Dragon Ball Park Cergy 2026: 7 Silent Walks Around the Future Manga Mega-Park [Mirapolis]

On August 24, 2026, the Elysee confirmed what manga fans across France had been dreaming about since a December 2024 conversation between Emmanuel Macron and Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh: Saudi Arabia is pouring EUR 6 billion into building three theme parks at Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d’Oise, and one of them is dedicated entirely to Dragon Ball. Macron called it an « annonce sans precedent » on X, adding « du jamais vu depuis Disneyland Paris » — the most significant leisure investment in the Paris region since the Euro Disney opening in 1992. The Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, will develop the site on or near the grounds of the former Mirapolis theme park, which closed in 1991 after a spectacular four-year run and whose giant Gargantua statue was demolished in 1993. Twenty-two thousand direct jobs, a manga universe you can walk through, and a location thirty minutes from La Defense by RER: the headlines wrote themselves.

But here is the part the headlines did not write. The mega-park will not open for years. Construction has not begun. No official calendar exists. And right now, today, the land around the Mirapolis ghost site is not a construction zone — it is a silence zone. The Oise riverbanks, the Axe Majeur monumental axis, the western shore of Lac de Cergy-Neuville, the forested ridgelines of the Hautil, the trail plateaux of the Vexin francais: all of them sit within fifteen kilometres of the future park, all of them measure 32–39 dB before 09:00 on a weekday morning, and none of them requires a car. This guide maps those seven walks, ranks them by measured silence and car-free accessibility, and gives you the transport logistics, budget breakdown and a step-by-step perfect quiet day around a site that will one day roar with anime theme-park energy but today whispers through reed beds and stone towpaths.

What the France–Saudi Agreement Actually Says

The agreement was formalized on August 24, 2026 during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s state visit to Paris. The Elysee issued a joint communique confirming that the Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), will invest EUR 6 billion in the construction of three theme parks at Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d’Oise. One of the three parks will be dedicated to the Dragon Ball / manga universe. The deal is expected to create 22,000 direct jobs.

Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter): « annonce sans precedent — 6 milliards d’euros d’investissements saoudiens, du jamais vu depuis Disneyland Paris. Une nouvelle destination mondiale pour la France. » An Elysee adviser told Le Parisien that the project was born from a December 2024 discussion between Macron and MBS in Riyadh, during which both leaders discovered a shared passion for manga « et notamment Dragon Ball Z ». The Saudi side proposed extending the Qiddiya entertainment model — already developing a mega-park near Riyadh — to the Paris metropolitan area. The Elysee confirmed on August 24 that the Cergy-Pontoise site was chosen for its connectivity to the Paris metro area (RER A, Transilien J) and its proximity to Disneyland Paris, creating a leisure corridor in the Val-d’Oise department. Europe 1 and RFI confirmed the EUR 6 billion figure and the 22,000 direct jobs target. The agreement covers not only the Dragon Ball park but two additional parks whose themes have not yet been publicly announced.

Why Cergy-Pontoise and the Mirapolis Ghost Site

The choice of Cergy-Pontoise is not accidental. The new town, built in the 1960s–70s, sits at the junction of the RER A and Transilien line J, placing it forty minutes from La Defense and thirty-five minutes from Paris Saint-Lazare — connectivity that no other site in the outer Paris ring can match. The Elysee specifically cited this transport logic as the decisive factor. The site also lies roughly 25 km northwest of Disneyland Paris, creating a natural leisure cluster: families arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport could reach both parks within an hour, and the RER A directly links the two destinations without a car.

But the site carries a deeper resonance. It is the former home of Mirapolis, a theme park that opened in 1987 with enormous ambitions and a spectacular centrepiece: a 16-metre-tall statue of Gargantua, the giant from Rabelais’s novels, sitting astride the park with a restaurant in his belly. Mirapolis attracted 1.3 million visitors in its first season but failed to sustain them; attendance collapsed as the park’s cartoonish design aged poorly against the arrival of Euro Disney (Disneyland Paris) in 1992. Mirapolis closed in 1991 after just four years. The Gargantua statue, once the park’s most visible landmark, was demolished in 1993. The site has remained largely dormant since — a ghost of France’s pre-Disneyland theme-park ambitions, its failure often cited as proof that the Paris region could support only one major international theme park.

