Part of the whole experience of coming to Lanier Islands to see the Christmas lights is visiting SnowWorld. While I am not a fan of the lights (cost too much for too little), I am a fan of SnowWorld. It's actually a water park in the summer that brilliantly converts to sled rides in the winter.
At first, I was reluctant to spend any more money here. I was really disappointed after driving through the Xmas lights display and SnowWorld didn't appear to offer much better an experience either. It certainly didn't looks worth $25.99+tax per kid ($83 total for my two boys and their friend). However, they disagreed and I buckled under the pressure of their sad little disappointed faces (and the disapproving look of my wife for being frugal). Well, I'm glad I did.
THE EXPERIENCE
We were planning to stop anyway because part of your entrance fee included free ice skating. It was one of the reasons we chose coming to Lanier over our favorite place for lights - Global Winter Wonderland near Turner Field in Atlanta.
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Let's get the NEGATIVES out of the way first. The ice skating rink is not ice at all, but some sort of PVC based material. A clever Idea, but it proved to be even more slippery than ice. The PVC dust or "shavings" from the skate blades gets all over your cloths and it's kinda hard to get out. Also, the hot boiled peanuts were terrible. Not very salty and didn't taste very fresh. Once you crack the shell, a good boiled peanut will have a red skin still around the peanut and the peanut itself should be a light tan color. These had a dark brown skin and dark tan (almost deep caramel) color.
Also, the carnival rides are NOT included in the price of your SnowWorld admission. They are optional @ an additional $20/person! Since the carnival rides didn't look that great, we decided to skip this expense. However, had we gone full boat and purchased everything, a family of 5 would pay:
$30/car to see the lights
$26/person SnowWorld ($130)
$20/person for unlimited carnival rides ($100)
for a TOTAL of $260 (not including food). OUCH!!!!!!!!
TIP 1 - Go to Publix or QT for $5 off coupons that can be used here.
TIP 2 - Parents do not have to pay IF they are not riding, but children under 42" must have a parent rider on certain slides.
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NOW FOR THE POSITIVES. It was way more fun that I first thought it would be and the kids had a blast! There were several slides for them to choose from and also a few special areas with real snow for smaller children (well technically it was generated from a snow making machine).
The toboggan style slide near the entrance was great and so was the 'Polar Plunge' tube slide located through the Arctic tunnel. Our kids favorite was the Himalaya's ride located past Gianni's Pizza and the Ferris wheel. All slides have intensity markers designated on the ride and this bad boy is at the top of the scale with a black diamond intensity. They are FAST! So fast that if you choose the yellow slide you might catch a little air as you come over one of the humps. My youngest and lightest briefly lost contact with the slide surface. The look on his face was of pure joy.
There is also Sunset City where "those daring enough can take a chilling ride down a Polar Vortex" says the website. It's a pretty intense funnel ride the kids enjoyed.
Conveniently positions throughout are three restaurants, a popcorn stand, funnel cakes and several large bonfires to roast marshmallows and stay warm. We chose to eat @ Gianni's Pizza. t was as pricey as you would expect for a restaurant within a theme park, but I must say the pepperoni pizza was really good! I'd definitely give it 4 stars. The Hawaiian pizza was pretty good too (3.5 stars).
TIP 3 - We saved a little money and brought our own hot chocolate. We stopped at the nearby QuikTrip and filled our 64 oz thermos for only $2. Don't forget to pickup discount coupons to save you $5 per person.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm slowly becoming a curmudgeon! The price of entertaining a family these days puts me in a bad mood! EVERYTHING is getting so costly, but I must admit we had fun! I wish there was a way to get into SnowWorld and skip paying the $30/car entrance fee to drive the Christmas lights. It's just not worth the price or the gridlock traffic headache.
Be sure to bring your own sticks and marshmallows for roasting, and don't forget to take a pic with Santa or see the live nativity scene. read more