Giant ice castles tower across the US
Hillary Vaughn takes you inside the Ice Castles exhibit open to the public
It's a castle fit for Elsa.
Welcome to the Ice Castle in Lincoln, New Hampshire -- a cluster of life-size, hand-crafted structures with intricate architecture full of unique designs.
These structures have nothing to do with the hit Disney movie "Frozen" -- but families are flocking here to get a taste of what it would be like to be a real ice princess, or just crawl around.
Creator Brent Christensen says it all started in his backyard when he was trying to find a way to fight the winter blues after moving his family from sunny California to snowy Utah.
"I started with a bunch of ice blocks, and spraying water, and pasting snow,” he said.
He threw some icicles in there and discovered a process that turned into a magnificent display. Today, Ice Castle exhibits have grown into a major business and an annual event in New Hampshire, Minnesota, Vermont and Utah.
Each castle is made from 20 million pounds of ice and takes around 2,000 man-hours to build from the ground up. Icicles are manufactured at an icicle farm located next to the display, where workers spray water on metal racks resulting in hundreds and thousands of icicles. Then a crew harvests them one at a time, keeping the castles growing throughout the winter season.
The crystallized structures shine bright during the day but come alive at night - transforming into glowing exhibits.
Christensen says each exhibit has a unique blueprint with plenty of room for visitors to explore.
"They're kind of alive. They're individual, unique. They kind of take a life of their own," he added.
A stroll through one castle takes around 30 minutes, but guests can take their time playing, sliding, and crawling their way through tunnels, slides, and caves.
To find an ice castle near you and to buy tickets log on to icecastles.com.
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