IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD

TAKE A TRIP TO FRANCE FOR A THEME PARK LIKE NO OTHER, SAYS ESTHER HALLIGAN

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FUTUROSCOPE is a theme park with a difference the rides are shows too, awakening all your senses on this sprawling French site, which boasts futuristic-style architecture.

Think 4D and IMAX motion simulators, and terrifying rides combined with huge screens, so the tornado chaser takes you right into the eye of a (digital) storm.

I booked a two-night break with my 11-year-old son, Otto, and we were keen to try an alternative type of terror. The park is in southwest France, a few miles from Poitiers, and also includes a “digital” water park.

Arriving at the theme park, we picked up translation headsets first the screens that accompany almost every ride have commentaries. We ventured into The Time Machine and sat on a moving conveyor, facing the 4D film with the Raving Rabbids, feeling the wind and travelling into a snapshot of the future.

Most kids will recognise the Rabbids from the video-game series, and they are a huge feature of the park naughty rabbit-like creatures scream and gibber at you from screens around the site.

Next up was the €20million attraction, Destination Mars. We become astronauts at the space training centre, before bracing ourselves for a shuttle ride into orbit. The roller-coaster carriages spin you senseless and launch you down an indoor, vertical free-fall drop, right at the end. Looking back on the Earth, as we hurtled away, added a great touch.