Mini World Lyon (photo: Mini World Lyon)
TourMaG.com - Can you tell us about your park?
Richard Richarté: “Mini World Lyon is a park of animated miniatures that expands over a surface of 3,800 m2.
Concretely, we invite our visitors to wander inside major miniature worlds in an interactive manner (city, mountain, countryside) that are filled with scenes of real life, a sense of humor, through animated and magical elements.
This is not a museum where you look into windows, but a leisure park from which we are convinced you will be left amazed.”
TourMaG.com - How did you get the idea?
R.R.: “By chance really. On a beautiful spring day, while I was cleaning my garage, I stumbled upon an old miniature model of a home still in its box. I asked my daughter to build it with me and thankfully she accepted. If not, Mini World Lyon may have never seen the light of day!
That same evening I had the “miniature” topic in mind and after browsing on Google, I found the video of a park in Hamburg: Miniatur Wunderland, the largest miniature park in the world that welcomes 1.5 million visitors annually.
The following weekend, I hopped on a plane to Hamburg. I spent the whole day in the park and left with a very clear idea. Create a similar park in France, where such a concept does not exist. 4 years later and after lots of adventures, here we are!”
TourMaG.com - What is the difference between your leisure park and other miniature parks?
R.R.: “Miniature parks like France Miniature, the Mini Châteaux Park or Ardèche Miniatures aim to be a summer touristic experiences because they are outdoors whereas we are indoors.
The experience we offer strives to be magical, funny, and immersive. The miniature is a means, but not the goal of the experience for our visitors.
We also worked closely on the scenography of our worlds. A day/night cycle of 20 minutes reproduces, through special lighting and high-quality screening, the atmospheres and colors of daytime, dust, nighttime, and dawn. We also created a sound atmosphere that accompanies this cycle and reproduces sounds devoted to each of our worlds.
It is also a very fun experience.
We have 30,000 mini inhabitants and 4,000 animals that make up our worlds in multiple scenes filled with humor and packed with references. Mini World Lyon is a bit like a giant “Where is Charlie” with a wonderful magical twist.”
TourMaG.com - What are some of the most remarkable attractions?
R.R.: “We created a 'Festival of Lights' cycle that goes off every 80 minutes. Without revealing too much, I can only stay that it is the highlight of a visit at Mini World Lyon.
We asked artists of the Lyon Festival of Lights to create tailor-made video screenings for the emblematic zones and buildings of our worlds.
For instance, you can admire the sun rising on our 4 meters-high snowy mountain, then the snow melting in a few seconds to give way to green pastures before seeing will-o’-the-wisp whizz down the slopes…
We are even going to take this experience a step further through the construction of our 4th world which will be the “Mini Lyon.” It is nothing less than a reproduction of the city of Lyon on which we will naturally stage the Festival of Lights on all of the city’s emblematic buildings and areas. We are currently partnering with the organizers of the Festival.”
TourMaG.com - Which type of audience are you hoping to attract?
R.R.: “Mini World Lyon is conceived to attract a very wide audience. We noticed this much during the premieres that we organized last December. 3,500 people came, of all ages, and all with the same sparkle in their eyes when they left.
We know that we appeal to children and all those who kept a youthful soul, no matter the age. Even those who think it may have disappeared will be surprised to see that their kid’s soul was just buried somewhere and it was undoubtedly asking to come out. In a way, our audience is Peter Pan!”
Richard Richarté: “Mini World Lyon is a park of animated miniatures that expands over a surface of 3,800 m2.
Concretely, we invite our visitors to wander inside major miniature worlds in an interactive manner (city, mountain, countryside) that are filled with scenes of real life, a sense of humor, through animated and magical elements.
This is not a museum where you look into windows, but a leisure park from which we are convinced you will be left amazed.”
TourMaG.com - How did you get the idea?
R.R.: “By chance really. On a beautiful spring day, while I was cleaning my garage, I stumbled upon an old miniature model of a home still in its box. I asked my daughter to build it with me and thankfully she accepted. If not, Mini World Lyon may have never seen the light of day!
That same evening I had the “miniature” topic in mind and after browsing on Google, I found the video of a park in Hamburg: Miniatur Wunderland, the largest miniature park in the world that welcomes 1.5 million visitors annually.
The following weekend, I hopped on a plane to Hamburg. I spent the whole day in the park and left with a very clear idea. Create a similar park in France, where such a concept does not exist. 4 years later and after lots of adventures, here we are!”
TourMaG.com - What is the difference between your leisure park and other miniature parks?
R.R.: “Miniature parks like France Miniature, the Mini Châteaux Park or Ardèche Miniatures aim to be a summer touristic experiences because they are outdoors whereas we are indoors.
The experience we offer strives to be magical, funny, and immersive. The miniature is a means, but not the goal of the experience for our visitors.
