It’s 10 PM Sunday night. The Weight family is tucked safely into Room 221 at the Stone Mountain Hampton Inn. We’re wet, tired and happy, having just spent an incredibly intense few hours experiencing Snow Mountain, the closest man-made snow to Middle Georgia.

We tubed, sledded, made snow, angels, threw snow balls, built igloos and snow men and drank ridiculously expensive hot chocolate that was made with some of the worst tasting city water I’ve ever had. Overall it was a really fun family outing, a great way to spend a couple of days over the MLK holiday weekend.

If you’re thinking of taking your brood to experience Snow Mountain, I hope you find the following review to be helpful. I’m pretty level-headed, fair, travel a lot, am not on Stone Mountain’s payroll and feel no obligation to sugar coat things, although if the snow had been sugar coated, it may have been softer.

Snow Mountain, which is inside Stone Mountain Park, consists of 12 tubing slides, a snow play area and a fire pit for making $5.00 smores, which taste the same as 25 cent smores.

Upon entering the snow area, we got in line and waited for our start time of 7 PM with around 300 other excited moms, dads and kids. Promptly at seven, we each grabbed a tube and took our places on a long slow moving walkway on which everyone was told not to walk. The walkway ended at an even longer maze of non-moving walkways that eventually led to the top of the tubing slides. On the first go-round, the line was, as they say in the country "slow as molasses." I might have celebrated a birthday about midway. However, on subsequent runs, it got less crowded and faster. On our last run, there was no waiting, just the trek to get to the top.  

The tubing was EXCELLENT. Way Fast. Way Fun! Worth the wait. Even my fearful four year old was laughing his head off as he shot down the not-too-steep slope. In our two-hour allotted time, we were able to tube seven times. That was with a very short bathroom break.

The snow play area has everything you need to build fantastic snow people and igloos. It also has a great snowball target area for any major league pitchers in training.

Staff members were all very helpful and more courteous than I’ve seen in a family amusement park in a long time. I began to wonder if they were clones. I point this out because we all know just what a precious rarity it is to encounter really, sincerely nice employees in such a large setting.

Here are just a few things I’d want to know ahead of time if I were planning a trip to Snow Mountain.

1)      They call it Snow Mountain, but, let me tell ya, it’s NOT snow. It’s ice. And if it’s balled up and hurled at you at 50 mph, you could lose an eye. If you stand in the wrong spot while the snow machine is shooting projectiles through the air, you could withstand a severe head injury. Just a note of precaution, if anyone in your family enjoys snowball fighting, I’d recommend wearing armor and a helmet, and perhaps having your own shield.

2)      Wear water proof gloves. I’m serious. This is NOT an occasion to wear those cute little mittens that Aunt Mildred crocheted for you. Depending on the weather, you can skip the scarf, snow bibb pants, face mask and even long underwear, unless you plan to roll around in the snow, making a whole choir of angels. But don’t forego the gloves. Building snowmen with ice that’s normally used in slushies can be excruciating on the hands. Protect them well.

3)      Book your tubing time in the evening, or at night, not during the day. After 7PM, the lines get shorter, which allows for more time on the slopes. This is especially important to parents of children with little or no patience.

4)      As with any family attraction, the food is over the top expensive. A 16 oz Coke is $3.29. You already know how I feel about the s-mores and hot chocolate. Security didn’t check our bags on the way into the park, so I’m thinking next time, we might bring in our own refreshments. That may come back to bite us if Mr. Bag Checker was coincidentally off tonight.

5) They don't always have double tubes available. And tubing with a little one on your lap isn't allowed. This is very important to know ahead of time. If you have a timid youngster, who is afraid of going down alone, you might be sitting on the sidelines with him or her while the rest of the family zooms past. On second thought, you could probably get some really good photos from the viewing area, because it's nearly impossible to do when you're tubing.

6)      Check the weather forecast before buying your tickets. Don’t expect to take a leisurely drive to Stone Mountain and just waltz into Snow Mountain whenever you feel like it. It’s often sold out. Book your reservations online ahead of time at www.stonemountainpark.com. Make sure you know the weather forecast first. I almost got tickets for yesterday instead of today. After the Genesis-like flood we received all day, I’m glad my husband stepped in with his common sense in planning.