Ice Castles — Attraction in Cripple Creek

The Ice Castles weren't exactly what I pictured. I suppose, I didn't really know what to expect. I haven't seen pictures, only heard they're not something you wanna miss. We went on a Thursday, about 45 mins prior to the sunset. We also lucked out with the moon 🌔 illuminating the ice and sky. I HIGHLY recommend buying your tickets in advance. The price is unreasonably more. It was $40 bucks for my husband and me. If we bought our tickets on the spot that would change to $80 bucks! There definitely were a few families that didn't expect it to be a lot, and paid a few hundred dollars. Idk if any of the proceeds go to anything, but I really hope some of it does. If not, they're making bank. I saw 3 employees in the park and they were all "kids", other than acouple ticket window workers. I would also recommend wearing wicked warm winter boots, gloves, snow pants or a suit. Even during the day in the direct sun, we still found ourselves a bit cold. After the sun went down, we enjoyed the colors and lights with the moon illuminating the hills and mountains in the distance. But it wasn't long before we said "I'm good" and left. I will say, even on a weekday, the place was PACKED. The Kids area was very very cute but we couldn't get close without looking like weirdos. It also kinda seemed like some of the families spent a significant time there after realizing they were gonna spend their car payment. We wanted to go up to the bridge and see the slide, we didn't want to go down. It seemed like every time we even tried to photograph the bridge it was always the same people. I can't imagine how busy the place must be on the weekend. Lastly, the parking lot was disgusting. They send all the cars to a muddy parking lot. Bc we took our Escalade, we were directed to a part of the parking lot that resembles a Woodstock Concert... We got mud all over our floor mates and had to stop at a carwash bc mud was covering the cameras and sensors. If you care about your cars interior I highly recommend you bring a towel for your interior. Also, my camera automatically "erases" random people. So it may seem like the place is "empty" I assure you, it wasn't. I really enjoyed going, I just get cold easily, and recommend warm gloves and warm packs. They have 🔥 fire pits around but only one was working and it more so resembled something like the poor homeless, trying to stay warm via a metal trash can fire... I definitely want to add, you sign a electronic document basically saying you can't sue if you die... With the warmer weather and volume of people touching, vibrations can be heard every time an adult went down the slide. Please, stay close with your children and or family, ice is unpredictable, and I feel maybe money has become their focus at this point in the season. -Buy Tickets in advance, unless you want...

Terrible. I feel totally scammed WAY overpriced ! So SMALL. Over 100$$ for family of 4?, are you kidding me? could have been easier to stomach if there had actually been some sort of activities to do... or see... this place is SO TINY it was pathetic. it took maybe 15 minutes to see everything & thats at a leisure stroll. Jam packed with people, so crowded it was not even enjoyable. Even though its marketed to families & clearly appeals to children and families with young kids, weirdly it was crowded with college aged and 30 & 40 something year olds! lol the "no kids" crowd cant find anything better to do?!! Sorry kiddos you cant see your favorite color lights or use the SLIDE because the 28 year old college dinks need to post selfies to social media to make themselves feel important and glamorous.. or something.. also shout out to the angry /obnoxious parking lot girl. Then theres Cripple Creek (lol) the absolute WORST place you could possibly have this thing. (whoever is in charge of putting this event together must be on something heavy) this place is essentially a ghost town. but with casinos. There is absolutely NOTHING to offer there (except loads of geriatric cigarette smokers). Make sure you bring food, drinks & literally everything you might possibly need because cripple creek can not help you. Good luck finding any food. Everywhere was hours long wait IF you could even find somewhere that would even serve you. And VERY expensive. The casinos do not allow kids (perfect for the "family friendly" ice castles RIGHT??) also they were 90 minute+ wait times. other then the casinos there is literally 2 places to eat, & one is a TAKE & bake pizza place. so unless you brought your oven... the other (called "the creek") is a bar & grill type place. well, they are open till 9pm but at 7pm, of course!, they flat out REFUSE to serve. Oh but there IS a gas station (YAY Family!!) & The creek is VERY expensive bar food Like a $20 burrito $20 burger, $15 B.L.T. The town / infrastructure is so MASSIVELY unprepared and flat out just un-able to handle the crowds.. or any crowd for that matter!! You'd think SOMEBODY would have the common sense to realize these things!!! But of course not. of course just like everything in Colorado now days it is all just a $$ money grab. Add in sketchy drive / highways, loads of impaired and terrible drivers and yeah the ENTIRE thing is TERRIBLE experience. Honestly even if you paid ME it would still...

Upon arriving, there was already a line, and we ended up waiting for about 30 minutes or more, so we didn't enter right at 4 pm.

Before going in, you're offered to take professional photos taken by a photographer, and you can later purchase at the gift shop or online.

Ended up doing it twice, once while the sun was up and again when it was dark.

The experience was fun. However, I felt the advertising was somewhat false. There was no fire or water shows. A section was closed off, which wasn't cool since I couldn't see everything, and I couldn't come back to see it open at another time.

The slide was a lot of fun. However, the lines were long, so there was a wait time, but the slide was very pretty as it had lights inside.

We ended up getting hot chocolate with Baileys. The "bartender" hurried, and I couldn't snap a photo. It was good but lukewarm, and I didn't get any food, but they did have some food options.

The place was too small for the crowd that it had. The tunnels were fun but again, small and rough on knees. I suggest making high taller tunnels for adults to enjoy.

There weren't very many props or sculptures, and the few places to snap a photo couldn't be done because people were using the benches to sit and not let people take their photos.

So I also suggest having more seating arrangements for those who need to sit.

I also want to suggest that you please have adult days/nights, it would be very beneficial and more enjoyable.

Don't think you'll lose money by offering this option a few times a month, I can guarantee you'll gain business, especially at the bar area.

It was rough taking photos or selfies because people had no respect and would walk into it.

I was also shocked by the number of rude adults that I encountered on my visit. That didn't help my experience to...