Hey, everyone!
Chrissa here and I am so excited because ICE has returned
and there is SO. MUCH. CHRISTMAS!
that is happening at Gaylord Palms.
If you're thinking of heading over there to ICE this year,
I'm going to go over this entire event to help you decide
if it would be worth it for you and your family.
So let's get into it.
The Christmas celebrations
at Gaylord Palms is going on now until January 1st.
And there is so much going on all throughout the entire resort.
The most anticipated event is the return of ICE this year, featuring Dr.
Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
And I could not wait to experience ICE and bought
my tickets online through the Gaylord Palms website.
We arrived on a very busy Sunday afternoon and made our way
over to the Alpine Village, where you can find the entrance to ICE.
And here you can take a moment to see the artisans from China
who have carved the 2 million pounds of ice over a six week
period to create the amazing display that you're about to walk through.
And if you're curious to know just how cold the ice
is, you can stop here before you make your way inside the event,
because there is a very strict, no touching policy once you're in there.
Next, you'll get a chance to take your photos
in front of the ICE sign and then pick up your parka,
which thank goodness they give you because it is really cold in there.
And I highly recommend to bring some gloves and a scarf
and maybe even a warm hat to stay warm
because you'll definitely need it.
I’m ready to go.
It is freezing in here!
We’re gonna go see ICE!
Once you’re snug in your parka.
You'll get a chance to take a parka photo and then enter the main event,
which is just as awe-inspiring as I was hoping it to be.
Woah!
Wow! This is amazing!
The very first room that you'll walk into, you’ll encounter
Grinch’s lair north of Whoville with an igloo that you can even walk
into and take photos with the Grinch man himself.
There are even iconic scenes from the book,
like the wreath with the Grinch hand holding the ornament and all
around you, there are tons of trees and Whoville houses.
Making your way past this room
you'll walk into the second area where you're welcomed into Whoville
with Cindy Lou Who and the rest of the Whos
in their village.
In here you'll also get a chance to see a giant Grinch bust
that was way taller than I was.
And the next room you'll walk into is where the Grinch stole Christmas.
And you'll get to see scenes with Grinch and Max
and Grinch on the chimney,
as well as him coming down the fireplace.
There's even a scene with all of the Whos snuggled in their bed
while Grinch is stealing the roast beast.
In the next room are the famous ice slides.
And if you choose to you can line up and take a ride down
one of the five frozen ice chutes.
And I was really excited to try this because
when you get a chance to slide down ice?
But I must have had too much stuff on me, or
there was something wrong with the slide because I had this scoot down
the entire way as these other kids just zoomed just right by me.
But it was fun either way.
Next to the slide, you'll find the Grinch and Max
on a sleigh with a bag full of stolen presents and decorations
after the room of slides is the Magic of Christmas room.
Where you'll find the
Whos holding hands in a circle, singing carols with the Grinch nearby
looking on with his heart growing three sizes that day.
With the Grinch’s change of heart.
You'll find him with Cindy Lou Who and the other
whos enjoying this elaborate Christmas feast.
And the details on these carvings are just amazing.
And sometimes you even forget that you're looking
at these blocks of ice.
And while we were there, they even had one of the artisans
finishing off another one of the ice figurines.
The ice artisans travel from Harbin, China,
which is also known as the Ice City and is home to the world's
largest annual ice and snow sculpting festival.
Harbin is known to stay below freezing
for almost half the year.
And at the very end of ICE is their famous nativity scene.
And it was absolutely beautiful.
This display is carved using crystal clear ice
for this absolutely spectacular finale
that just takes your breath away.
So I have to say that I really enjoyed our entire ICE experience.
Just a couple of facts that I learned about ICE
is that it covers over 20,000 square feet with sculptures
that soar over 20 to 30 feet high.
And inside this entire experience,
it is a bone chilling nine degrees Fahrenheit.
So thankfully, they do give you these signature blue parkas when you come in.
The entire ICE experience that you walk through
is carved from over 2 million pounds of brightly colored ice.
