Snowcat Ridge — Attraction in San Antonio

If you want an honest and intensive review, here you go:

Went on a Sunday afternoon (Dec 15th) and had the 2-4pm slot. VIP passes and paid for preferred parking. Snowcat Ridge clearly changed a lot of things from their prior years based on reviews. My parents have neck and back injuries and both of them were able to go on multiple runs - they preferred the 10-seater. Winter wear is not needed if you’re not going to spend time in the igloo. Ice skating looked fun, I didn’t do it because lots were new to skating and I didn’t appreciate the nickel&diming. Also, charging for a kids helmet for ice skating is shady. All in all, we had a really wonderful time and would absolutely go back if it were slightly cheaper. Buy tickets in advance! 5 stars if it were cheaper.

PROS: Tubing was actually very fun. I’m 27 and have been real snow tubing since a young child so I had low hopes, but it was super fun. Single tubes went soooo fast, and the 10-seater was beyond fun. They changed the tubes so as a single rider you won’t spin or risk having your feet being out of the tube on the way down. I had no injuries or pain, but people can get hurt doing anything lol.

I was able to build multiple snowmen in the igloo, it was very cold in there and the snow was not fluffy, but it was definitely snow and packable. Snowballs were being thrown (as they should be haha) and there’s a small baby sized hill for young children with tubes as well. If you’re planning on doing that, dress very warmly and bring second inner layers in case the water soaks through your winter wear.

The lights were very pretty, the light shows were awesome, decor was well done and it’s gorgeous during the daytime as well.

Firepits are perfect for the evening, super nice to sit there to watch the lights and people going down the hill.

Multiple options for food and drinks and snacks. Merchandise was cool, and they have winter wear for purchase (all overpriced but that’s to be expected)

At the time we arrived, we had 0 wait to sign waivers, had an hour to walk around and see stuff before our allotted 2 hours began. I recommend going early to ensure you have the full 2 hours.

VIP was incredibly worth it and saved us a lot of time, especially with the 3-5pm crowd joining us. I was able to go down as a single rider roughly 8 times, and then did the 10-seater 3 times. I wish I did the 10-seater more but both were great.

Staff were all really nice and friendly, they were working their butts off. Food staff seemed overworked sadly but regardless they were very kind.

Santa was very nice lol, the Mrs Clause story time looked like it would be fun but I didn’t go in there.

I recommend the funnel cake fries, they were good! Hot chocolate is $5.75 with nice toppings.

CONS:

To make it worth it (preferred parking, VIP, etc) it is way too expensive. I would not recommend picking this over say, a theme park or similar simply because for the price, there’s more to do at theme parks.

Forcing people to pay for grass parking is crazy, honestly since it’s mandatory it’s worth the upcharge for closer parking so you feel like you get something out of it.

The inside costs are astounding. $10 to skate, $10 to get a skating aid, $5 for a helmet… I get this is Florida but skating back home is free. $25 for your kid to safely skate after paying the other costs is a bit insane. A free 10 minute skating period with each ticket would make it much more fair. Santa pics are not worth the money, but they do allow selfies for free ☺️. Bring your own s’mores kit, it’s $27 for a regular sized s’mores kit and $10 for a small one.

The food set up is atrocious. You pay at a self serve station, then get a ticket that you take to the booth to get your food. Don’t wait in line at the food booth first, it’ll be a waste of time lol. Food is expensive, but that was the least surprising lol. Weird system, kinda messy and uncontrolled.

I wish there was a bit more to do that was geared towards an older crowd. The beer garden was lame and was...

Your satisfaction with the experience will depend a lot on your age and your expectations. I’ll start with a few comments on the attractions then some tips I wish I knew ahead of time.

The snow dome is fantastic for younger kids (probably pre teens will have a blast for hours). There is a massive amount of snow and despite high entrance ticket prices, for 4-5 people it’s still cheaper than flying north for a short “snow fix”. The dome can has plenty of snow and room to play for around up to 150 kids in my opinion so it may be too crowded if you go during peak hours. It is cold! Around the 25-30F to make the snow and keep it frozen. They have a few huge industrial chillers making a breezy chill. Be sure to bring a Real winter coat, not just what you might have for a cold FL morning. Gloves and warm hat are a must. You can step outside to warm up but if you have younger kids dressed well, they could play for hours in there. No activities, but I saw some group making a fort/igloo, another group making a snowman and other snow play… (5 stars)

The ice skating is no different than anywhere else but a step up because they have an open circle plus a loop, track which makes it more interesting. Officially skating is included in the price but since skate rentals are 10/each, it’s really an add on. It’s outdoor and if it’s more than 60F outside certain spots can’t chill ice enough and there are some slick water patches where you can lose grip with skates on the ice so take care at the curves! (4.5 stars)

