Puy Du Fou - any tips?

[daffydowndilys]

We are staying about 3 hours from Puy Du Fou in the summer. In our holiday group there will be 4 adults and 3 children (8,8,6).

We have heard alot about this place so are very eager to go. We think we will have to stay over night somewhere.

The questions I have are:

Is the evening show good? will we understand it if you don't speak french? (Futuroscope evening show was very French but a bit of let down as we didn't really follow the story - but good to look at nonetheless).

Can anyone recommend the accommodation there?

Any further tips please?

When we went (about 10 years ago) there was a free simultaneous translation on a headset.

My favourite showwas“Le Signe du Triomphe” where gladiators battle and charioteers race in a Roman Coliseum, “Les Vikings” and “Le Bal des Oiseaux Fantômes”, where birds of prey swooped within inches of our heads. Impressive though these shows were, they were nothing compared to the Cinéscénie night-time show. I’ve never seen anything like it - there were literally thousands of cast and crew, and dancing, singing, fireworks, drones and animals. The show dialogues are French. English translation headsets are available but unnecessary: the shows are about the spectacle rather than the stories.
Staying in one of the park hotels is an experience in itself as they are each themed and the attention to detail is excellent. La Citadelle is a Middle Ages themed hotel – you walk through a portcullis into a courtyard with hanging lanterns, and check into rooms with carved oak beds, impressively period-looking loos and opulent fabrics. My room had a window that actually opened out onto one of the crenelated towers.
Intersperse sit-down shows with walk-through experiences. Every show is so dazzling, so attention-grabbing, that you’ll want to arrange them so your day is varied.

If you want the evening show you need to book asap, they usually sell out by early February. As pp said, it's a spectacle, and all ages get enough from it without understanding a lot of French. Take blankets and cushions, and dress warmly.

I would stay over, and do the parc in 2 days. You can stay on site, or look for accomodation in Les Epesses. There are a few campsites which offer basic caravans/chalet accommodation if you want to do it more cheaply.

There is a lot of walking and waiting involved, so wear comfortable shoes and clothes, and take water/snacks. You can download and print off a map now, and then look at the show times the night before to make a rough plan. It takes about 30 mins to walk from one of the parc to the other so try to group shows together. Eat lunch in the queues (the French do this too), and investigate a sit down option for dinner, especially if you are staying on for the evening show. We chose the simplest buffet but there was a good choice of food especially as some of our children are fussy eaters.

Traffic to and from Puy can be horrendous at peak times but it does move.

My favourite shows were the Romans, Vikings and the secret of the Lance (the testerone in that show is reason enough!)

Puy du Fou is amazing. Not like any other theme park I have been to. We stayed in a little chalet outside the park booked through booking.com then drove in each day. Even if tickets are sold old for evening show daytime stuff will keep you well occupied.

We live about two hours away and went last summer for DS2's 10th birthday. As above it is like nowhere else on earth! I'd plan well - we got pretty much everything in in two days. We stayed on site at the Citadelle the hotel was way better than we expected and not bad value, though the food was just...alright. Maybe we picked badly. Wear really comfy shoes and hope it's not too hot. There's a lot of queueing but it does move quite quickly. You'll love it. We came out of every show saying "I can't believe what I've just seen!"

It's brilliant, you must go!

Birds of Prey and Roman Colesseum were the best!

We did go at end of the last week of Aug just as most French schools were back so it was nice & quiet (Jul-Aug could be hellish!).

Apologies, just re read your post....we didn't stay for evening show. Although we were only staying 30 mins away I knew we would have had enough after a day!

Oh you’re in for a treat! We’ve been twice - but never stayed there or seen evening shows but even so it is magical. FAVe shows are Romans, la Lance, birds (favourite) Vikings (or astounding). Mind you everything I’ve seen is wonderful.

Tips def take food n drinks and eat in queues. Go to the loo when u pass one (obvious I guess but v annoying if someone from group leaves queue - blink and the queue can be closed.

Heavenly

We stayed on a campsite La Breteche in Les Epesses in a chalet. It was fine for 2-3 nights and has use of the municipal outdoor pool next door. We actually walked across the fields to PDF but in hindsight this was probably a bit much, although having seen the queues of traffic...If I was doing it again I would stay on site in one of the themed accommodations.

Booked the evening show for our first night, which worked well as we weren’t tired after a day in the park. Take blankets and snacks, and pick up the translation gadget.

Spent the next day catching all the shows - work out a route and which order to do them. Have hats, sunscreen and water as there is no shade. My favourite was the jousting one. Then the Vikings and the Romans.

We also booked a dinner show, which was fun. The show has changed to Le Cafe de la Madelon which looks equally cheesy!

Then had another day in the park. It is exhausting, but like nothing else.

Bonkers place. We stayed onsite in the medieval style huts on water, not bad. We missed the evening show though. We got a pizza from the local town. Glad we went.

We went for two days / one night. The cinescenie was sold out, so we didn't see that, but did see a smaller evening show on the lake (Orgues de Feu) which was pretty magical. The main shows are all spectacular and timings vary from day to day. You need to check the itinerary and make a timetable to fit it all in, we saw pretty much everything in 2 days.

We were there at the end of August and it was really hot, much hotter than on the coast. Take water bottles, hats and a fan.

We stayed in the tent like rooms on the field of cloth of gold - they looked lovely, but it was roasting hot with no aircon, so almost impossible to sleep. Couldn't leave windows open because they were at ground floor level with people walking by. Would love to go back but would stay at one of the newer hotels with air con next time!