Thanks to the second stage of deconfinement which began Wednesday in France, several amusement parks were able to reopen their doors with limited gauges.

Europe 1 went to Futuroscope, near Poitiers, to see the relief of the park teams and the great enthusiasm of the visitors.

REPORTAGE

"Hello and welcome to the Futuroscope park".

After seven months of silence, the welcome message resounded again through the loudspeakers of Futuroscope, near Poitiers.

Like several amusement parks including that of Asterix, Futuroscope has reopened its doors, while the second stage of deconfinement began Wednesday in France.

This weekend therefore marks the first deconfinement weekend for these parks.

"Everyone lives again and it feels good. We see the smiles, we see the enthusiasm even behind the masks", confides relieved at the microphone of Europe 1 the director of the site, Rodolphe Bouin.

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"We planned this last night"

For other parks, it will certainly be necessary to wait a few more days.

Disneyland, for example, won't reopen until June 17.

In Auvergne, Vulcania will welcome visitors from June 16.

But here at Futuroscope, organizers and visitors are already singing about their happiness in being able to have a passion for science or the conquest of space.

Many of the visitors organized this excursion at the very last moment.

"We planned that last night. We saw that the Futuroscope was open. We said to ourselves 'hey, why not'", says a client.

"We had taken days off and when we saw that it was reopening, we said to ourselves that we were going to come", replies another visitor.

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In the park, masks are compulsory but there is no need for a health pass at the entrance. On the other hand, the gauge is limited to 17,000 people on the site of about fifty hectares. After recording 90 million euros in losses since the first confinement, Futuroscope now hopes to restore its health. In any case, its reopening is already being felt on the outside. "There is the Futuroscope effect, that's for sure," comments Julien Dumas, the owner of the restaurant Le Petit Bouchon, whose tables have been stormed since Wednesday. "Tuesday evening, we make three covers," he says. "The next day, the park reopens and we have 60 seats!" With the amusement park, a whole section of local activity is restarting.