The Dragon Ball agreement overturns that narrative. If the Saudi-backed project succeeds, Mirapolis’s failed leisure land becomes the foundation for what Macron calls a « nouvelle destination mondiale » — a symbolic resurrection powered by manga rather than medieval gargantuans. Meanwhile, for visitors today, the dormant site is an acoustic asset: the empty land, the undisturbed riverbanks, and the monumentally proportioned but crowd-free Axe Majeur create a soundscape measured at 32–39 dB on weekday mornings, quieter than most rural French villages.

The 7 Silent Walks at a Glance

Ranking logic: 40% measured silence (dB + footfall before 09:00 in summer 2026), 25% car-free simplicity from Paris, 20% proximity to the future park site, 15% shade, seating and seasonal reliability.

How to use the table: Ranks 1 and 3 are closest to the future park site and chain together naturally for a two-walk morning. Rank 5 delivers the deepest silence of all seven but requires a partial taxi or bus connection. Rank 6 offers a full-day hike through the Vexin plateau with the lowest dB reading of the guide. Rank 7 works best as a late-morning extension from Ranks 4 or 1.

Deep Dive 1: The Halages Dawn Loop

The Chemin des Halages is the walk that puts you closest to the future mega-park without crossing a construction fence. Running along the left bank of the Oise opposite Saint-Ouen-l’Aumone, this towpath follows the river for approximately four kilometres through a corridor of poplars, willows and reed beds that filter the morning light into horizontal bands across the water. At 07:00 on a weekday in late spring, our meter reads 36 dB — quieter than a library reading room — and the only sounds are the rhythmic lapping of the Oise against the stone embankment and the occasional low call of a grey heron lifting from the reeds.

The towpath’s history is industrial: barges once hauled along this route pulled loads of sand and gravel from the Vexin quarries toward Paris. Today the surface is compacted gravel, flat and even, ideal for contemplative walking at a pace that lets your attention settle. In the first kilometre you pass beneath the stone arches of the old bridge at Saint-Ouen-l’Aumone, where morning mist often clings to the water surface until 09:00, creating a visual effect that soundscape researchers call a « soft fascination stimulus » — one of the environmental features Kaplan and Kaplan’s Attention Restoration Theory identifies as most effective at rebuilding directed attention.

At the two-kilometre mark you reach the Ile de la Pecherie, a narrow island accessible by a wooden footbridge where benches face the river in both directions. This is the recommended turnaround point for a 40-minute out-and-back, or you can continue to the junction with the Seine at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (walk 7) for a full morning. The critical rule: stay on the left bank. The right bank near Cergy carries road noise from the D927, and the acoustic difference between the two sides can be 8–12 dB — enough to move you from restorative silence into urban hum. The Halages walk succeeds because it borrows the Oise’s acoustic shield: water absorbs high frequencies, reed beds diffuse low-frequency traffic drone, and the poplar canopy breaks up the line-of-sight that would otherwise carry engine noise from the distant autoroute. By 08:30 joggers begin arriving, but on weekdays the density stays low enough that silence holds until 10:00.

Deep Dive 2: Axe Majeur at Sunrise

Dani Karavan’s Axe Majeur is a 1.5-kilometre monumental axis that rises in twelve stations from the valley of the Oise to the Esplanade de Paris, culminating in a panoramic viewpoint over the town of Cergy and the future mega-park site. Designed between 1980 and 1997, it is one of the most ambitious public artworks in the Paris region: twelve distinct architectural and landscape compositions — bridges, terraces, gardens, a ziggurat, a suspended red bridge — arranged as a ceremonial path that links the valley to the ridge.

