DADE CITY, Fla. – Floridians no longer have an excuse to say they have never seen snow.
Snowcat Ridge Alpine Snow Park in Dade City has officially opened.
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The attraction is located in Dade City, which is about 35 miles north of Tampa.
Visitors of Snowcat Ridge can find themselves plummeting down a 60-feet tall snowy slope or frolicking around a 10,000-square-foot arctic igloo snow dome where guests can build snowmen and castles.
Even on a typical November Florida day when temperatures reached the low 80′s, the snow, though slick made for a fast ride. Officials with Pasco county government, VisitFlorida and Snowcat Ridge were all in attendance Friday morning for the opening event.
“I can tell you with the five years with the work that we’ve done, we easily spent over a million dollars in research to determine whether this can be done or not” said Benjamin Nagengast, CEO of Snowcat Ridge. “There’s only one ingredient and that’s water. That’s the only thing that we use the rest of it is basically magic. So, two parts magic one part water.”
“You know what, if you really look at it, what’s more unique than a mouse, a roller coaster and a beach? A snow park in Florida, right?” said Adam Thomas from Florida sports coast.
During Friday’s grand opening Santa Claus, Thunderbug from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Raymond from the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team were among the first to take the icy slopes.
Central Florida is known for its famous theme parks, but Snowcat Ridge officials said the park offers something different for families.
“For us this is something that we haven’t seen the amusement parks offer. It is a limited experience, and we do cap the attendance here. When you’re out here on a Saturday or Sunday, you will not see thousands of people. We actually keep the number down to make sure we give a top notch experience” said Nagengast.
Thrill-seekers who are ready for some tubing fun can go down the run as a single rider, tandem or family-style with between four and 10 riders per large circular tube.
“While we get to enjoy summertime all year around, with Snowcat Ridge, we now have the best of winter right here at our fingertips in Florida’s sports coast” said Jen Carlisle from VisitFlorida.
If the cold isn’t your thing, you can enjoy the Alpine Village, which features a variety of food, drinks, beer, wine, shopping and more, according to the attraction’s website.
Officials said the park will feature magical music and a light show on the slopes nightly, which can be seen from the Holiday Market at the park’s Alpine Village.
Tickets for Snowcat Ridge start at $24.95 but prices increase based on the day of the week.
The new attraction will operate seasonally throughout the year.
Click here for more information.
To see the original report from ClickOrlando.com, click here.