned.

The park was located just an hour from and aimed to bring French literature to life when it opened in 1987. 

But within just four years, the ambitious project became one of the country’s most infamous failures.

The park was the brainchild of architect Anne Fourcade and was envisioned as a cultural counterpoint to Disneyland, blending classical literature and entertainment. 

Backed by a Saudi businessman, Ghaith Pharaon, Mirapolis cost $600 million to build at the time – equivalent to £1.3 billion today if we take inflation into account.

Even the then-Prime Minister of France Jacques Chirac attended the grand opening and inaugurated its 29 attractions.

Despite its promise, Mirapolis faced trouble from the start. Persistent rain plagued its first season, and its outdoor attractions had to be cancelled often. 

While Mirapolis’ theatre found some success with a children’s musical featuring giant puppets, overall attendance never met expectations.

With all of that, the park’s closure in 1991 was seemingly inevitable. Poor market research and overly optimistic financial forecasts meant it never turned a profit. 

By 1993, demolition began, and most of its structures were removed or sold off. Its iconic centrepiece, a towering statue of Gargantua from French folklore, resisted dismantling until 1995, when its head was finally destroyed with dynamite.

Today, all that remains of Mirapolis are some entry fences, pathways that lead to attractions and a park with a small lake.

Over the years, plans to revive the site have come and gone, with the latest proposal envisioning it as an eco-district to attract tourists. Nothing, however, has been done yet.