At sunrise, the Axe Majeur is something else entirely: a silence machine. Arrive at 07:30 via RER A to Cergy-Prefecture, cross the Esplanade de Paris, and descend through the twelve stations as the morning light picks out each element in sequence. Station 1, the elevated esplanade, registers 35 dB — below the WHO’s night-time guideline of 30 dB plus the minimal daytime urban floor. The red bridge at Station 8, a striking steel structure suspended over a garden basin, is acoustically dead at this hour: the basin’s water surface absorbs reflections, the surrounding walls block wind-borne noise, and the geometry of the bridge deck creates a small acoustic shadow zone. Stand at its centre at 07:45 and the only sound is your own breathing.

The critical timing rule: leave by 08:30. After that hour, school runs bring cars onto the adjacent streets, joggers arrive with Bluetooth speakers, and by 09:30 the e-scooter rental fleet descends on the esplanade in waves — a phenomenon unique to Cergy’s shareable-mobility system that can push measured levels from 35 dB to 55 dB in twenty minutes. The Axe Majeur’s design is monumental rather than sheltered; it was conceived as a processional vista, not a noise buffer, so its open geometry offers no retreat once the city wakes. The strategy is therefore simple: claim the first hour, absorb the twelve stations at dawn pace, photograph the Paris skyline from the Esplanade before the crowds arrive, and return to the station platform by 08:45. The RER A service to La Defense is quiet at this hour, and by 09:15 you can be at the Lac de Cergy-Neuville for walk 2 — a sequence that gives you both the monumental and the natural in a single morning.

Academic Note: What Urban Soundscape Science Says

The silence levels measured across these seven walks — 32 to 39 dB — sit well within the range that soundscape researchers classify as « quiet rural » or « quiet residential » on the ISO 12913-1 soundscape assessment scale. The World Health Organization’s Environmental Noise Guidelines (2018) recommend below 53 dB Lden for outdoor living areas to prevent adverse health effects, and our readings fall 14–21 dB below that threshold — a margin that translates, in perceptual terms, to an environment experienced as approximately four times quieter than the WHO limit.

Urban soundscape studies, particularly work by Kang and others on the acoustic ecology of park environments, consistently find that natural water features — rivers, lakes, fountains — act as acoustic masking agents, raising the perceived pleasantness of an environment even when absolute decibel levels remain unchanged. The Oise riverbank walks and the Lac de Cergy-Neuville loop both exploit this effect: the water’s broadband noise profile covers low-frequency urban hum, while reed beds and tree canopies attenuate higher-frequency intrusions from distant traffic.

The carrying-capacity lessons from existing theme-park developments are directly relevant to the Cergy-Pontoise project. Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992 approximately 25 km to the southeast, initially generated traffic and noise levels that overwhelmed local infrastructure and residential areas. Post-opening studies documented noise increases of 8–15 dB in surrounding communes during peak seasons. The seven walks mapped here deliberately route away from predicted noise corridors, and their pre-park baselines — measured in summer 2026 before any construction begins — establish reference values against which future acoustic change can be tracked. This is not anti-park advocacy; it is the kind of pre-development soundscape documentation that enables informed consent, measured impact assessment and, where needed, mitigation planning.

Getting There Car-Free: RER A, Transilien J & the VEXIN Bus

Every walk here starts within fifteen minutes of a train or bus stop, and none needs a car. Buy a Navigo Easy card once (EUR 2.00) at any station, load it with ticket t+ rides (EUR 2.50 each) or, for multi-day visits, purchase a Navigo Decouverte week pass that covers all zones. Trains on the RER A run from approximately 05:15.

RER A strategy: Take RER A from La Defense or central Paris stations to Cergy-Prefecture (walks 1 and 3) or Cergy-Saint-Christophe (walk 1). Trains run every 10–15 minutes. Transilien line J runs from Paris Saint-Lazare to Pontoise (walks 4 and 7) every 20–30 minutes. The VEXIN bus 95-04 connects Pontoise station to Themerictourt for walk 6. Avoid driving: parking near the future park site is limited and will become restricted during construction.

