BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Ever wonder how the ice castle was made? Or how much water it took to put it all together? Here's a fun list of facts of how it all came together. Enjoy!

• It all starts with an icicle: the castle is made by using icicles
• Located in the North Parking Lot, the Ice Castle will be open
• Ice Castle by the numbers
  • 4 million gallons of water
  • 28 million pounds of water (or approximately 2,800 tons of ice) We add between 5 and 20 tons of ice per night when we are "growing" the ice castle
  • 5 full-time people working day and night on construction
  • 2,500 man-hours to build the ice castle
  • 2 acres
  • 40 feet tall - the highest ever made
  • 15' thick towers, 5' thick walls
  • 50 ice towers, joined together, form the entire castle
  • Thousands of multi-colored LED lights illuminate the castle, creating a brightness equivalent to 200,000 candles (lumens)
  • 6,000 icicles are "grown" each day to continue building
  • 1 million icicles will have been used in the creation and maintenance by the end of the season
• This is the largest castle that Ice Castles of America has ever made
• Throughout the season, the castle continues to be "grown" because ice melts and evaporates. This continuous evolvement keeps the castle looking fresh and exciting.
•  Most guests spend between 20 and 40 minutes exploring the numerous tunnels, caverns and "Throne Rooms" of the castle.

Ice castle hours will be from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Sunday, February 20th is the last day it will be open. Prices are $10 for an adult, $5 for children, and $25 for a family four-pack.

Other activities at the ice castle include:

• A children's snow park area for kids to play and make snowmen.
• Multiple fire pits to gather around and stay toasty warm
• Ice Princesses (appearance schedule online)
• Fire Dancers (appearance schedule online)
• Youth Choir Performances (appearance schedule online)

Hope to see you all there!

 

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