Parc Astérix is a theme park in France based on the comic book series Asterix by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny. There are approximately 2.3 million visitors to Parc Astérix each year, making it France's second largest theme park, after Disneyland Paris, which attracts approximately 14 million visitors each year. It is especially renowned in France for its large variety of roller coasters; it has begun incorporating rides and themes from historic cultures like the Gauls, the Romans, Ancient Greece and recently Ancient Egypt, but always in the visual style of the societies. It is situated approximately north of Paris, from Disneyland Paris and from the historic Château de Chantilly, in the commune of Plailly, in the department of Oise. Opened in 1989, the park is operated by Compagnie des Alpes. History Conception and inauguration Largely funded by the Barclays financial company, with 20 other investors including Compagnie Générale des Eaux, the Havas group, Union des Assurances de Paris and the Picardy region, the park cost 850 million French francs to build and generated 1,200 jobs. The location was chosen due to the transport network: a private interchange connects it with the nearby A1 autoroute and a bus shuttle service connects it with Paris Métro Line 7. Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture, inaugurated the park on 30 April 1989 after two years of work. The opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992 caused Parc Astérix's attendance to fall 30% and revenue by 19%. However, attendance soon stabilised to around 2 million visitors per year. Recent developments In October 2005, Parc Astérix ran La Fête des Druides ("The Festival of the Druids"), as a way of "thumbing their noses" at Halloween. In 2007, Parc Astérix opened for the first time during the Christmas holidays. In 2009, for the park's 20th anniversary, it opened during the weekends in September and October and ran a Halloween event called Peur sur le Parc Astérix ("Fear at Parc Astérix"). In November 2018, the park announced the construction of Toutatis, a new multi-launch roller coaster manufactured by Intamin, to be opened in 2023. In January 2021, the park announced it was closing its dolphin and sea lion aquarium in order to focus on rides and other shows. Attractions There are many attractions and shows including: Tonnerre 2 Zeus, a large wooden roller coaster, built by Custom Coasters International (1997); Goudurix, a large steel multi-looping coaster, built