Attractions Experts Q&A: Viviane Paturel-Mazot

By Kendall Wolf

Among Viviane’s many roles were Adventureland Attractions Manager and Space Mountain Project Manager for Disneyland Paris and General Manager of Six Flags Belgium (now Walibi Belgium); however, when she moved to Dubai, she dreamed up The Camel Farm, which she planned, developed, and operated for five years.

What theme park souvenir might we be surprised to find on your shelf? What’s the story behind it?

It’s one of the stars on the edge of the Columbiad Cannon at Space Mountain in Disneyland Paris. I was a Project Manager for operations during the opening of Space Mountain, and I got this as a souvenir from one of the Imagineers. 

I also have the book. Space Mountain was inspired by Jules Verne’s story, From the Earth to the Moon, so they reprinted the book with some of the designs from Disneyland Paris and sold it in the gift shop during the opening. And I got a copy autographed by Philippe Bourguignon, the CEO of Disneyland Paris at the time. But the star is very special to me because you can’t buy one—it’s very unique. 

What theme park have you always wanted to visit but have never been to?

Tokyo Disneyland. For a long time, I used to say Puy du Fou in France, but I went there two years ago, and it’s incredible!

I’ve worked at some of the best parks, and Disneyland is fantastic. But at Puy du Fou, they’ve recreated some areas that look so authentic. I kept asking, was this here before the park was built? It looks so real, so authentic, like the cast members and the employees are all dressed up, not just playing a role.

Was there a theme park or attraction that made you want to be in this industry? How did it inspire you?

I didn’t visit Disneyland in California until my first trip to America in 1981. I was in my mid-twenties, but I was still amazed. We were on a guided tour and were the only young people in the group – it was all senior visitors – but the tour was so much fun and stayed in my mind. After living six years in Los Angeles, I missed France and wanted to go back. I had a very good friend working on the construction of Disneyland Paris, so I reached out to her, and she helped me get a job there. For me, it was, and maybe still is, the best theme park you can work in.

What was your favorite ride/attraction as a child, and why?

I loved It’s a Small World the first time I went to Disneyland. Later, when I worked for Disneyland Paris, I rode it so many times. Not everyone loves the music, but I do. If my morale was ever low, I would ride It’s a Small World or go and watch the parade. That would make everything better every time.

Was there a ride, attraction, or character that frightened you as a child?

I was not frightened but thrilled. When I first rode Space Mountain, I really enjoyed it. I’m a very good theme park guest—I never lost my kid’s spirit.

After working at Disneyland Paris, I became General Manager at Walibi Park in Belgium, which we transformed into Six Flags Belgium. And when you have a park with the brand Six Flags, you start learning about serious roller coasters. But those didn’t frighten me either, just thrilled. That’s where I met and hired my husband as the Technical Director, and together, we have been on so many high-speed roller coasters. The last time I was in Orlando with my husband for IAAPA, we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure and rode all the big rides. It had been a long time since I had been on really high-speed coasters, and I was like—whoa—either I am getting older, or the rides are getting more thrilling.

What’s the oddest or coolest job you’ve had in a theme park?

Definitely the Camel Farm. Camels are taken for granted in the United Arab Emirates. They are a sign of wealth and no longer serve any real purpose; having a camel farm is just a status symbol for Emiratis.

So, I came up with this idea when I started working in the UAE and saw my first camel in the wilderness. There was this kind of connection. These animals are very friendly and curious. Then I noticed there were a lot of camel farms, but you could only visit a few. I was looking for a new challenge and thought I might be able to persuade an existing farm to open to the public, where people could get close to the animals. I spoke a little Arabic but didn’t know how to find a camel farm to convince them.

A friend suggested I contact the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center. The crown prince of Dubai had created a heritage center where they were recording and registering all the authentic traditions of the UAE. I couldn’t get through to them, so I created a PowerPoint presentation of what I imagined a camel farm could look like as a tourist attraction and just went there. The CEO of the heritage center was on-site and met with me. I presented my project to him, and he liked it. He introduced me to someone who owned a camel farm and was willing to work with me. It was a small farm but with a perfect location. We started working together, and it took a long time, more than a year, until we opened it. But I didn’t give up because I was sure it would work. We opened the Camel Farm in November 2018, and it was almost instantly a success.

But I didn’t do it for the money. I did it because I love animals and thought there must be a better way to show camels other than having people pay to ride them on the beach for ten minutes. Many hotels offered camel rides to their guests, but with someone on foot leading them around a few hundred meters. To me, that was so touristy, and I wanted people to see the camels in their natural environment and make it authentic for guests to experience in a traditional way.

