It looks like the people of Guadalajara love a theme-park. Earlier this month the capital city of Jalisco hosted the Dia de Muertos-themed amusement park; ‘Calaverandia.’ And now, from the same creators, we’re getting ‘Navidalia’ a Christmas-themed amusement park full of lights, fake snow and vibrant shows.
Much like Disneyland, which is divided into kingdoms, the Mexican Christmas-themed park will be divided into four Yuletide-inspired worlds, the flagship of which will be that of Mexican Christmas traditions, called “Posada Navideña.” Another world will be dedicated to the holiday’s Nordic origins.
Naturally, for a predominantly Catholic country, one of the worlds will recreate the Middle Eastern atmosphere of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, this section of the park will also include a show featuring the three wise men, known in Mexico as Los Reyes Magos. The fourth world will celebrate established European Christmas traditions.
A standout display will be a giant nativity scene, in which the spectators will also be part of the decorations. There will also be a giant Christmas tree, an ice road (not rink) for ice skating around the park, a large lake in the park will be used for boat rides and dance presentations. The organizers spared no efforts to get the best artificial snow. They said in an interview with a Mexican newspaper that they hope that the artificial snow will help kindle the Christmas spirit in the hearts of visitors.
In addition to Calaverandia, the Day of The Dead theme park, Alteacorp – the parks’ parent company – has also organized Festival GDLuz, which lights up Guadalajara in an array of bright colors in February. The company hopes to repeat the success of those festivals with Navidalia in December.
Alteacorp CEO Marcos Jiménez said that the group wanted to offer something different from stereotypical U.S. Christmas celebrations. Instead, they chose to focus on creating multi-sensorial journeys dominated by images of a very Mexican-infused Christmas.
Such imagery and customs will include traditional lanterns, piñatas, warm fruit ponche, the sweet fried snacks called buñuelos and the Latin American Christmas observance of Las Posadas. Other attractions will include an 18m tall Piñata that ‘throws’ candy, an 8 meter tall Reyes Magos, a medieval Santa Claus and 30 other attractions spread across the 4.5 acres that make the theme park grounds.
Visitors must buy a ticket to take part in the park’s nightly attractions (Sunday to Thursday from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am Friday and Saturday from 7:00 pm to 1:00 am), but the grounds will be open to the public free of charge during the day.
Tickets, available through ticketmaster.com.mx, cost 255 pesos (US $13) for children and 495 pesos (US $26) for adults. VIP tickets cost 685 and 1,999 pesos respectively. Navidalia runs from December 13-25 (closed December 24) at Parque Ávila Camacho in Guadalajara.