Puy Du Fou tips in August

[Helskitty]

Planning on going to Puy Du Fou this August with my family. We haven't booked it yet because I'm waiting to see what the weather will be like, I don't want to book a day that might be over 30c, so I'll probably book a week or so before.

We can't get the emotions pass as they're all sold out so I was hoping for some tips from people who have been before.

My kids are 4 and 7. Seven-year-old is a crazy history buff and loves everything history so I think it's going to be right up her street, The year old not so much but I'm hoping he'll go along with the flow, he gets quite scared easily though, so anything indoors might be over stimulating for him if it's dark.

I think we'll probably make it to three shows as I understand the queues will be long and that will probably be four-year old's limit. We can't do two days unfortunately as we don't have enough time in the area.

Seven year old loves Romans so I think the Roman show is a given, which other shows are worth it, baring in mind we'll only make probably two more?

I don’t think you’ll have that much choice. A lot either happen at the same time, or as you need to queue you’ll not have time to get in. I would look at the schedule on the day and work around the Viking one.
we saw the majority of them (apart from the birds) and they were all good.
The immersive ones work less well unless your kids speak french - you’re better just going to the ones which say ‘spectacle’. One of them didn’t need me to translate everything, but I can’t remember which one!

the cinescenie is also good - but you need to google the storyline before going and explain it to the children.

Look at the schedule the night before- but it will still take you longer than you think to walk and queue for the shows.

Do as the French do, and eat baguettes waiting in line.
Wear the comfiest shoes you own- it's quite a dusty old place if there's no rain.

The Romans is very spectacular, my fav was the Secret of the Lance though- so much testosterone! The round table is quite interesting for how they manage to do it.

I went in August last year. It was incredibly busy. I actually managed to get tickets with an emotion pass only a couple of weeks before we went as they suddenly released a few more. A part of me died inside at the cost but it really was worth every penny once we were there, so keep checking daily and you might get one. Otherwise there are a lot of queues.

I think the Viking and medieval castle shows are good for younger kids. We also really enjoyed one of the walk-throughs "La Mystere de la Pelouse", and there wasn't really any queue for that. The indoor musketeers one with the horses was very memorable too.

If iit helps, here is a thread about Puy De Fou, with some helpful tips and advice.

(I say that because I contributed some helpful tips😂)

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/holidays/4851284-puy-de-fou-is-it-worth-it?page=1

Just back from Puy du Fou with our 6 and 3 year old DC.
We didn’t have Emotion Passes and it was fine. There is so much seating available in every one of the seven large ‘spectacles’ that we always got in and there is no such thing as a bad view as it’s all very steeply raked seating. It is very well organised!

Recommend the Birds show, the Secret de La Lance and the Romans. Our younger DC was nervous in the Muskateer show (indoors, dark, lots of sword fighting and loud music) but ok apart from that.

We were there last august, without the emotion pass. We did 2 days. The first day we didn’t manage to get in the Roman theatre, the queue was closed.
Have an early start and don’t do the Romans as the last show. The show with the birds is also great. Some of the other shows have so much French in them, hard to follow the storyline if you don’t speak French. There is an app that translates, but with young kids, this still can be difficult.

Edit: i’d choose Romans, Vikings and birds !

Think I agree with Romans, Vikings and birds for that age. Though personally I would put Musketeers and Mime et l’Etoile ahead of Vikings, but Mime et l’Etoile is quite grown up/subtle and they are both indoors and fairly dark inside.

The timetable gets released on the app about 5pm the night before so get on that and plan out your day. Look at a map as it’s a long walk from one end to the other. You can fit in some of the walk throughs in between- La Premiere Royaume was our kids’ favourite, the Verdun and Perouse ones were very effective but could be a bit scary for sensitive little ones.

If you can stay for the evening show do!

Bring something to keep them entertained during queues and while waiting for shows to start.

If you’re going to do the Secret de la Lance on a sunny day I’d aim for the afternoon as it was baking in the morning! For the bird show, there is seating on 2 sides, one side is sunny in the am and the other in the pm. I can’t remember which is which but quite obvious once you get in! Romans show: most seating is shaded except the front couple of rows .

Agree Emotion pass is absolutely worthwhile if one does happen to crop up - keep checking…

Thank you everyone. These are really useful. Going to keep check for the Emotions Pass, just incase it becomes available. Good to know to think about the sun when sitting down and the idea of some activities and eating in the queues to pass the time. Thank you so much!

We went in may. My tip would be if you want to see the first spectacle of the day get there stupidly early to be at the front of the entrance queue then leg it! We found with kids that the food options weren't great so we were glad we had taken packed lunch. We were intending on getting an evening meal there while waiting for the night show but the times that the places are open didn't work for the kids and also not many kid friendly options. It may be different in August being high season I don't know. It's awesome though, we saw way more than we thought we would, you just need to plan a little strategy!

I managed to get the Emotions Pass, definitely pricey but I'm worried about 4 year old if it's hot, so felt like I'll be glad I got it in the end. Thanks for the food tips Sanch1. I think we'll need a packed lunch to save on the money anyway. Really excited now.

Oh well done! It’s so worth it - cuts queuing time down a lot, so less getting hot and bored in queues, you can fit more shows in, and you get guaranteed great seats. Especially worthwhile if only going one day IMO, and in peak time.

You will love love love it!!!

I'm not easily impressed and there wasn't 1 show that where I wasn't wowed!!