We headed up to our favorite ski resort last weekend. Besides skiing, we planned to stay overnight and finally check out the Ice Castles in Dillon!
It was definitely an event worth seeing and we'd like to see it during the day now, since we chose the night tickets.
Each Ice Castle (there are four locations in the US and two in Canada) are handcrafted with tunnels, slides, caves, and more. The one in Dillon offered fountains, beautiful lights to illuminate out at night, and activities like fire dancers in the evenings.
We arrived at our scheduled time and spent about 60 minutes hiking through the various rooms and caves. The kids loved seeing where the different tunnels went, trying out the slides, and just exploring the castle. We stopped to watch the fire dancers for awhile and marveled over the ice sculpting. It's amazing to see the icicles that form from the tops, almost as if they could fall at any time!
Our advice:
Prebook your tickets on the website! Each half hour increment allows for a certain number of presale tickets. Visitors can enter at any point during their half hour time slot, then stay as long as they would like. Timing varies, but plan on at least an hour if your family would like to use the ice slides.
Once the presale tickets are gone, one can purchase standby tickets at the Ice Castles, if available. By the time we had arrived, all standby tickets were sold out for the day. We also met people at our hotel who suggested the same thing. They had planned on going the same night and were unable to get tickets at the last minute, so buying ahead ensures you will be able to visit when you wish.
Use code "happykids" for 15% off your tickets at checkout online. Even better, this code works at locations in both countries. My friends in Manitoba let me know it worked for them as well.
Don't forget, the Ice Castles are seasonal and weather dependent, so book soon to enjoy this winter.
Disclosure: This post was written as part of my partnership with USFamilyGuide. My family received tickets to the Dillon Ice Castle to facilitate our review. All opinions are my own.
