Ice Castles frozen wonderland with all the winter excitement of a fairytale wonderland is being planned for New Brighton, Minnesota in 2023. Here is what to expect when you visit. Read on for our exclusive promo code to get a 15% discount.
Back in New Brighton for another year. Make sure you bundle up in all your layers so that you can safely spend lots of time at the icy palace to get the best value for the ticket price. This event will particularly delight your favorite Frozen fans. However, not just the kids, but the whole family will enjoy an Ice Castles visit.
What is Ice Castles?
Well, we are not talking about the 1978 Movie, but you are welcome to play its theme song, Eyes of Love, in your ear buds while you explore. Ice Castles is a spectacular creation by professional ice artists featuring sculptures, fountains, thrones, ice caverns, a winter chandelier and passageways — all in castles made of hand-placed icicles. The Twin Cities is one of only 5 North American locations for this ice adventure. Other locations include New Hampshire, New York, Utah and Wisconsin.
In 2013, the Mall of America was the first Twin Cities host to one of Brent Christensen’s Ice Castles. At the time I didn’t realize what I was missing out on by not visiting it. However, in 2015, I made sure to not miss out. I packed up the kids and drove out to Eden Prairie’s Miller Park just off Hwy 212.
Ice Castle Fun:
Brent Christensen created this beautiful annual kingdom of ice after moving from warm, sunny California to snowy Utah. He likes to experiment and play around and the snow and ice of Utah were the perfect vehicle for his creativity.
Since 2011, he has been creating this masterpieces for the public all over the country. Many different locations around the country have hosted and are hosting an Ice Castle. Each location creates a unique experience–even though they use many of the same elements, tunnels, waterfalls, ice, etc.
What to expect from your 2023 Minnesota Ice Castles Visit
- Perfect Setting for pictures and special occasions. Bring your cameras. If you don’t, you will kick yourself. Guests of all ages are walking into the Land of the Ice Princess. Weather permitting there will be fire dancers on the weekends and maybe some of your favorite princesses.
- Outdoor fun: This event is not only entirely outdoors, it is on a frozen lake. You know the drill: wear boots, dress in layers, hats, gloves, etc. In other words, dress like a Minnesotan on ice.
- Castle Quest: Make fun new discoveries as you solve puzzles and riddles in this escape-room style game.
- Hot chocolate, coffee, cider, cookies, and sandwiches for sale. Grown ups can get winter-themed adult beverages at the Ice Bar.
- Think, What would Elsa build? An award-winning, fairytale frozen attraction, that’s what. Exhilarating ice slides, an ice cave, frozen ice sculptures, crawl spaces, archways.
- An Ice Maze. Didn’t get enough corn maze during the fall? How about an maze made of ice?
- Ample opportunities to crawl tunnels and play hide and seek (although I don’t recommend that since lots of people are visiting and you may actually lose your children).
Minnesota Ice Castles 2023 Information & Coupon Codes
- Location: The beautiful Long Lake Regional Park, 1500 Old Highway 8, New Brighton, MN 55112
- Dates: Closed Tuesdays. Dates & hours and hours are weather-dependent. December 31, 2022-February 20, 2023. Ice Castles will rarely close due to inclement weather; it’s the nice weather that is the problem.
- Tickets: Ticket go on sale November 28, 2022.
- Weekday (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday) Pricing: $11/child; $15/adult;
- Weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) Pricings: $15/child; $22/adult.
- Holiday Pricing: Expect to pay higher rates equal to the weekend pricing on the Martin Luther King (January 16) & Presidents Day (February 20) school holidays.
- Illumination Trail: This light walk guides you out as you leave the exhibit.
SAVE WITH OUR EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT CODE: Use our discount to get 15% off tickets in 2023: FunTwinCities23.
Related Articles:
- Christmas in the Twin Cities: Planes, Trains & Winter Sleigh Rides
- Best Places to Take Your Sleds in the Twin Cities
- Visit Stillwater ice castles at the Ice Palace Maze and more Stillwater Winter Fun
This article was originally written by Gianna in 2014
and is updated with current information annually
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Do you have to be there right at that time frame you pick?
If you purchase tickets for a certain time, it’s important to be there close to that time. There’s no guarantee admittance if you aren’t there at the right time.
I would love to take my girls, we have never been before and I can’t wait to see it! Very excited! With a new relationship This is going to be the first time our kids will meet, we thought it was the perfect environment! I’m hoping Anna & Elsa are there, my daughters love Frozen. This is going to be an amazing outdoor event for all of us! Either way we are going, was just hoping to save a few bucks along the way. Good luck everyone!!!
We love spending time at our cabin in northern MN fishing, snowmobiling, and just getting out into the winter weather!
We love sledding in front of our house.
We utilize indoor play centers like the lookout ridge, the blast and the giggle factory. Minnesota zoo is always a hit along with the science museum. And regular visits to the gym for that childcare!
