France could be getting three enormous new theme parks near Paris after a €6 billion Saudi-backed investment plan was unveiled, with one of the proposed parks expected to bring the world of Dragon Ball to Europe.
The ambitious development was announced during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's official visit to France on August 24, with French President Emmanuel Macron describing plans for three future theme parks around Cergy-Pontoise, approximately 30 kilometres northwest of central Paris.
If delivered in full, the project would represent one of the most significant new theme park developments in Europe for decades.
€6 billion planned for three new theme parks
The French government and Saudi Arabia's Qiddiya Investment Company have signed a memorandum of understanding covering a major new tourism and entertainment development in France.
The headline figures are substantial. Around €6 billion is expected to be invested across the development, while French officials estimate that approximately 22,000 jobs could eventually be created.
Plans centre on Cergy-Pontoise in the Val-d'Oise, around 30 kilometres northwest of Paris. The wider destination is expected to combine theme park entertainment with other leisure, hospitality, cultural and sporting facilities.
Three theme parks form part of the current proposal, potentially creating an entirely new resort-scale destination within relatively easy reach of the French capital.
However, the project remains at an early stage. Detailed attraction line-ups, construction schedules and opening dates have not yet been revealed.
One park could be themed around Dragon Ball
The part of the announcement likely to attract the most attention from theme park fans is the expected involvement of Dragon Ball.
Reports surrounding the agreement indicate that one of the three parks is likely to feature the enormously popular Japanese manga and anime franchise, potentially creating a major new European destination for Dragon Ball fans.
Exactly how extensive that theme would be has not yet been confirmed. There are currently no announced rides, lands or attraction concepts, and it remains unclear whether the entire park would be devoted to Dragon Ball or whether the franchise would form the centrepiece of a broader manga and anime offering.
Either approach would make the development particularly unusual within the European theme park market, where major permanent attractions based around Japanese manga and anime remain relatively rare.
Qiddiya is becoming a major name in theme parks
The company behind the investment is already becoming increasingly familiar to theme park fans.
Qiddiya Investment Company is responsible for Qiddiya City in Saudi Arabia, the enormous entertainment destination outside Riyadh that includes Six Flags Qiddiya City and Aquarabia.
Six Flags Qiddiya City opened in December 2025, while Aquarabia followed in April 2026, giving Qiddiya direct experience developing major new theme park destinations on an enormous scale.
The planned French investment would mark a significant expansion of those ambitions into Europe.
It would also place another major leisure destination into an already competitive Paris tourism market.
Could Paris support another major theme park destination?
Paris is already one of Europe's most important theme park destinations thanks to Disneyland Paris, which attracts millions of visitors every year from across France and the rest of Europe.
Parc Astérix is also located north of the capital and continues to invest heavily in new attractions, including major additions such as Toutatis.
A three-park resort near Cergy-Pontoise would therefore enter a market with two extremely well-established competitors.
But the proposed scale could also work in its favour. Rather than competing as a single regional amusement park, the €6 billion plan appears designed to create a wider destination combining entertainment, accommodation and other leisure experiences.
A strong manga or anime identity could also give the resort something dramatically different from both Disney and Parc Astérix.
One of Europe's biggest projects to watch
There are still considerably more questions than answers.
We do not yet know what the other two parks would be themed around, which manufacturers could be involved, how many major rides are planned or when visitors might realistically be able to experience the development.
The memorandum of understanding also represents an important early step rather than confirmation that every element of the current proposal will necessarily be constructed exactly as described.
What is clear is the scale of the ambition. Three parks and €6 billion of investment would immediately make this one of the largest theme park projects currently proposed anywhere in Europe.
And if Dragon Ball does become the centrepiece of one of those parks, the development could attract an audience far beyond traditional theme park enthusiasts.
Would you visit a Dragon Ball theme park near Paris?
Could a major manga and anime destination tempt you into adding another theme park to a Paris trip, or would Disneyland Paris and Parc Astérix still come first?
Let us know what you would want to see from the three new parks, and follow ThrillSense as we track the project from these first agreements through to the eventual attraction and opening announcements.
