If any of you were at Grand West this past Thursday evening, and heard screams of joy and whooping echoing through the corridors…that would be my kids. You’d be forgiven if you thought you may have stumbled into Spring Break party of sorts, but it was just my two little girls on the 35 meter high slope, going warp speed, sledding down together, and enjoying the crap out it…Yes, apparently my girls are “whoop” girls…and I absolutely LOVE their spirit of fun!
That was their introduction to Snow world….A warm welcome, indeed!
No longer do you have to sit indoors, bundled up under blankets in want of more exciting activities this winter. Snow World has arrived, and brings with it a world of wintery fun!
Besides, it’s not everyday that you get to excitedly eavesdrop on a business pitch in a coffee shop one day, about an idea for an awesome snow experience, only to be invited to it’s launch many months later! Needless to say, I was pretty stoked about it, but when my girls heard about it, I could barely contain them.
If ever there was a reason to NOT go into hibernation this winter, Snow World is it! From the tame sledding for toddlers to the more adventurous snow boarding, Snow World puts the “win” back into winter…Umm, that was too cheesy, right? Yeah, I thought so. But still, it’s a fun time either way you slice it!
Keep in mind, there’s not an enormous amount of varying activities. In fact, if I may take the liberty of sharing my humble two cents here, it would be that there’s perhaps a little bit too much white space still left over to truly give one the feeling that you’re stepping into another world. They just a few basics in place, but it’s those very basics that kept the laughs and “whoops” rolling in from the crowds.And, in any case, I have a suspicion that this was only just the begining for them.
So what do they have? Let’s start from the top:To begin with, they had Denver and his DJ team wrecking the decks, setting the party mood perfectly with their beats.
Mark Wilson of Snow Productions kicked off the night with a quick introduction, and took us along his journey towards the realisation of Snow World. He touched on their water savvy mindset in light of our current drought, and the general big leaps that were taken into getting things off the ground.
Alpine Hospitality Village:
The Alpine Hospitality Village looks to be modelled on those typical ski resort lodges that are warm and cozy, and serve as the perfect place to warm up from a day in the snow.
They served up some snow cookies and Glühwein (an absolute winter fave of mine), amongst other delicious cocktail type dinner offerings. But our girls just wanted to be where the action was, so I hardly saw any of that. Also, N2ice Cream had their stands/labs up, and definitely made the perfect partner to Snow World. I posted about them before, if you haven’t yet heard about this freakin’ cool novelty liquid nitrogen ice-cream, check it out here..
The Alpine Hospitality Village truly is the perfect place to warm up from the rest of the chilly activities and is available for hire for both private and corporate functions.
Ice Bar and lounge:
This is small but swanky little bar and lounge made completely out of ice – even the bar and benches! It truly has a cool vibey artic feel to it, but unfortunately my kids took two seconds in there and wanted out – hence no pix. It is for over 18’s after all and it is pretty nippy in there, so be sure to have your thick coats on.
Ice Age:
An interesting display of ice animals welcome you into Snow World. Thanks to Manny and Diego (Ice Age, the movie), there wasn’t much in the way of fear with these animatronic buddies and our girls.
This of course captured the heart of Parker-Grace. I mean both girls were intrigued by these life-like animals, despite their size, movements and growls, but Pax? Well, my little Pax just wanted to love on them…In fact, she declared her undying love to Diego right here:
Trying to get her off him was where it got a bit ugly.
Obvs, by the green screen backdrop, you can imagine what an awesome scene they super-impose onto those shots for you. It’s probably a good thing we didn’t get a chance to have one taken, as I’m such a sucker for those pix, I would have bought them all. Honestly, I’m generally a frugal chick, but throw photographs into the equation and I tend to lose my bearings around my budget. #ashamedface
When you see the sledding pix later below, you’ll see what I mean.How could I NOT buy them?! 🙂
Which brings me to the Slides…or Sledding
For the tiny tots, you have the solid 1.2m ice slide, that whilst short, is still enough to give the smallies a thrill.
Right next to it, is the snow play area. Not much in terms of size, but does the job. I had to however stop my girls from starting a fun snowball fight with the other kids – who were apparently more than eager themselves (thanks, Jack Frost movies!)
For those looking for a bit of a slightly bigger thrill, there’s the Radical Dipper.
It’s the 35 meter high slope that had my girls gone all spring-break–esque. As you can tell, the girls couldn’t get enough of it. I mean, these pix speak a thousand words:
And for the more adventurous, there’s the nippy downward spiral of 40 meters.