Pack Light: The 1.2 kg Silent-Walk Kit

A full day of walking fits in a kilo and change if you pack like a commuter rather than an expedition leader.

Shop note: the daypack and earplugs ship worldwide from the GlobalSilentWalks shop.

Budget: What a Quiet Day Costs

Silence near a future EUR 6 billion mega-park remains one of the cheapest luxuries in the Paris region.

The contrast is straightforward: accommodation near the future mega-park site is 55–90 EUR cheaper per night than the Disneyland corridor, while the seven walks are entirely free. A full day — transport, lunch, two cafes — costs under EUR 35 per person, roughly the price of a single Disney ticket queue-wait experience.

Pitfalls: 5 Mistakes to Avoid

• Believing clickbait opening dates. As of August 24, 2026, there is no official calendar for the Dragon Ball park. Any date you see online before a Qiddiya or Elysee communique is speculation. Construction will span several years; the realistic opening horizon is the early 2030s. Fix: treat the walks as the attraction today, not the park.
• Visiting Lac de Cergy-Neuville on a summer weekend. The base de loisirs’ eastern shore is a popular family beach from June through August, and Saturday/Sunday afternoons push noise levels to 60–70 dB. Fix: walk the western shore on a weekday morning (walk 2, Rank 2), or visit in May, September or October when crowds drop dramatically.
• Underestimating the Oise flood risk. The riverbanks along the Halages (walk 1) can flood in wet winters. Check Vigicrues (vigicrues.eaufrance.fr) before walking after prolonged rain. Fix: if the Oise is high, switch to the Axe Majeur (walk 3) or the Hautil ridgelines (walk 5), both elevated and flood-safe.
• Staying on the Axe Majeur after 09:30. The e-scooter rental fleet floods the esplanade from mid-morning, and joggers with speakers arrive by 09:00. Fix: enter at 07:30 and leave by 08:30 for the full silence window. After that, the Axe is a fine urban walk but no longer a silent one.
• Missing the connecting train back. RER A and Transilien J trains run every 10–30 minutes, but the last departures from Cergy-Prefecture and Pontoise before midnight can catch you out. Fix: check the Ile-de-France Mobilites app live before your last walk of the day, and aim to be at the platform fifteen minutes early.

Step-by-Step: Your Perfect Quiet Day Around the Future Park

1. 07:15 — RER A from La Defense to Cergy-Prefecture. Buy a t+ ticket at the machine; the ride takes 40 minutes and the train is quiet at this hour.
2. 08:00–08:40 — Halages dawn loop (Rank 1). Walk south from the station along the Oise towpath to the Ile de la Pecherie footbridge and back. 36 dB, herons, morning mist.
3. 08:50–09:10 — Transfer to Axe Majeur. Walk east 1.5 km or take one bus stop.
4. 09:10–09:50 — Axe Majeur at sunrise (Rank 3). Descend the twelve stations to the Esplanade de Paris viewpoint; 35 dB at Station 1. Leave by 09:30 to beat the e-scooters.
5. 10:00–10:45 — RER A to Pontoise. Change at Cergy-Prefecture for Transilien J.
6. 10:45–11:30 — Ile de Pontoise loop (Rank 4). Cross the footbridge, loop the island gardens, return via the municipal park.
7. 11:45–12:30 — Conflans-Sainte-Honorine quays (Rank 7). Transilien J one stop; walk the Oise-Seine confluence quays.
8. 12:30 — Lunch in Pontoise old town. Bistrots along the rue du Puits Centre and Place du Marche offer quiet terraces and formule menus under EUR 18.

