the aurora ice museum

I was skeptical but it was a neat place definitely worth visiting on my trip to Chena. Had the opportunity to see ice carvers in action with was very interesting too.

A unique experience. If you are in the area, don't miss this. Guided tour into the museum. If you are lucky, you will get there when the artists who create all the ice sculptures are there working. We were not so lucky, but enjoyed seeing their workshop set up. Loved the ice bar and our appletinis in our ice glasses.

Aurora Ice Museum is something to see....beautifully sculpted ice all lit up with colored lights. Really a unique and fun setting...especially having an Appletini at the Aurora Ice Bar. Really enjoyed it!

Missed the museum the last time we were in Fairbanks. Located at Chena Hot Springs about 62 miles from Fairbanks. Only way to get inside is to take a scheduled tour, $15pp. Nice guide showed how their appletini (overpriced at $15 each)glasses are made out of ice in about 1 minute. Several interesting ice carvings inside but not a whole lot to see. The joust carving is impressive.

If you're in the area, this is a can't miss. I just wouldn't go too far out of the way for it. The ice museum was pretty cool (and cold) and the experience of drinking an appletini out of a glass made of ice was interesting. However, the pictures of the museum are better than the reality. We did get a good view of the aurora though which is always a good thing. Lastly, I did go into the hot springs, but that's not really my thing. If it's yours, you might like this destination a lot more than me.

Quite a desolate, but pretty 1 hour drive out to Chena Hot Springs. Not the most impressive facilities at the hot springs. A small cafe in the activity center (though it was mostly frozen stuff you microwaved). However after you see 1 hour of nothing along the road, you learn to appreciate frozen microwaved food. Note we did not do the hot springs since we had kids. Nor did we sleep there. The ice musuem is all we did. I got a slight feel of sideshow carnival and I was unimpressed with their attempts to upsale us massage, dog sled ride, etc. also their push to buy a $12 appletini to drink in the ice musuem in an ice glass. That was cool, we watched others drink it, but didn't need one myself. $12 not too high for a special ice glass with mixed drink. However, I don't like artificial apple flavor, so that didn't appeal to me. Plus I needed to drive that 1 hour back to Fairbanks safely. The musuem admission was a bit steep, but it was unique and I saw worth it, the kids had fun. The ice artwork was pretty impressive. A chapel, fireplace, bar, hotel rooms, lots of cool stuff, an ice xylophone, and an igloo. About a 1 hour tour inside. It is timed and you must leave when time is up. Can't linger and freeze to death all day.

Everything to like. It's the best way to see and learn how the winter International Ice Art Competition is conducted and the results of the ice carving. Even if you plan to attend the actual competition in March its well worth seeing as a prelude to the Ice Art Festival.

The structure of this place is clever and interesting and it has a great display of ice carvings. There were no carvers working while we were there and that would have added somewhat to the experience. We were given a shortish introduction and history. It appeared to us the main attraction was the ability to sell us the 'special martini' in an ice glass. It was a good drink in an impressive ice glass - but no bargain. Do make sure you have photo ID if you wish to partake as there is no bending of the law there.There isn't much else to the place so a short stop whilst at Chena does it - I wouldn't travel there just for the 'museum'

I loved going into the museum because it was the work of world renowned ice artists, and also part of their workshop. The sculptures were lit and wonderful, and photos were dreamy. The price is fairly steep (especially if you want an appletini), so be prepared to pay the price.

The ice sculptures were very cool and were obviously created with a lot of talent. It was unfortunate though, that none of the ice sculptors were there for our evening tour so we never got to see any of the artists at work or hear first-hand about their art. You are required to visit the museum as part of a large group for their tours, so it was a bummer that there were so many people ushered through together instead of allowing us to meander at our leisure.

If you're enjoying the hot springs, you might as well go to the kitschy ice museum to take a look at the various ice sculptures for $15. Please note that you must go with a "tour" group that occurs on the odd hours during the day (3pm, 5pm, etc.); you cannot visit independently. There's an optional $15 appletini served in an ice glass that you can take with you... Apparently the museum is open all year round!

E place itself is not a museum, they just have ice sculptures and an ice bar for which you pay an extra fee of 15 usd for a Martini which you csn only drink while sitting at the bar. You will spend no more than 30 min inside because they will be rushing you all the time. The ice sculpture are cool and they have an igloo with an ice xylophone inside which you can play but in my opinion nothing out of this world

There was much hype about how good this was, so I was a little disappointed. It was described as being like an ice hotel - but it wasn't made of ice. It was also very small. There were some beautiful carvings and it was fabulous to watch the artists at work. But it was a small place, and very crowded. Since you have to book to visit, I think they should run more tours if there are large numbers. We were hard put not to bump in to the sculptures because of the crowd.The jousters on horseback were quite beautiful - life-like with real movement - when you could get a glimpse of them through the crowd. I'm told the appletini was not worth the $15.In all, a bit disappointing.

It is $15 per person to go in and a drink in your own ice glass at the bar is another $15 but it was all a bit of fun. The ice sculptures are made on site by award winning sculptors. There are some great works there and many are lit with different coloured lights. Go and lay down on the ice bed or check out the ice loo. There's a huge polar bear, naked lady and so much more. Enjoyable.

The Aurora Ice Museum has excellent carvings--but not many of them. There are jousters on horseback, a large bear, an igloo, and a naked woman, but that's all that stays in the memory. As for the "Appletini" in a "glass" made of ice: the novelty is not worth the $15 it costs. (You can keep the glass--until it melts, of course.) Like the hot springs and the Chena River Resort overall, the ice museum is something of a disappointment.