We also worked closely on the scenography of our worlds. A day/night cycle of 20 minutes reproduces, through special lighting and high-quality screening, the atmospheres and colors of daytime, dust, nighttime, and dawn. We also created a sound atmosphere that accompanies this cycle and reproduces sounds devoted to each of our worlds.
It is also a very fun experience.
We have 30,000 mini inhabitants and 4,000 animals that make up our worlds in multiple scenes filled with humor and packed with references. Mini World Lyon is a bit like a giant “Where is Charlie” with a wonderful magical twist.”
TourMaG.com - What are some of the most remarkable attractions?
R.R.: “We created a 'Festival of Lights' cycle that goes off every 80 minutes. Without revealing too much, I can only stay that it is the highlight of a visit at Mini World Lyon.
We asked artists of the Lyon Festival of Lights to create tailor-made video screenings for the emblematic zones and buildings of our worlds.
For instance, you can admire the sun rising on our 4 meters-high snowy mountain, then the snow melting in a few seconds to give way to green pastures before seeing will-o’-the-wisp whizz down the slopes…
We are even going to take this experience a step further through the construction of our 4th world which will be the “Mini Lyon.” It is nothing less than a reproduction of the city of Lyon on which we will naturally stage the Festival of Lights on all of the city’s emblematic buildings and areas. We are currently partnering with the organizers of the Festival.”
TourMaG.com - Which type of audience are you hoping to attract?
R.R.: “Mini World Lyon is conceived to attract a very wide audience. We noticed this much during the premieres that we organized last December. 3,500 people came, of all ages, and all with the same sparkle in their eyes when they left.
We know that we appeal to children and all those who kept a youthful soul, no matter the age. Even those who think it may have disappeared will be surprised to see that their kid’s soul was just buried somewhere and it was undoubtedly asking to come out. In a way, our audience is Peter Pan!”
Practical Information
Autres articles
Mini World Lyon
Pôle du Carré de Soie
2 rue Jacquard
69120 Vaulx-en-Velin
Phone: +33 (0)4 78 52 90 88
www.miniworld-lyon.com
Rates: adults €14, children (from 4 to 12 years old) €9.
Getting to Mini World Lyon ?
Train
Lyon is 2h from Paris with the TGV. www.voyages-sncf.com
Arrival in the Lyon Perrache Station:
take metro A – stop at Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie.
Arrival in the Lyon Part-Dieu station:
take the Tram T3, stop at Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie.
Car
15 min from city center of Lyon through the Northern beltway.
5 min from the Eastern beltway Laurent Bonnevay, exit La Soie.
Free parking of 1800 spots available.
Public transportation
-Metro
15 min from center of Lyon.
Price of one ticket: €1.70
-Tram
T3 stop at Vaulx-en-Velin la Soie, 15 min from Lyon Part Dieu station.
Price of one ticket: €1.70
-Bus
Stop Vaulx-en-Velin-la-Soie
Bus 16 / 28 / 52 / 68 / 100 / Zi3 / Zi4 / Zi5 / Zi7
Price of one ticket: €1.70
Airport
The park is 20 minutes from the Lyon Saint Exupéry Airport.
Take the Rhonexpress shuttle toward Lyon Part Dieu station and get off at "Vaulx-en-Velin-la-Soie".
One way:
age – 12: free
age -12-25: €13.20
age + 25: €15.90
Roundtrip:
age – 12 : free
age 12-25 : €23.30
age + 25 : €27.50
Pôle du Carré de Soie
2 rue Jacquard
69120 Vaulx-en-Velin
Phone: +33 (0)4 78 52 90 88
www.miniworld-lyon.com
Rates: adults €14, children (from 4 to 12 years old) €9.
Getting to Mini World Lyon ?
Train
Lyon is 2h from Paris with the TGV. www.voyages-sncf.com
Arrival in the Lyon Perrache Station:
take metro A – stop at Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie.
Arrival in the Lyon Part-Dieu station:
take the Tram T3, stop at Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie.
Car
15 min from city center of Lyon through the Northern beltway.
5 min from the Eastern beltway Laurent Bonnevay, exit La Soie.
Free parking of 1800 spots available.
Public transportation
-Metro
15 min from center of Lyon.
Price of one ticket: €1.70
-Tram
T3 stop at Vaulx-en-Velin la Soie, 15 min from Lyon Part Dieu station.
Price of one ticket: €1.70
-Bus
Stop Vaulx-en-Velin-la-Soie
Bus 16 / 28 / 52 / 68 / 100 / Zi3 / Zi4 / Zi5 / Zi7
Price of one ticket: €1.70
Airport
The park is 20 minutes from the Lyon Saint Exupéry Airport.
Take the Rhonexpress shuttle toward Lyon Part Dieu station and get off at "Vaulx-en-Velin-la-Soie".
One way:
age – 12: free
age -12-25: €13.20
age + 25: €15.90
Roundtrip:
age – 12 : free
age 12-25 : €23.30
age + 25 : €27.50
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