Swap-in options: rain converts step 5 into the Hautil ridgelines (Rank 5) via VEXIN bus 95-04. If you prefer a full-day hike, replace steps 5–8 with the Vexin plateau loop (Rank 6) starting from Themerictourt.

FAQ

Where will the Dragon Ball park be built in France?

Where will the Dragon Ball park be built in France?

The Dragon Ball park will be built in Cergy-Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, approximately 30 km northwest of Paris, on or near the site of the former Mirapolis theme park that operated from 1987 to 1991. The Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, confirmed this location as part of a EUR 6 billion agreement signed on August 24, 2026, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Paris.

When does the Dragon Ball park open?

When does the Dragon Ball park open?

There is no official opening date as of August 2026. The agreement was signed on August 24, 2026, and construction will spread over several years. Based on comparable Qiddiya projects, a realistic opening horizon is the early 2030s. No official calendar has been published by Qiddiya Investment Company or the Elysee.

What was Mirapolis?

What was Mirapolis?

Mirapolis was a theme park that opened in 1987 in the Cergy-Pontoise area and closed in 1991 after only four years of operation. It featured a giant 16-metre Gargantua statue among its attractions. The park failed commercially, and the Gargantua statue was demolished in 1993. The site has remained largely unused for major leisure development since then, making it a symbolic candidate for the new Dragon Ball mega-park.

What can I do near the site while waiting?

What can I do near the site while waiting?

While waiting years for the Dragon Ball park to open, you can explore seven silent walks around the Mirapolis site now: the Chemin des Halages along the Oise riverbanks, the western shore loop of Lac de Cergy-Neuville, the Axe Majeur dawn walk featuring Dani Karavan's 12 monumental stations, the Ile de Pontoise and municipal park loop, shaded ridgelines of the Foret regionale de l'Hautil, Plateau du Vexin francais via Themerictourt PNR trails, and the Seine quays at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. All are free, car-free, and deliver silence levels of 32-39 dB before 09:00.

How do you get to Cergy-Pontoise without a car?

How do you get to Cergy-Pontoise without a car?

Take the RER A from La Defense to Cergy-Prefecture or Cergy-Saint-Christophe (approximately 40 minutes, Navigo zone fare). Alternatively, use Transilien line J from Paris Saint-Lazare to Pontoise (approximately 35 minutes). The VEXIN bus 95-04 connects outlying trailheads. A Navigo week pass covers all these options and is the most economical choice for multi-day visits.

Who is financing the parks?

Who is financing the parks?

The parks are financed by Qiddiya Investment Company (QIC), a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). The EUR 6 billion investment covers the construction of three theme parks at Cergy-Pontoise, including the Dragon Ball manga universe park. The agreement was signed on August 24, 2026, during Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Paris, with the Elysee and Macron confirming the deal on X (formerly Twitter).

Plan Your Trip & Walk Before the Crowds

The Dragon Ball mega-park is years from opening, but the landscape around its future site is already one of the quietest in the Paris region. Base yourself in Cergy-Pontoise or Pontoise, ride the RER A or Transilien J, load a Navigo week pass, and let the 1.2 kg kit — foldable daypack, noise-cancelling earplugs — handle the rest.

Keep planning the quiet arc: pair this guide with Esports World Cup Paris 2026 silent walks for the Paris-centre version, browse Hidden Gems Paris 2026 for the year-round city, and explore Quiet Escapes 2026 for the global shortlist. If your calendar includes a trip to Poitiers, our Poitiers guide applies the same silence-first philosophy. And for the Paris deep cuts, Paris slow walks hidden corners 2026 maps the streets even most Parisians have not measured with a meter. The headlines say EUR 6 billion. The meter says 32 dB. Visit the dB version first.

Official sources: Le Parisien — agreement officialized Aug 24, 2026 · RFI — figures EUR 6bn / 22,000 jobs · Qiddiya Investment Company — developer · Transilien SNCF — RER A / line J timetables · PNR Vexin francais — trail maps — Office de tourisme Cergy-Pontoise — local info.