I had seen pictures of various other ice castles online and even in a YouTube music video so I was already pretty excited for what I assumed I would see. As a big fan of almost anything that comes out of Disney, including Frozen, I was especially excited to be inside something that genuinely seems like it came from a movie.
We originally purchased tickets for Wednesday night but our other plans took longer and we didn’t make our ticket time. Extremely disappointed to miss out we called to find out if it was possible to carry the ticket over to another night. $5 fee per ticket and it was done. The castle was back on!
When we arrived at Hawrelak Park in Edmonton’s river valley, it was fairly plain to see just how busy it was going to be inside the castle. All the times I had checked for tickets previously the castle was already sold out and therefore I was expecting nothing less than one very full winter attraction.
The castle looks quite small from the outside but no less impressive. Having chosen to visit at night the ice walls are lit with changing colors and the light pollution from the city is a stark contrast. Blue ice and complimentary orange skies. It's quite pretty.
There was no line or wait time to get in, just a quick ticket scan and we were off.
The inside is pretty magical as soon as you walk in. Bright changing lights emanate from within the ice walls and songs from princess movies play from tiny speakers perched on top.
Even on a Thursday night the whole place was packed. Couples, families and little ones running around the paths, taking pictures and enjoying the space.
A waterfall splashes out of the wall in one area; a fire pit sits in a smooth ice bowl waiting to warm the visitors and people line up waiting for their turn on the ice thrones and slide.
Ryan and I spent about 30-45 minutes wandering around and taking it all in. Even though it was already cold we risked being colder by racing down the ice slides without ski pants and sitting in the ice throne. You could really see how many other people had sat there over the weeks because a large smooth butt imprint had been melted into the seat.
Each section and tunnel was a little bit different that the last one but every one was beautiful. I loved our time in the castle and I really hope it comes back in the future. I would recommend you check it out, but it closed early because of the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having in Edmonton this winter.
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