What is snow like? Discovery Cube lets O.C. kids find out

Britni Harris said she was looking forward to a trip to Wrightwood during Thanksgiving week to play in the snow with her young children for the first time.

When she got there, after the 1 1/2-hour drive, the resident of Orange found disappointment instead.

“There were just patches [of snow],” said Harris, 32. “We tried to go sledding, and it was just impossible.”

But on Thursday, she was able to fulfill her desire a mere 10 minutes away from her home, at the Discovery Cube Orange County in Santa Ana, where through Jan. 3, nearly 100 tons of man-made snow, spread out over the course of two weeks, and attractions like ice tubing are helping to turn Orange County into a winter destination.

“That was so cool,” Harris’ 4-year-old daughter, Tyler, said excitedly after going down the smaller of two ice tubing slides. “I want to go again. I want to go faster.”

The event, called Winter Wonderfest, which opened Dec. 19, aims to introduce winter attractions to the community while being educational, said Dan Nasitka, director of communications for the Discovery Cube, where education is a constant focus no matter the season.

At Winter Wonderfest, kids can learn how snow is made, use engineering skills to build their own cars out of candy and test them, and learn about gravity while zipping down the ice tubing slides.

Guests can also visit the annual Science of Gingerbread exhibit’s 300 or so gingerbread houses, use Lincoln Logs to create small cabins, place large, soft numbered blocks in numerical order to create life-size archways, and see a science demonstration involving ingredients like sugar, flour and nutmeg.

“We always try to tie in some form of education as well as entertainment,” Nasitka said. “For this exhibit, we want to teach the kids some engineering, a little bit of physics, how gravity works, what friction is and how ski jumps work.”

Nasitka said Orange County was in need of an attraction like this, adding that 2015 was the perfect year to introduce the event because of the Discovery Cube’s $25-million, 44,000-square-foot expansion in June.

“I think in Southern California, we live close to the mountains and we live close to the beach, but unless you actually drive an hour and a half to get to Big Bear and there’s actually snow, a lot of people don’t see snow,” he said.

“A lot of the kids in the surrounding communities of Santa Ana probably haven’t seen snow before or felt it. We’re trying to take an awesome thing, bring it to the science center, make it accessible for everyone, and then on top, we sprinkle a little bit of education.”

Danielle Reddel, 45, of Mission Viejo acknowledged that her children, ages 5 and 3, who have only played in snow one other time, did not quite understand the science behind it all but was glad Winter Wonderfest offered them a chance to play locally in the white stuff.

She said the family was planning a trip to Big Bear next week, and this was a nice way to get them excited while familiarizing them with certain concepts.

“My 5-year-old daughter is very curious about how things work,” Reddel said. “She wouldn’t understand why she was going to get wet from the snow, so I was trying to explain to her that snow was water, and she’s still working it in her brain.”

A Noon Year’s Eve party is also being planned at Discovery Cube for Dec. 30 and 31 at noon and 2 p.m. each day. Activities will include a balloon drop, learning stations and green-screen photo booth. Guests are invited to come dressed as their favorite superhero.

“It’s just so much fun,” Nasitka said of the superhero-themed event. “It’s nice for the parents because otherwise there aren’t a whole lot open or age-appropriate things for their kids for New Year’s Eve. It gives them an opportunity to celebrate.”

Admission to Discovery Cube is $12.95 for children ages 3 to 14 and $17.95 for adults. Winter Wonderfest costs an extra $5. The center, at 2500 N. Main St., is open daily but hours vary. Call (714) 542-2823 for further information.