The ice tubing is so-so. It’s not like sledding or snow tubing “in the wild” at all. More like a slide made of ice. The trouble is you have to drag a 25lb tube up the 400ft hill and wind through zig zag lines up top. There is a moving walkway up hill but it is only half the width of the tube so it ends up moving you while pulling on your arm uphill. It was also a challenge to pull a tube sticking out 8feet behind you and make a 180degree turn in 6ft to move through the ropes wait lines up top. I’m in good shape but I was over it after 3x of that. The family/group tube is an easier option since they bring those up top for the groups. I estimated average speed down hill of the group sleds at 22mph and single/double about 30mph. But the fastest acceleration is the first half as there is a steeper drop for the first 40feet. If there is no line or minimal line you could get one ride every 10min. So don’t expect more than about 10-15 rides max for a 2hour ticket, which I thought was plenty. (3 stars)

TIPS/WHAT I WISH I KNEW

The location is quite rural. About 15-20miles from a Very small interstate exit. If you plan on grabbing fast food for lunch, etc. try to look for that when you are about 60min away to get what you want. The exit just north or park has nothing and exit south of the park has a burger kind and Taco Bell only.

You can go in and out as much as you want. If you can get a closer parking spot that is ideal. Bring super warm snowsuits and gloves for the snow dome but don’t lug them around for skating or tubing. You can put a bunch of water bottles in the car (they allow 1 personal water bottle into the park) and avoid paying $3 each. Just take a short 3min walk out and swap bottles. Also pack sandwiches, snacks, and save $100 in food. The park serves “state fair” type of food at high prices.

I went on a Friday to avoid crowds and it mostly worked. There were some school field trips there and it was semi busy until 3p. At about 430p until close it was almost dead and had the whole place to only about 200 people.

Snow tubing from 12-2p was not much fun as it was full sun and at 70F too hot to lug those tubes uphill. Considering also the field trips it would have been better to have gone from 4-6 or later and avoid the sunburn and sweat.

Your schedule will matter most but it would be a bit nicer for the outdoor tubing and skating if you can go on a colder day 60F or lower. The wet patches in the skating started to freeze up a bit after sunset as it...

If you want a truly honest review of Snowcat Ridge, read this one. Obviously, the tickets aren’t very cheap ($40ish dollars.) Do I think that price should be a bit lower? Yes, but what can you do? It costs extra to park ($15.) I feel either the ticket price should come down and paying for parking is justified, or at the higher ticket price parking should be free. If you have electronic tickets, you still have to sign a quick waiver off to the side before entry. You’ve got basically everything that the website advertises. Tubing slopes, lots of seating, private igloos to rent for parties, the snow igloo where you can play in the snow, a few food trucks/drink/beer locations, a gift shop, and an ice skating rink ($10 extra to do that, but it is unlimited once you pay.) I’m astounded at the people writing reviews who thought it would make sense to dress and walk around this place in full on winter attire. It’s NOT THAT. It’s a hot Florida park with one cold snow igloo. I wore some pants and a tshirt and brought a light sweater for when I needed it. The snow igloo obviously isn’t REAL SNOW, it’s chopped ice they spray everywhere (seriously, what are grown adults expecting?) The kids don’t know the difference and it’s still a fun time, just be careful because it’s slippery. The port-a-potties do suck, but you’re in the middle of nowhere and they do the job. The way to buy food is pretty cool, you order it from a tablet like screen, pay there and then wait for your food. Prices are what you’d expect (we got a pizza for $20 that fed all four of us.) But there’s decent options, burgers, tacos, etc. We did not ice skate personally but it looked like your average experience. You get a 2 hour tubing slot, which for us provided us with plenty of rides down the slope. You can upgrade to all day tubing for $20 I believe, but for me our 2 hour tubing time was sufficient. For the family tube lines it moved a bit slower. They were operating 2 out of 4 lanes, but it wasn’t terrible. We never waited more than 20ish minutes. The single or double tube lines are much faster, but you do have to lug your tube up the hill, however, there’s a moving sidewalk that does most of the work for you. They aren’t THAT heavy, and the people complaining about it are wimps. My daughter is 3 and she barely made the height requirement, which they are somewhat strict about, so the people upset about that I can completely understand, because it is not really advertised too greatly on their website, just the age thing, not the height (from what I saw.) We bought the s’mores package, and we too were told it was $1 per extra stick, and the graham crackers were pretty badly crumbled, but we made it work. There are rent-a-cop security guards walking around with guns that I thought were cops at first but are not and they seem to take their jobs a little too seriously as far as how they were walking around looking tough (lol) but we interacted with one and he was friendly. Staff was cool. All in all, it was a bit pricey, but I’d say it’s worth it. There’s not many places you can go these days where it’s less than $20-40 per person to get in and another $50-100 on food/souvenirs for a small family, and this is a different experience. Those few couple drawbacks such as the cost (tickets/parking,) charging for a s’mores stick, port-a-potties, brought it down to a 4 star. But I’d say it’s a solid 4 star. We got there at 3pm and left at like 8pm, which I felt was the perfect time to get some daytime in but still get to see it at night (which was a little more cooler of an experience with the lights, and our tubing time was 5-7pm.) Check it out if you...