Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — Following a request for more information, assistant director of Parks & Community Services Emily Nelson brought an updated presentation on the temporary ice rink for Western Wonderland to Dripping Springs City Council at its Tuesday, July 7, meeting.
The event has been in operation since 2023, when the city initially partnered with Ice Rink Events to have a seasonal 60-foot-by-120-foot ice rink at Dripping Springs Ranch Park (DSRP), as previously reported by the News-Dispatch. A proposed agreement with the same company was presented at the June 16, 2026, city council meeting, but after members on the dais asked for comparable price points across the region, it was brought forward again July 7.
As some council members requested looking at the potential of increasing the price of entry, the assistant director also did a comparison breakdown, using attendance numbers that she had available from 2025, in order to look at the cost recovery.
Currently, the ticket prices are $15 per single skate, $100 for a “punch pass” that pays for 10 skates and $10 for a group discount, which can be used for birthday parties, etc. Still, Western Wonderland admission is among the lowest in the regional market, according to Nelson. The following are the price points and other offerings by neighboring temporary rinks:
• Marble Falls: $15 per skater; $60 per a family of four — advance discount available
• Fredericksburg: $15 per skater; $60 per a family of four — all day pass
• Bee Cave: $16 per skater; $64 per a family of four — with skate rental and 50-minute session
• Long Center: $22 per skater; $88 per a family of four — one-hour session and skate rental
• Four Seasons: $40 per skater; $160 per a family of four — premium holiday experience
“We include the skate rental right now … Some of the little kids skate longer than an hour, but once we clear the ice for the Zamboni, it's kind of a natural moment that people leave. We, usually, every hour to an hour-and-a-half, run that Zamboni,” Nelson said.
The “unique offerings” that Western Wonderland has include a sponsor and influencer night, character breakfast, micro events, community performance stage and holiday light trail, Nelson said.
The total income from 2025 ticket sales was $147,442, with unrecovered costs at $58,651 and cost recovery at 71%.
The breakdown is as follows:
• An increase of $1 would match Bee Cave’s position in the market, with a total income of $167,351, unrecovered costs of $38,742 and cost recovery of 81%
• An increase of $2 would put Dripping Springs slightly above Bee Cave, with a total income of $175,729, unrecovered costs of $30,364 and cost recovery of 85%
• An increase of $3 would put Dripping Springs mid-market, with a total income of $184,107, unrecovered costs of $21,986 and cost recovery of 89%
• An increase of $4 brings Dripping Springs to upper-middle market, with a total income of $192,485, unrecovered costs of $13,608 and cost recovery of 93%
• An increase of $5 brings Dripping Springs to still be below Long Center, with a total income of $200,863, unrecovered costs of $5,230 and cost recovery of 97%
Nelson’s recommendation would be to do a hybrid of the workup to keep the single tickets at $15, but raise the punch pass to $120 and the group discount to $12. This would make the total income $153,364.36, unrecovered costs $52,729.05 and total cost recovery 74.41%.
“At $120, two of those skates are still free, so it's still a great deal. The only other rink that offers something like the punch pass is Fredericksburg and their 10 punch pass — they have a different name for it — is $135, as just a comparison on what I was looking at,” she said. “There is still a lot of room to move, like the punch pass … and the bulk, like birthday, pricing.”
There is also a component of the agreement that includes an optional attraction for 10 ice bumper cars, available at a cost of $1,400 per operating day, plus an estimated $3,800 freight charge. If they are used, one-third of the rink would be used for the ice bumper cars, while the other two-thirds would still be open for skating.
“Once they've delivered those ice bumper cars, they stay with us for the entire season, so when we choose to activate them. It's $1,400, so we don't have to run it when we know it's the slow days. We can run it on our peak days; we can run it that week leading into the holiday season when kids are out of school. We would be really strategic when we were going to activate the bumper cars,” Nelson explained.
According to her cost estimate, if they were running every day for the entirety of the contract, or season, it would be $59,800, whereas, if it was the weekend, plus peak days, it would cost the city $31,800.
“I would encourage having some type of a pass, where if they wanted to ice skate and [use a] bumper car, there was a little bit of savings with that,” Nelson said.
She added that Marble Falls — which also offers bumper cars — prices it at $12-$15 for seven minutes. So, she calculated that, if DSRP did 10 sessions for 10-15 minutes per day at a $15 price point, or $25 for a pass that included skating, with only eight cars running, the daily income would be $1,920. This number multiplied by 20 days is $38,400.
Council member Ana Grace Husted thanked Nelson for bringing forward the information that was requested last time and stated that she loves these kinds of events that invite tourists to also enjoy what else Dripping Springs has to offer. However, she emphasized her concern with how much money the city is retaining.
Husted recalled in the previous presentation that the majority of people who attend the event are from the Austin area and so, she feels like if they were to decide to increase the ticket prices, some people would still opt to go to Bee Cave. But Western Wonderland does offer the food trucks, influencer night, character breakfast, micro events and more that others do not, so the price jump could be worth it.
“I personally would like us to get it to the 97% [cost recovery], but I would default to staff's opinion on how we would get there, whether that's maybe doing individual ticket prices up to $20, but we keep the discount for a family of four for the punch passes because that's affordable and that's important,” Husted said. “Maybe we up it a little bit for the bumper cars; that's just my point of view. I really want to cover that gap. I want to be able to recover as much money as possible, keep the event going and keep it worth it.”
Nelson clarified that ticket prices do not have to be set at this time and the city could first see what kinds of sponsorships come in before making that decision.
Council member Taline Manassian questioned whether Nelson is asking for approval of the agreement with the ability to do the bumper cars and try them this year or not.
While there are some members of the community who would like to see them and she believes they could be another unique offering, Nelson said that it’s up to council’s discretion and that what she is bringing forward is a baseline of having the temporary ice rink with the option of bumper cars.
The company would also work with the city to implement the bumper cars, if they are not initially included in the contract, Nelson said.
Ultimately, council unanimously voted to approve the agreement for the temporary ice rink, with a plan to circle back to deciding on the ticket prices and bumper cars in September.
To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/44tyOjR.
