Winter Fest OC‘s 3rd year at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa is open through Sunday, January 6. Opening time varies, depending on the day of the week, but it is generally 2:00pm on weekdays and 12:00pm on weekends and holidays.
General admission: Children under 3 are free. Adults are $17 (online) $22-$25 (at the door) Children ages 3-17 are $12 (online) $17-$19 (at the door) and if you get there within the first hour of opening, tickets are $10 (online)
Season Pass $35 for Adults and $25 for Children (online)
Onsite parking is available for $8
Featuring ice tubing down an 8 lane, 150 foot mountain, massive snow play and slide area with separate areas for toddlers and kids with fresh snow blown in daily, ice skating on SoCal’s largest outdoor ice rink under the stars in the middle of Winter Fest OC, nightly Christmas tree lighting celebration with a parade of the Winter Fest OC characters, fireworks and snow flurries, plus a not to be missed experience with Santa and his reindeer flying over the fairgrounds through Christmas Eve, an all-new Alpine Village with a new light maze and new wintery attractions, over 20 carnival rides and attractions, festive entertainment, seasonal eateries, visits with Santa and so much more.
Included with Admission:
Snowflake Summit:Ice tubing slide! I recommend doing this as soon as you enter. It’s located to the right near the entrance, and lines can get long, so make sure you do this early. You must be 42″ tall to ride, no lap sitting. You can purchase a Fast Lane Pass for $15 (you won’t need it if you get there early)
World’s Largest Rocking Horse:This is so cool! All ages are able to ride in this one of a kind experience!
Alpine Village: The Penny’s Snow Play area features freshly blown in real snow, with a sled hill, coloring and crafts, inflatable jumpers and slides, and fun houses
Festival of Lights: (opens at 5:00pm) is located in Alpine Village, which features a beautiful walk through a display of Christmas Lights. (you can also ride the train through here)
Santa’s Petting Zoo: is always fun for the kids. They love petting the goats and sheep! It’s free to enter $2 for a scoop of food.
Model Train Exhibit: This is located inside the Hanger. My boys LOVED it! They spent over an hour looking at the villages and following the trains going around the display!
Nightly live entertainment:There is so much fun going on at the Hanger all day. Paw Patrol was there for meet and greets, which my boys LOVED! Kids went crazy for them! There was also a magician with an interactive fun show. They have various bands playing and a DJ playing great music which add to a fun celebration.
SoCal Dickens experience: Set in the Dickens Time period, this area has strolling characters which interact with the kids and they host story time, crafts and tea parties (extra cost) You can also visit with Santa and take pictures, for an extra cost.
Tree lighting ceremony: Nightly tree lighting ceremony at 6:30pm with characters such as penguins, Mrs. Claus, stilt walkers and Santa’s sleigh flying over the hangar and fireworks to finish the ceremony!
SNOW: After the tree lighting ceremony, it snows right outside the Hangar! We were covered in “snow” as we laughed and danced the night away!
Extras:
Ice Skating: $15 for a 45-minute session. $5 extra for a skate helper for small kids to hold on to while skating. Go sign up at the kiosk for a timed entry. The lines get extremely long, I recommend doing this early on, or late at night almost at closing time. Once you’re in, the views are beautiful, and skating is lots of fun!
Carnival games: Classic carnival games that the kids love! Most of them give you a small prize, even if you don’t win! My son was super excited when he won a penguin playing the dart game!
Candy Cane Carnival: Left of the Hanger is the Candy Cane Carnival area. Rides are generally 3-4 tickets. Each ticket is $1, or you can buy 16 tickets for $15, 32 tickets for $28, or the best option is to buy an unlimited ride wristband for $20 (online) $25 (at the ticket booth).
Food: There is a lot of food options, including fair food, restaurants, and
Trackless Train: The entrance is to the right of the main entrance. 3 tickets ($3) You can use your carnival wrist band for this too. The train takes you on a fun ride from the entrance through the Festival of Lights and back. It’s a great way to check everything out before experiencing it.
TIPS: I recommend getting there early, so that you can buy the online early bird $10 tickets, next sign up for ice skating, then to the tubing slide! I think the carnival wristband is worth it, since you can use it all day/night. There is real snow play, which most likely will get you wet! We brought snow gloves for the boys and extra clothes for them to change into afterwards. One of my favorite things is that there are so many beautiful photo opportunities!
Fore more information visit http://www.winterfestoc.com
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