Midway Ice Castles 2014

The Midway Ice Castles are absolutely incredible.  Utah Valley Moms had the chance to go visit the ice castles in Midway to review them and found it a very interesting opportunity as we were able to experience and enjoy these magnificent creations!

The ice castles began by Brent Christensen who moved his family from California and wanted to do something exciting with this cold weather.  So he began the ice castles.  At first it was a twenty-foot slide, ice rink, and an ice cave and castle.  However, after using splintered wood that first winter and then having to clean up the huge mess as it melted in the spring, he decided he needed to make something out of only ice.  Ice castles are made with harvested icicles and are continually worked on throughout the day.  The icicles are carefully placed and a sprinkler system is used to refreeze the “castles” each night.  As the winter continues, the ice castles will change so if you go now, expect the castles to look completely different in six weeks.  In fact, the ice castles make look different day after day because of the refreezing and the fact that after the sprinklers each night create freezing ice, the next morning, workers go in to chisel and chainsaw the ice back into a walkable pathway – sometimes some of those closed-in ice paths and tunnels you walk through completely close during the night!

As we arrived to the Midway Ice Castles, I was very surprised that these ice castles were basically in the middle of the town!  I expected it to be up against a mountain but it is very accessible and easy to find.  You may park anywhere on the street – we parallel parked right in front of the entrance – and you pay at a little booth right in the front.  The entrance is grand but I was surprised to walk in and see how small it appeared.  At first I was slightly disappointed at how small the area was, however, after beginning to go through the tunnels that have been created and different pathways, it began to feel pretty large!

I was worried that this may not be a place for small, young children, but was surprised to see many babies being held in arms and my one-year old and three-year old loved it.  They also loved it because of the movie “Frozen” and the song “Let It Go” could be heard from someone singing it (may have been my daughter and I most of the time…) almost the entire time we were there.  The workers attempt to keep the walkways non-slippery, however, when you go to visit, make sure to wear shoes with grip.  I wore boots (good idea) but they only kept me warm as they have absolutely no grip on the bottom – they are completely smooth soles (bad idea).  It was a bit slick in some areas but for the most part, you are walking on crushed snow and ice and it is not slippery.  Make sure you dress warm, too.  My kids were in a few layers of clothes, hats, boots, and mittens.  They stayed warm.  I, in my one coat, with no gloves or hat, did not.

Lights within the ice are turned on each evening around 6 pm, however, the Midway Ice Castles open at 2 pm.  If you can, go earlier in the day.  Admission is good for all day, so enjoy the ice and how much time and effort is put into it while it is light outside and then go back to enjoy the ice with glowing lights.  I personally enjoyed both equally.  You can really see all of the details during the day, however, at night, the ice castles almost look unreal.  My family enjoyed dinner between seeing the ice castles during the day and in the evening which helped keep the children happy.  (By the way, we went to Tarahumara Mexican Restaurant and it was fantastic. And we happened to go on a Tuesday, family night, so a cute clown lady was there doing face painting and balloons – my kids got a huge balloon hat and flower.)

Suggestions:

• Dress warm
• Wear shoes with good traction
• Make it a family and friends activity
• See it during the day and evening
• Don’t take strollers
• Look for discount tickets online
• Go on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday if possible – the amount of people there was quite small on a Tuesday or maybe we were just lucky
• Parking is free but you might have to walk a ways down the street
• After you go, review them on Yelp!

Midway Ice Castles
150 W 100 N,
Monday – Friday: 2pm – 9pm
Saturday: noon – 10pm
Sunday: CLOSED

Now for my favorite part:  the photos!  These photos all belong to Utah Valley Moms – please do not use them without permission and linking to this post. 

Midway Ice Castles / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram

Utah Valley Moms was allowed entry to the Midway Ice Castles in exchange for this post. All opinions are our own.