This last weekend we took a family trip up the canyon to the Ice Castle thanks to some free tickets we received.
I wrote about the Ice Castle a few weeks ago and I’m so glad I got to go so I could give you my personal review.
The Ice Castle is located in Midway at Soldier Hollow and open seasonally. In fact, we went the last weekend that it will be open because the weather is getting to warm for it to be safe for visitors.
We were glad for the drive up and it was sad yet exciting to see the difference in the air from the Smogginess of the Salt Lake Valley where we live to the clear skies in Midway. The air really is better up there!
I was worried that parking would be pretty crazy but honestly they ran it so smoothly. There was a sort of loop that we were directed to go into with one way traffic and as soon as someone backed out, we backed in.
It was really warm and I almost went with just my jacket but decided to put my coat on, thinking it would be colder in the Ice Castle, but I was wrong. It was still pretty warm. I could have even kept Marvel out of her big snowsuit (which later I wish I had but I’ll get to that).
We got Marvel up in one of our baby carrier wraps and headed to the entrance.
We got in line where they scanned our tickets and we signed a waver. (Also bonus points to me for seeing my old high school biology teacher working there!)
Waiting in line
There was an extra line to get pics with Elsa and Anna but we skipped it and went straight into the Ice Castle.
A pic from outside.
Pic before entering
To enter you walked through a tunnel of ice and you enter a courtyard of sorts that’s in the middle of the “castle”. A big block of ice with a water fountain in the middle greets you as you enter.
There was a lot of people about and a line for what we later found out was the slide (which we didn’t do). We walked around and took some pictures while admiring the pretty blue color of the ice in the sun. It was difficult to walk sometimes because the snow seemed sand like and I was glad I wore my boots because Sean was slipping in his tennis shoes.
We walked through another tunnel to the second courtyard where there was another big line for the dome. We decided to skip this line too because it was longer than the line for the slide. We instead explored the “Ice Maze” which had a mini dome in it and Sean went through the “slot canyon” alone because with Marvel on my back I couldn’t make it through.
Slot Canyon in the ice
At about this point we had to take Marvel out of the wrap. The wrap with her coat wasn’t a good mixture because it was slipping against the slickness of her coat. Thankfully Sean caught it in time (she was on my back so I couldn’t see) and we held her the rest of the time.
I love this picture but you can see the unsafe wearing in it D:
We decided to take some fun photos with Marvel since we had her out of the carrier.
I love the funny face marvel is making here
Oh and we also found Mr. Freeze!
We really had a great time and I would love to return again. Next time I would go when it’s not as busy and probably at night to see the Ice Castle all lit up. The Ice Castle has been here the last couple of years so hopefully it returns again next year! Here are some great shots of the Castle that Sean caught for you to enjoy.
Did they tell you how they actually make the ice castles or when in the year they start forming everything? I’ve only really known Midway for their hot springs, so I’m surprised they have such a big ice attraction. Is it high enough into the mountains that it stays cold for most of the year?
They didn’t tell us there how they make them but I’ve seen youtube videos about it. I think they slowly start forming them with a big hose and chainlink fences. I could be wrong though! It was pretty warm the day we went though. They have to rebuild the Ice Castle every year.