Walibi Rhône-Alpes at Christmas: Merry ChristWAAAs

An hour’s drive from Lyon and Chambéry, Walibi Rhône-Alpes at Christmas swaps its summer look for a winter interlude called Merry ChristWAAAs: an ice rink, sledging runs and shows replace the sunny queues from 19 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, with the park closed on 25 December and 1 January. The park in Les Avenières Veyrins-Thuellin, in the Isère, opens its gates in the middle of winter with around thirty rides running and an Alpine village built for the occasion. This is the fifth time the park has put on a Christmas edition, a useful marker of how established the format is before you plan a family day out.

What Walibi Rhône-Alpes offers at Christmas

The park opens 29 rides for this edition, around twenty of them open to children from 90 cm: Mystic, Timber, Mahuka, Generator and La Coccinelle keep running despite the cold. That covers both thrill rides and family attractions for the youngest visitors. An ice rink and synthetic sledging runs take up the heart of the park, a formula brought back from the previous edition and designed for children as much as for parents who want a breather between rides.

Two shows set the rhythm of the day: the Winter Circus, with acrobatics and juggling under the big top, and Mission Noël, more focused on the characters and the park’s story. The Lutimbrés on stilts and the Ice Queen with her Frosty Elf roam the paths in costume, for impromptu meetings between rides rather than set appearance times. The Alpine village setting relies on wooden chalets, fairy lights and decorations gathered around the central Christmas tree, with a more mountain feel than a classic town market.

Father Christmas’s chalet welcomes children for part of the season (2026 calendar to be confirmed), and the cabins in the Alpine village serve raclette and winter street food. On 31 December, weather permitting, a fireworks display ends the evening, an event that also draws visitors who come just for New Year’s Eve. Unlike a traditional Christmas market, Walibi Rhône-Alpes relies on its rides and shows rather than craft chalets: the outing suits families with children old enough to enjoy the rides, with a paid ticket as for the rest of the year. The detailed day-by-day programme for the 2026 edition (exact hours, dates for Father Christmas’s chalet, show days) has not yet been published.

The outing is aimed first and foremost at families with children old enough for the rides open from 90 cm: toddlers mostly enjoy the Alpine village, Father Christmas’s chalet and the shows, while older kids go from one thrill ride to the next. For a group of adults without children, the appeal lies more in the rides themselves than in the seasonal decor, which is more low-key than that of a big city Christmas market.

• 29 rides open, around twenty of them from 90 cm.
• Ice rink and synthetic sledging runs in the heart of the park.
• Two shows, Winter Circus and Mission Noël.
• Alpine village with Savoyard food cabins.
• Fireworks on 31 December, weather permitting.

Dates and opening hours for winter 2026-2027

The 2026 edition runs from 19 December to 3 January 2027, with two closing days: 25 December and 1 January. It is the park’s fifth Christmas edition, a format repeated every year since its launch rather than a one-off trial, which gives a fairly reliable basis for anticipating the general atmosphere even if the details change from one season to the next. The detailed 2026 opening hours have not yet been published; the previous edition opened 11am-7pm, with an early closing at 5pm on 24 December. Hours of 10am to 6pm or 7pm depending on the day have been announced for the new season, to be checked on walibi.fr before you set off.

Father Christmas’s chalet was only open for part of the calendar at the previous edition, from 20 to 24 December: if this formula returns, those dates are the safest bet for meeting him. The closing days (25 December, 1 January) apply to any appointment or group booking: best to cross them off before choosing a date. Between these two bookends, the season covers the December weekends, the school holidays and New Year, which leaves several windows to plan the outing around everyone’s availability.

Tickets and budget for a family of four

Prices for the 2026 Christmas edition have not yet been published; Walibi points visitors to its offers page to find them, a common practice among parks that fine-tune their prices as the season approaches. The season price gives an idea: €44 at the ticket office for a “Grand Visiteur” ticket (130 cm and over), €36.50 for a “Petit Visiteur” (100 to 129 cm), and free entry under 100 cm. A dated ticket bought five days in advance brings these prices down to €34 and €29, a difference that quickly adds up for a large family.

For a family of two adults and two children in the 100-129 cm bracket, the ticket budget comes to around €126 online with a dated ticket bought in advance, rising to €161 at the ticket office on the day, not counting snacks. A child under 100 cm makes no difference to the bill, as entry is free for them. These amounts are regular-season prices and need to be confirmed once the Christmas 2026 prices are published: allow some leeway in this budget until the official price is out. Parking, food on site and any workshops or photos with a character come on top of the entry ticket: worth bearing in mind so you do not just look at the headline price.

Getting there from Lyon, Chambéry and Grenoble

The park is in Les Avenières Veyrins-Thuellin, in the Isère, exit 10 of the A43 (Lyon-Chambéry route) then 9 km of secondary road. Allow about an hour’s drive from Lyon, an hour from Chambéry too, and an hour and a quarter from Grenoble: three large urban areas within reasonable distance for a day trip. No TER station serves the park directly: the car is the most practical way to get there, including for a day out combined with Lyon Christmas market or the one in Chambéry, two stops that pair well with a visit to the park over the same weekend. There is a car park at the entrance; its price has not yet been specified.

Where to stay and how to plan your day

The park has no hotel of its own. Les Avenières Veyrins-Thuellin and the neighbouring villages offer standard accommodation for a one-night stop, but most visitors come on a day trip from Lyon, Chambéry or Grenoble, a little over an hour’s drive away. A night on site mainly makes sense for New Year’s Eve, when the fireworks push closing time later than usual.

Check the opening calendar before you go: some days in the period are closed, and hours vary with the date. Warm clothes are useful, as the ice rink and sledging runs are outdoors, as are many of the queues. Look at the weather forecast for your chosen day too, since an open-air park does not offer the same experience in the rain as under a clear sky. Aiming for a weekday rather than a weekend or the very start of the school holidays is a simple way to cut waiting times at the most popular rides. A full day lets you enjoy the open rides and both shows without rushing, while leaving time for the Alpine village and its food cabins.