Our family loves to go sledding. We tried ice skating for the first time this year. 🙂
Snowshoeing in our backyard, sledding and making snowmen. When we want to stay inside, checking out the MN Children’s Museum!
Sledding out in front of our house.
We love to go sledding, and we cannot wait for the Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt to begin!
and am now signed up for your newsletter which I can’t believe I wasn’t signed up for before. Love you guys!
Our family loves to sled and build snowmen and then come in for hot cocoa!
Our family loves to go sledding, build snow forts, have snowball fights, play snow football! This year we plan to introduce our kids to ice skating!
Cross-country skiing, cold winter cheeks and hot chocolate with too many marshmallows!
We love to cross-country ski, get cold winter cheeks and then come inside for hot chocolate and marshmallows!
We go sledding and ice skating a block from our house!!
sledding and hot chocolate!
We all go sledding every year. Even if you are all grown up- there is a sensation of joy when you are zooming down the hill and land in a bunch of snow!
we love skiing, snowboarding, anything outdoors if it’s not bitterly cold!
We’re a downhill skiing family! Welch is our resort of choice. But also skating, snowshoeing and XC skiing. Make the best of winter!
Last year my husband started a tradition of building a quinzhee in our backyard. They pile up all the snow and then dig a cave out of it. We’re trying to do it this year but we need more snow!
We love sledding. We make it a fun outdoors type of picnic, bringing hot chocolate in thermos’, cookies, and granola along for snacks.
Snow forts and colored snow are 2 of our favorites(and I don’t mean yellow either! like with spray bottles and food coloring/water mix thing it’s a fun thing to do. Adds a little color to those magical snow forts!
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We love tubing!
We enjoy winter camping, ice fishing and family game nights.
We love sledding and playing hockey 🙂
we enjoy making snow angels, forts and sledding.
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We enjoy building snowmen as a family. Fun!
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We have fun with winter/snow activities. Ie. Sledding, tubing, skiing, skating, snow forts etc.
We do a lot of ice skating and hockey and hope to try out skiing this year!
My kids like to eat lots and lots of snow, cry about a cold face then come in and drink hot chocolate. They’re 2 and 4.
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We love to go sledding, skiing, and outdoor skating!
One of the ways my family and I enjoy winter, besides sledding, is going geocaching. Winter brings on extra challenges that are fun to try meet in that hobby. Some geocaches, like caches hidden on islands or in swamps, can only be located during the freezing winter.
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We love snow shoeing and skiing in the winter, when it’s warm enough to be outside
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We still love playing at the playground! We usually have the place to ourselves.
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Sledding and hot chocolate.
Winter wildlife snow tracking walks… Try to identify who made what tracks!
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we like to ice skate!
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This winter has been a bit too cold for us so it has been a lot of baking, crafts and Netflix. But when it’s nice, we go sledding or for a walk on the ice behind our house. Trying to stay active when all you want to do is cuddle up is hard!
We just moved here from Springfield, Missouri because we LOVE Winter!
The kids & I enjoy sledding and making snowmen.
we tried ice skating for the first time last weekend! Kids loved it!
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We enjoy the winter by doing various things like going to Bentleyville in Duluth, Kiwanis Holiday lights in Mankato, doing a Holiday Lights Rally Race, attending ice races, sledding, playing in the snow, etc! Lots to do in MN!
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Our family enjoys snowshoeing and cross country skiing at our cabin in Northern MN!
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I already “like” you on Facebook. 😉
We like sledding and making snowmen (or snow dragons!) in the winter.
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Our family just moved to Minnesota 2 weeks ago! We haven’t done anything winter related but are really looking forward to ice skating, tubing , and broom hockey. We would love to visit these ice castles!!
we enjoy the winters here in Minnesota by going sledding and ice staking. This year we plan on taking our 3 yr old snow shoeing!
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We go tubing, snowshoeing and ice fishing.
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We usually sled in our yard and have family snowball fights
Our family has fun sledding, making snowmen, and having snowball fights! Grandkids love going to grandpa’s and being pulled behind the four-wheel on the sled. Then after being able to inside for hot chocolate.
We love to go sledding when ever there is enough snow!
We love to sled and build forts!
We love sledding and belly boggining during the winter. Thankfully we have two pint size hills in our yard for our two pint size ladies so we get out as often as we can!
snowmobiling and ice castles
We enjoy sledding, making snowmen and snow angels.
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Snowshoeing but to be totally honest-skyways!
The more the snow the better! From skiing to skating to tubing we love Minnesota winters!
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I’m not a big winter lover, but my husband and kids definitely are. We live near the best sledding hill I’ve ever seen in my life, and they get out there just about any day the temps are above 20!
Our Family has had a tradition that started in 1987. the first few years we built Ice Castles out of blocks of Ice cut out of a nearby lake. In more recent years it has changed to Ice Carvings instead using miscellaneous tools such as a chain saw and other carving types of tools. After carving our masterpieces we enjoy a nice potluck meal. Super fun time for all! Excited for this years event!
We love snow-tubing the best.
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