How can you create a play experience that complements a theme park’s main attractions?
In a theme park, integrating a play area helps diversify the activities available to families, gives children a space for free play and extends the park’s immersive experience. It also enhances the visitor journey, strengthens the park’s identity and encourages families to spend more time on site, especially when the play area is designed to complement the park’s theme and strategically located near facilities such as restaurants.
Legendia Parc (Loire-Atlantique, France) is a 40-hectare theme park inspired by fairy tales and legends, home to more than 500 animals and offering a wide range of shows. The park’s management chose to integrate a themed play area at the heart of Dragonia, its new world dedicated to dragons and medieval fantasy.
Making play a new experience at the heart of the park
To enhance its family offering, Legendia Parc developed Dragonia, a new immersive world designed for children, bringing together shows, restaurants and shops.
By integrating a play area within Dragonia, the aim was to offer a play experience that complements the park’s main attractions while strengthening the identity of this themed world through a visually striking, immersive design.
Its location near the restaurants also addressed a strategic objective: creating a relaxing space for families, where children can play while adults enjoy the park’s facilities. A thoughtfully designed development aimed at boosting the park’s appeal.
Bringing the world of Dragonia to life through play
To meet these objectives, Proludic designed a bespoke play area in the shape of a medieval castle, made from natural wood and conceived as an extension of Dragonia’s themed environment.
The choice of materials, layout and landscape integration were carefully considered to create a structure that blends seamlessly with the park’s scenery and shows. The play area has become an iconic feature of the park, where children can embark on adventures of their own.
Beyond its seamless integration into the themed environment, the play area helps enhance the family experience and creates new reasons to visit the park.
Feedback from the director of Legendia Parc shows that the play area helps attract local families, particularly outside the peak season, while also increasing footfall at nearby restaurants.
We have seen visitor numbers become more evenly spread throughout the year, allowing us to attract visitors during the low season, particularly local families who are making the park their own. It has almost become their regular Wednesday afternoon destination.
We can see that the play area has been a success, with an increase in visitor numbers and additional annual pass sales. When it opened, we sold more than 1,500 annual passes in just two days, thanks to the arrival of the play area alone. We have also seen our restaurant sales grow, with a 50% increase in spending among our customers and visitors.
The best indicator of the play area’s success is the smiles on children’s faces when they are in Dragonia, particularly when they are enjoying this play area.
Alex Guillon, Director of Legendia Parc
Customisation is based on the park’s theme, visual identity and visitors’ expectations. Shapes, colours, materials and play features can all be adapted to extend the park’s storytelling. The aim is to create a play area that blends naturally into the surrounding scenery and enhances the immersive experience for families.
Natural wood creates warm, welcoming play structures that blend into a variety of themed environments, particularly historical, medieval or nature-inspired settings. Its aesthetic appeal and customisation possibilities make it an excellent material for enhancing a theme park’s scenic design.
The location must take into account visitor flows, accessibility, available space and proximity to other activities. Play equipment must also comply with applicable safety requirements, particularly EN 1176 and EN 1177 standards. Integration with the existing scenery and facilities is equally important to maintain the park’s overall visual consistency.
A play area helps diversify activities, enhance the family experience and provide opportunities for free play between attractions. When located near restaurants, it can also help increase the use of these facilities. It is therefore a valuable asset for improving visitor satisfaction, encouraging repeat visits and boosting the park’s overall appeal.
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Legendia Parc, Pornic, France
Location
France
Client
Legendia Parc
Sector
Theme Park, Zoo
Theme
Playground in a theme park
Age range
3+
Number of users
15+
