The Dillon Ice Castles will open Saturday, Dec. 19, inviting guests to once again make their way to the Dillon Town Park to view the fourth iteration of the frozen attraction.
The castles initially were scheduled to open Dec. 26, but officials said favorable weather conditions have set the table for an early unveiling.
“Mother Nature was nice to us this year, so we were able to get the castle open earlier then expected and hopefully make a lot of people happy this Christmas,” said Melissa Smuzynski, a spokesperson for Ice Castles.
In recent months, crew members have been on scene placing thousands of icicles to construct the castles, which are sprawled over an acre of the park and complete with tunnels, fountains, slides and towers embedded with colorful lights.
Smuzynski said the attraction initially would open at about 30% of its normal capacity in order to meet public health guidelines and promote physical distancing among guests but that limitations could change throughout the season if there are alterations to state or local restrictions.
“We really want to remind people to take COVID precautions,” Smuzynski said. “Masks will be required, and we really would like our guests to bring their own masks with them. We also just want to encourage everyone to come only with members of their immediate household and to practice social distancing while in the castle. Our limited capacity should make that really easy to do.”
With the attraction ready to open, officials with the town of Dillon also are finalizing their plans to try to minimize impacts to locals in surrounding neighborhoods. At the Dillon Town Council meeting earlier this week, Dillon’s Marketing and Communications Director Kerstin Anderson presented a new parking plan meant to better communicate appropriate parking locations to visitors.
Anderson said there are 247 parking spaces adjacent to the park and along Lake Dillon Drive, along with an additional 200 spots available in rotating overnight lots in the town core. The town is planning on placing “no event parking” signs at strategic locations like Tenderfoot and La Bonte streets to keep guests out of residential areas, and other signs pointing to preferred parking lots on Buffalo Street and Lake Dillon Drive.
Tickets are available at IceCastles.com/Colorado
