Florida's first snow park updates operating hours after 'misestimating' snow needed

DADE CITY, Fla. - Florida's first snow park, Snowcat Ridge Alpine Snow Park in Dade City, officially opened to the public on Friday. However, they already are having to make some changes to operations as they "misestimated" how much snow they needed.

The park's most notable attraction is its large snow tubing hill, measuring 60-feet tall and 400-feet long. It even has a "magic carpet that will whisk riders and their snow tubes to the top of the hill." Guests can ride in a single, tandem, or six-person family tube.

Another attraction at the park is the Alpine Village, where guests can sip on hot cocoa and relax by a bonfire. There is also a light show on the snow hill. 

Finally, visitors can also enter a 10,000-square-foot snow Arctic Igloo, where you can build a snowman out of real snow. During the light show, you can see projects inside its dome.

FOX 35's David Martin took a visit to the park on its opening day.

Unfortunately, Snowcat Ridge announced just one day after opening that they have to change some of its operations and hours to meet snow production needs required to allow the larger number of kids (and adults) to play in the snow, inside the Arctic Igloo."

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On its Facebook page, the park said they temporarily closed the Arctic Igloo to concentrate on snow production efforts. The attraction has since reopened.

The park said that, "if you purchased a ticket for a time slot which is no longer available (no longer listed on our hours of operation) your ticket will automatically be refunded. Please note that refunds may take up to 10 business days, but will likely be processed sooner."

However, if you have a ticket for a slot that is still available, you have the following options:

• "Use your existing ticket at Snowcat Ridge with awareness of these operational changes."
• "Request a refund by sending a message with your ticket information through our https://snowcatridge.com/contact-us/ page. Your request must be received no later than November 28th at 7pm. Please note that refunds may take up to 10 business days, but will likely be processed sooner."

Snowcat Ridge Management said that they hope to increase its hours of operations once they are at full capacity of snow production inside the Arctic Igloo.

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"We are very sorry for the inconvenience and we appreciate your patience while we work diligently to resolve these issues, and work towards making your Snowcat Ridge experience one you will remember for ages to come," they said.

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