Enjoy some winter holiday fun at Snow Time in the Garden. It’s back for 2025 at the magnificent Hunter Valley Gardens in Pokolbin. Enjoy this winter wonderland with your kids.
A whole month of wintery fun including ice skating, ice toboggan and a huge snow play zone and a whole lot more take up residence from Saturday 28 June to Sunday 27 July.
Hunter Valley Gardens transforms into an icy adventure full of fun and frosty activities for children of all ages!
Spin round the ice on the Snow Time Ice Skating Rink. There is a dedicated junior section giving the smallest members of the family a safe environment to enjoy their first taste of the ice.
Skaters aged 6 and over have their own space with lots of room to glide around.
Experience the super-fast Giant Ice Toboggan – once won’t be enough! Grab a tube and glide down the 45-metre ice slide, it’s sure to get your adrenaline pumping.
Jump in with the kids or they can slide down by themselves.
Man-made snow in the Snow Play Zone makes this a must for kids who want to build snowmen, make a snow angel, or just get their fingers a little chilly.
New to Snow Time this year is the Abominable Adventure – an icy adventure through the Garden, collecting stamps on a map to free the Yeti trapped in an icy chamber.
Hunter Valley Garden’s five incredible rides including the traditional Venetian Carousel, 25m Ferris wheel, super speedy Swing Chair, thrilling Superslide and twisty Teacups will be available for the thrill-seekers throughout Snow Time.
The ride ticket pricing is $6 per tickets or grab a bonus pack of 6 for $30.
Plus, there will be a range of winter beverages and hearty winter food on sale to help keep you toasty and warm. Entertainment and roving performers including Little Scallywagz will be on hand to add an air of excitement.
Here at Newy with Kids, we’ve been to Snow Time a few times and we want to share some of our best tips to enjoy your day at Hunter Valley Gardens.
Snow Time wraps up all the fun activities of winter like ice skating, tobogganing and snowman making in one fun day without having to drive to the snow.
Our Tips for Snow Time in the Garden
Check the weather forecast for Snow Time in the Garden – There are lots of outdoor activities like snowman making and making snow angels so pick a day where the forecast is for sun. (We’ve been to Hunter Valley Gardens in the rain before and it’s not fun).
For those wondering how the weather affects Snow Time in the Garden, the ice skating rinks and toboggan are inside marquees. The snow play zone is outdoors, but will remain open in wet weather. The only amusement ride immediately affected by wet weather is the SuperSlide.
Snow Time is an outdoor activity and is subject to changing weather conditions. Hunter Valley Gardens will do their best to make sure the activities can remain open, which means the activities will continue in the case of rain and will only be cancelled if the weather conditions are considered dangerous by event management.
Choose a day when it’s not too busy at Snow Time in the Garden – If you can, visit during the week. In previous years, it can get busy on weekends with lots of visitors from Sydney and Central Coast driving up to Snow Time in the Garden.
Book into ice skating first – If you want to go ice skating, we recommend getting tickets as soon as you arrive at the Snow Time Play Zone area as on busy days, sessions can book out quickly. Pick up your skating session passes from 9:30am. Skating sessions run for 20 minutes starting at 10am.All equipment is provided such as ice skates and helmets (for kids under 7).
Start getting your skates organised about 10 minutes before your session start time. You’ll need it to to get skates and helmets on and then line up to be one of the first in line. (There’s a range of sizes in the skates and for young kids, there’s skates that buckle on to their shoes).
Build a snowman in the snow area (but pack extra clothes) – The Snow Time Play Zone is always a hit with the kids. This area has been enlarged in recent years so there is plenty of space for families to get in the snow and have fun. (Bring gloves or mitts if you have them so that little hands don’t get cold. If you have snowsuits, they’re ideal).
Be prepared for kids to get wet. We suggest bringing snow suits or a set of spare clothes just in case. One year that we went, it was a relief that we had packed extra clothes as my child manage to get herself soaked especially when the snow started to melt into deep puddles.
There are lots of food options – If you get hungry, there’s plenty of winter treats at Hunter Valley Gardens to keep the whole family warm. In past years, the food stalls have offered loaded fries, hotdogs, sausage rolls, pies, toasties, wood fire pizza, stuffed spuds, Greek food, Mexican food, desserts and donuts.
If you want to save money, be aware that you can’t bring external food into Hunter Valley Gardens but you can have a picnic or BBQ in the park near the HVG Shopping Village prior to entering Hunter Valley Gardens or after your visit.
It’s a fun low-cost family food option and saves you spending money buying food in Hunter Valley Gardens. There is a picnic and play area as you come into the Hunter Valley Gardens complex from the highway.
Enjoy the rides (for an added price) – There are additional rides and attractions that attract an additional cost including the Ferris wheel, carousel, tea cup and swing chair. Rides are $6 per ride or you can purchase a bonus 6 token pass for $30, tokens can be purchased at the rides booth. Height and age restrictions apply. If kids meet the height requirement and enjoy rides, get the 6-token pass as it works out better value for money.
Snow Time at Hunter Valley Gardens runs from Saturday 28 June to Sunday 27 July 2025. Most of the activities are FREE after paid Garden entry. Daily activities include ice skating, toboggan and snow time play zone. Check the website for specific activity times.
So for those like us who like winter activities without too much hassle, check out Snow Time. It’s a fun family day out with lots of things for parents and kids to do together. With all of the activities on offer, it offers great value for the ticket price especially as you can tour the gardens afterwards as well which we did.
Admission: $41 (Adults), $31 (Child 4-15), Kids under 3 free. Family Pass $96 (1 Adults + 2 children), Family Pass $102 (2 Adults + 1 child), $126 ( 2 Adults + 2 children). Extra child – $28
Need more ideas for family fun in the region? You might also like:
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