It’s like something straight out of a story book. And people are coming from all parts of the state to see it for themselves.
“We sold about 57,000 tickets.”
And they’re not done yet.
The thinking, according to Ice Castles build manager Joe Weiler, is that when all is said and done, around 100 thousand will sell.
Combine that with the 60th anniversary of Winter Carnival, and Hotels along with other businesses stand to see a big bump.
“The last spot that we were at, I think we got the figures back in Lake Geneva Wisconsin and I want to say we upped the hotel bookings by about 20 percent for that whole winter.” says Weiler.
That’s in line with what they’re already seeing at the Courtyard by Marriott on Canada Street according to Laura Kohl, Part Owner of the hotel.
“We’re seeing here at the Courtyard By Marriott a bump midweek, particularly on Mondays and Thursdays. People are looking to extend their stay instead of just coming up Friday and Saturday they’ll stay one extra day.” says Kohl.
And just down the street at the Adirondack Winery, they’re having to pop the cork on a lot more bottles these days.
“Immediately when the tickets went on sale, we saw a huge spike in our reservations.” says Kyle Schmidt, the Tasting Room Manager.
Both the hotel and the winery say this not only helps business, but is helping to create new jobs, extend working hours, and in some cases turn part time seasonal work into full time...
“For example, in our kitchen, we normally might have a couple of folks join us in May. Instead now I’ve been able to hire them to start this week.” says Kohl.
“We were definitely able to increase our hours, especially on the weekends which was very welcomed. We have a really great staff here.” says Schmidt.
But with the threat of snow on Saturday, some customers are a little weary.
“We certainly have have taken some phonecalls in the last 24 hours with a few people cancelling, a few people are asking questions.what should they do.” said Kohl.
7 room cancellations so far at the 119 room Courtyard By Marriot.
As far as the Ice Castle’s policy, if they’re up and running, no refunds.
But also say as long is we’re not looking at all out blizzard conditions
“We still open when there’s snow. You know, it kind of cleans up the Castle a little bit and makes it look a little prettier with a nice little layer of snow on there.”
The Ice Castle will be opened 6 days a week, and Winter Carnival kicks off the first weekend of February.
As brutally cold as it’s been lately, its the cold this time of year they're counting on.