However, for the true thrill seekers there’s the Snow Box – the first of it’s kind: An indoor Snow boarding course! And where you get a real snow tubing experience at temperatures of a chilly -3 degrees.
We were spoilt by a few South African Snow boarding champs that night with an impressive display of their skills…unfortunately, I missed it. Because, kids. More accurately: Because, my kids whooping on the afore-mentioned radical dipper.
Which is the same reason why I didn’t get to try my hand (foot?) at this indoor snowboarding course that night that either. Not sure how well I would have survived though, as the last time I was skiing or on the slopes was back in 2000! Probably better that way, I suppose. Lord knows how fragile I’ve become post kids. 😐
Viewing deck
So, if staying warm and just observing the awesomeness is more of your sport, then they have chilled out viewing deck up top. You can have your Glühwein, coffee, port or glass of your favourite up top there, with a clear view of all the action.
By the way, as mentioned earlier, the Snow box is the first of its kind and will soon find its permanent home somewhere here in Cape Town. They’re still busy working out the details, so the “where’s” and the “when’s” are still up in the air, but there’s promise of it being much bigger – can’t wait!
Kids Party Area
Oh, and by the way, for all those Moms celebrating their kiddies’ birthdays amidst the winter, and have often pined for something more fun than the usual, limited indoor play areas for parties, fear not, Snow World has you covered: They have a special party area, complete with clowns and mimes, balloon making and face painting. Contact Snow World for booking information.
Oh, and not forgetting the Snow Shop that has cool little novelties, like cans of real snow, along with hoodies and funky tees.
Even though Mike and I were suffering from the usual midweek exhaustion that night, along with our girls who arrived already tired and in questionable moods, Snow World managed to get the happy juices flowing again, and their little hearts racing with excitement.
What you need to know:
- Where: Grand West, Sun Exhibits
Season: May 1 to July 31, 2016
Contact Number: 078 7750103
Email: info@snowworld.co.za
Types of tickets:
- -Snow Boarding Pass (Full Access: Snow Boarding and Snow Tubing in Snow Box, 2 Ice Slides, Ice Age Animals, Snow Play Areas) – R140/ session *
-Snow and Ice Rider Pass (Snow Tubing in Snow Box, 2 Ice Slides, Ice Age Animals, Snow Play Areas) – R120/ session
-Mini Pass (1 Ice slide, Snow Play Areas, Ice Age Animals) – R60/ session
-NonRider Pass – R50/ session
Operating hours:
-
Wednesday and Thursday 12pm – 10pm
Friday 12pm – 11pm
Saturday 10am – 11pm
Sunday 10am – 9pm
All Public Holidays and School Holidays 10am – 11pm
Monday and Tuesday closed (except for Public Holidays and School Holidays when they will be open)
What to wear? Well, we were slightly over-dressed. I don’t think wooly hats are necessary in the general area. However, if you’re headed into the Snow Box or the Ice Lounge, then hells yeah, you better snow-suit up! Or at least grab that thick jacket – you’re basically sitting inside a classy looking fridge.
For further information (and they do have a lot more), check out their site here.
Now, if you’d like to get in on this snowy action, I’m giving away a Snow and Ice rider pass for a family of four, courtesy of Snow World and HIPPO communications.
To stand your chance of walking away with this family pass, all you have to do is:
1) Like my Facebook page here.
2) And comment here below with which part of Snow World you are looking forward to checking out.
THAT’S IT! Easy peasy.
Winner will be selected on Thursday, 26th May and later announced here on the blog – just in time for the weekend! So get entering already!!
Please note: Entrants need to be able to get to Grand West Sun Exhibits on their own accord to use their family pass.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go figure out a way of how I am to get some time on that snow-boarding hill…without the face-plants of course! 🙂
This was not a sponsored post, nor was I asked to do this write-up. And as usual, all opinions stated here are my own. Many thanks to HIPPO Communications and Snow World for the invite.
I want to get on that hill so bad… Face planting will be in my future… But my girls will love to see me fall flat on my face… Holding thumbs…
I would have to say Ice Age is on the top of my list
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!
I would love Snow Tubing
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!
I would love snow boarding
Ooooh! The radical dipper looks so cool ? My kids would love to go.
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!
I would love to get my inner kid out if hibernation by snow boarding with my lovevy bite!!!
Snow box for us…..sounds awesome
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!
Snow slides for my fun loving family … but snow animals would be a close second. Looks AWESOME.
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!
Oooh this is so exciting would love to try the snow tubing in a snow box
Dont forget to LIKE the Milk Memoirs Facebook page to qualify. Draw time is coming up! GOOD LUCK!