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As I write this, the first bit of real snow is starting to fall at my office. There’s a chance that Atlanta may get an actual snow day today. We’ll see. Panic mode has already set in—grocery stores are low on staples, schools closed early, and flights are cancelled. Even if it continues to snow, there’s always a question of whether we’ll get enough so that the kids can play.
Either way, Stone Mountain Park has an option for you: Snow Mountain. My family went to check it out last week, and we had an awesome time. There’s tubing & a snow play area. The girls built little snowmen, smacked each other with snowballs, & got a taste of what it’s like to play in the snow.
I learned a few valuable lessons while I was there:
1) Dress in layers (natch), and bring a change of pants, socks & shoes with you. Very few people had snow boots at Snow Mountain—I saw cowboy boots, fur-lined boots from Old Navy, rain boots from Target, and sneakers, but not one pair of snow boots.
2) Tube first, then play. You may get a little wet when you tube—one lane tended to kick up a bit more ice & dump it in my tube, which then melted & got my pants a bit wet. But that’s nothing compared to how wet the kids will get when they decide to throw themselves into building snowmen. And you’ll want to keep your gloves dry as long as possible if yours, like mine, are designed to protect your hands from cold winds, not moisture.
3) Get there early. If you buy the 9am time slot, make sure you get there a bit early & start tubing right away. While we were there, I was told that you can only tube for the 2-hour window on your ticket. We didn’t test the theory to find out how well it’s enforced, so YMMV (your mileage may vary). And you’ll want the 9am ticket window. While it’s just one batch of people, you can get through the line in 10 minutes or less. It doubles at 10am when there are two groups, and your wait time is closer to 15-20 min. per ride.
4) There are single tubes & double tubes. BUT kids need to be at least 42″ to tube, even if they’re riding in a double tube with an adult. There is a pint-size snow play area though, and they can ride down a small hill there.
5) I’ve got good news & bad news re: admission:
- The bad news: It’s expensive. If you’re not a member, tickets are $25 per person, and it’s not cheap for members either—their tickets are $15 each. Plus, there’s a $10 parking fee unless you have a pass. You can save $2 on admission by picking up a coupon at Kroger.
- The good news: You can win your way in. I have five Family Four-Packs of tickets to Snow Mountain. If you win & need extra tickets, you have to buy them at the regular rates, but this will save you $60-$100.
Here’s how to enter: Post a comment (one per email address). That’s it. At noon on Saturday, I’ll let the random number generator choose five winners (one per family four-pack of tickets), and then I’ll email you with details.
One more thing you need to know: The system randomly requires me to moderate about 40% of the comments. You can’t see them, but I can, so please don’t repost. Give me some time to approve it so that it shows up in the list.
Good luck!
–Jennifer Maciejewski
keeping our fingers crossed!
We have never been to Snow Mountain. We would love to check it out!
My kids would love it. Keeping my fingers crossed!
We check your website daily….our kids would love it. Thanks for all you do.
We would love to go. I hope we win!
We would love to go, but don’t want to spend all that money!!
Wow! This would be so great. We are from NY and miss the snow so much! Thanks–
Amy Beigel
The kids would love to go. It’s much closer than a drive back to Michigan.
Would love to win! Thanks…
This would be so fun!
I love this blog, and would love an opportunity to win!
Thanks
Keeping my fingers crossed!
Hope I win!
My nephews would love to win this!
This would be awesome!
I hope I get this!! One of my family members wants to go there for her birthday!
We love snow! Bring it on please
Me and my husband would love to take our 5 and 6 year old!!! Thanks
I’m so glad you wrote about Snow Mountain. We saw a commercial on tv last night and would love to take the family and go but tickets do seem a bit pricey. We live near Stone Mountain and have never been to the “snow mountain” portion of it. Would definately be an experience worth having with the family!
Although we only got a half of inch of snow, my two daughters treated it as if we were snowed in. Their excitement did not fade a bit! I can only imagine how how they would be to see more snow. Hopefully we get more in the Atlana Metro Area befoe this winter season is up.
Thanks so much for your posts. They are so helpful to families looking for fun on a budget!
Sounds great!
Would love to take my boys!
Thanks