Alice’s Arctic Wonderland: A Frosty Journey Through the Rabbit Hole

This winter, Hyde Park’s Magical Ice Kingdom is taking visitors on a whimsical journey down the rabbit hole, as the classic tale of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, chosen by the public, serves as the enchanting theme for the 2024/25 season.

Set in a specialist temperature-controlled environment of -10°C, the Magical Ice Kingdom promises a cool adventure that’s sure to leave you in awe. Featuring over 200 sculptures, intricately crafted by a team of 10 skilled sculptors, this spectacular exhibition has been eight months in the making. As you make your way around enchanting scenes and characters inspired by Lewis Carroll, you’ll be captivated by the exhibition carved from over 500 tonnes of ice and snow.

Your icy adventure begins as you find Alice at the riverbank, growing tired of sitting by her sister. In the scene, Alice is distracted by a curious rabbit, who has taken out a fob watch from his waistcoat pocket, declaring he is late as he runs over a magnificent ice-carved bridge with a stream running underneath. Words from the book are projected behind, with the same opening carved in ice below. Soon after, you find yourself falling down a snow-carved ‘rabbit hole’ surrounded by numerous ice and snow sculptures, some of which tower above, adding to the magnitude of the attraction.

Guests will go on to find Alice drinking the potion before growing out of control, out of White Rabbit’s house. They’ll also come face to face with the Playing Card Guards and the Red Queen herself. You’ll have the opportunity to have your photo taken on the Ice Throne and slide down the playing card ice slide. In addition, guests will encounter scenes where Alice is invited to the tea party, meet some of the many creatures of the woods, and encounter the giant caterpillar. You’ll come face to face with the Mad Hatter at his tea party, the Cheshire Cat, the magnificent court scene, along with Tweedledum and Tweedledee as they bid you farewell from the attraction. Guests also have the opportunity to leave a donation on the ice wall by pressing a coin against the ice for 20 seconds.

In what is one of Europe’s largest ice exhibitions, each sculpture is perfectly lit, with sounds accompanying each scene. Lighting and sound units are well hidden, with only one display suffering from heat burn from the lamps underneath. Christmas trees, some of which are lit with lights, fill out the gaps and add to the overall appearance. However, some areas could benefit from more ice theming, trees, or projections as black backings and ceilings were very noticeable. In the future, it would be nice to have the roof, which is currently a blank canvas, projected upon with stars to really bring the attraction together.

The Magical Ice Kingdom is an attraction which, for some reason, we have not visited before in all the years attending Winter Wonderland. Priced at £13.00 (+booking fee) per adult, or £11 (+booking fee) for under-12s in advance, the exhibition provides around 30 minutes of entertainment. Based on our first visit, we would definitely visit again, making it a must-do when attending future years.