And if you stacked all of the 6700 ice blocks
they would reach higher than the 17 Empire State Buildings.
And as long as you can take the frigid temperatures,
there is no time limit to your walk through.
They do say that the average time is roughly
about 20 to 40 minutes to be able to see at all.
After enjoying ICE you’ll exit back into the Alpine Village.
And I don't know about you, but I had to pick up a hot cocoa
to warm back up.
I needed that.
I'm still shivering!
And thankfully they had them ready
and available at Snowy Snack Shack.
Snowy Snack Shack consists of three separate snack
booths, Cinnabon, Auntie Anne's pretzels, and Mike's Italian ice,
there is a single line for the register and then you'll
pick up your food from the booths after you place your order.
While we were there, we got the classic roll from Cinnabon,
a pepperoni pretzel from Auntie Anne's
and a frozen hot cocoa from Mike's Italian ice.
Once you've thawed out
the rest of Alpine Village is very similar to previous years.
If you've gone here before.
You'll find all of the merchandise in the middle of the market square retail.
And here you can pick up everything from ornaments, beautiful
Christmas decor, apparel and so much more.
There's also a whole section dedicated
to the Grinch to go along with this year's theme.
Also here is a Build-A-Bear
Workshop which has some really fun holiday themed bears and other stuffed
characters that you and the kids can put together yourself.
If you're interested in building gingerbread instead.
There is also the Alpine Sweet Shop where you can decorate
and build gingerbread.
In addition to that, there's also the Elf Training Academy,
Santa’s Workshop where you can take photos with
jolly old Saint Nick himself, as well as Mrs.
Claus Christmas traditions, which is all separately
ticketed experiences that you can add on to your day.
On the other side of the village is where you'll find the Snow Factory
and enjoy a few other experiences that include the snowball
build and blast where you can build and toss real snowballs to boost
the power of the snowmaking machines to earn points.
There's also the snow flow mountain where you can slide down the factory
conveyor belt that is frozen solid and slide down tubes
to a thrilling, plummeting slide down a hilly ice coaster.
There's also snow fall in the snow
fall plaza, which is always a really fun sight.
And for
the adults in the group, you could also find the snow bar
that's located here for just a little bit more holiday cheer.
After you've enjoyed all of the fun in Alpine Village,
you'll want to head out into
Gaylord Palms to enjoy the rest of the beautiful events
and decor located throughout the resort.
One of the first areas that you'll come across is Saint Augustine,
where you'll be able to find
a small scale recreation of the Castillo de San Marco,
which is completely decorated in Christmas decor
right next to the Castillo is their 60 foot
Christmas tree and light curtains where you'll find the light show.
And throughout the night the tree and curtains will light and dance to music.
There is a shine light show that is scheduled at 9:15pm
and we actually stayed this year to see it.
But we found that it was virtually the same show that goes on
throughout the entire evening.
So don't feel like you need to stay if you've already seen
the dancing lights throughout the night.
The tree and the dancing lights are a free experience
for anyone and is a beautiful sight to see if you're there for the night.
Also along the walkways throughout the atrium,
you'll come across the trees for the Christmas tree stroll.
There are eight elaborately decorated Christmas trees
throughout the four and a half acres of the atrium.
And if you've never been to the Gaylord Palms before, this atrium is huge
and consists of separate areas that represent different parts
of Florida that include Key West, Saint Augustine and the Everglades.
In addition to all of this, Gaylord Palms also has a ton of other ticketed
shows and experiences that include the naughty or nice escape
room, a Cirque Christmas Spirit show, which you can actually get a glimpse of
while you're around the atrium, because they soar up
to 35 feet in the air during their performances.
So whether you're going to Gaylord Palms for the day or staying the night,
there is so much here to experience during the holidays.
But if you're looking for more holiday events
throughout central Florida, then you'll want to check out
my playlist that just popped up on the screen.
In this playlist, you'll find holiday events from theme parks,
small local events, as well as local drive thru light displays.
Until next time, everyone!
I hope you have an amazing day and go out and enjoy some Florida sunshine