So we offered long rides—one hour in the desert—and were lucky to have a beautiful desert behind the farm. We had the lead camel ridden by one of our guides, and we would attach up to four camels behind, two on each side. I wanted to do it like the Bedouins, with people actually riding the camels.

Afterward, guests were served coffee and tea with camel milk in a real Bedouin tent while I answered questions. One moment that touched me so much was when a seven-year-old boy hugged me and said, “This is the best day of my life.” And I thought this is why I am doing this job.

We won the TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Award for 2021 and 2022.

What ride/attraction do you think everyone needs to experience and why?

Many of the camels at the Camel Farm are very friendly, and when I would go into their pens, some of them would come over and nuzzle up to me. I thought that was so much fun I would start camel-hugging therapy. I took people in, just a few at a time and only with certain camels, and they wrote amazing things about it on TripAdvisor.

But some people are not comfortable being so close to camels. When I was at Paris Disneyland, I was lucky enough to open Adventureland and Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought this was one of the very best attractions—mixing storytelling with all the theming and adventure. Then we helped open Space Mountain, which was also fantastic.

If you were tasked with creating a new theme park food, what would it be?

The only food I can think of is a donut filled with a chestnut cream. I thought of this because chestnuts are a specialty from the Cevennes, the region where I live in France.

You’re a walk-around character for a day – who do you choose?

I had the great luck to be an actual character at Disneyland. When you are a manager, you get the chance to have what they call an in-costume experience. When I went for my first in-costume experience, they made me Friar Tuck from Robin Hood. I was not very excited because he is not so well known.

We had a whole morning of training—how to walk and behave like the characters and how to sign autographs. Then we went on site, and I realized the kids who run up to you have so much love in their eyes. It was overwhelming–the love that you get from those kids! And then they all ask you to sign autographs.

After 20-minute sets, they take you out for a break, but the kids would not let you leave! I didn’t expect such a character to be so popular. That was my first experience, and it was really fun.

Also, when I was manager of the parade and character department at Disney, I got to do my first parade as a character, and I was King Louie. I thought great—I’m on the float, with a throne—I can sit back and relax. But that day, it was almost 90 degrees. I was wearing this heavy costume, and the parade was nearly 45 minutes long. And I had to swing King Louis’ long arms like a monkey, and it was so tiring, but you have to keep going.

The next time in a parade, I was one of Cinderella’s godmothers. And I was also in the Christmas parade. Every time was so much fun!

What types of attractions would you like to see more of and why?

I like interactive dark rides when you get really immersed in the scenery, setting, and story. We were lucky at Six Flags Belgium to open the Challenge of Tutankhamon in 2003, built by Sally Dark Rides. That attraction won the THEA Award in 2004.

The decor was fantastic. Sally did amazing work, and having the riders shoot at targets was very new at the time. They would accumulate points for accuracy, and the computer would calculate their scores. If riders had enough points, they would gain access to another room. After that, they would be allowed into the Treasure Room if their score was high enough. That was the first time we had such an interactive ride and with a sense of competition. When a dark ride is interactive like that, where riders can challenge each other, it’s really well done in terms of immersion and theming—that makes a great attraction!

Do you have any interesting pandemic stories?

The pandemic happened when I was at the Camel Farm, and we were closed for two months, but we could open after that. It didn’t change much for us because we were outside, so we just had to wear masks.

They were very strict in Dubai. We were confined for a month and a half, and masks were mandatory everywhere. We were not allowed to go out. Everyone had to make an online appointment to even go to a supermarket, and sometimes they told us we couldn’t go at that time; we had to go later. And only one person could go at a time. For a while, we were not allowed even to go out walking. But once we got out of it, we were the first to recover right away.

Can you talk about what you are working on these days?

I’ve been interviewing with SEVEN (Saudi Entertainment Ventures) in Saudi Arabia. They are building many theme parks but said my position is on hold right now.

When I move to join my husband in Saudi Arabia in September, I will open a camel farm in Riyadh if I don’t have a job offer. Now, I know what works and how to operate it. When I opened the first one, I wasn’t sure it would be popular—if people would be interested—but it was very successful. And they don’t have any in Saudi Arabia.

You are going to your favorite theme park – which industry people (dead or alive) are you taking with you?

My husband. We met in the amusement park industry, and I always enjoy going with him.

If I had another choice, I would go with Walt Disney—he was such an interesting man with such vision. When you think about all the ideas he came up with and the way he made animals look alive, not just in theme parks but in cartoons and movies. I was always amazed at how he made animals react like people. I remember the first movie that I saw was Snow White. How could you not fall in love with all those animals?