well there is a live look down that
moody gardens in prep for their big
holiday season can't wait for this from
festive lights to giant ice sculptures
and holiday movies on the big screen
there is so much going on down on the
island Jerry Hammett jack is here to
show us what's going down and you know
welcome to our little Wonderland here in
the studio how's everything going really
good there are so many things going on
for the holidays down at Galveston
Island I don't even know where to begin
but let's talk about Iceland because
this is a huge attraction yes
we're 19 days away from our big grand
opening and Santa parachutes in that day
it's a very big day for us and it's a
lot of fun so we not only introduced
Iceland but we introduced festival of
lights our holiday films we've got
holiday season all over the entire
property and is it true that these ice
sculptures are made using for real like
2 million pounds of ice yes we start
freezing that ice in February and we
freeze it year round in College Station
we bring it in and they colorize it
while they're freezing it and we've just
been creating this amazing attraction
that you see here in the artistry on it
is phenomenal it's absolutely beautiful
and now talk to us about the experience
at Iceland because this is I mean folks
don't want to bundle up for this this is
9 degrees Fahrenheit yes that's very
cold yes and you know part of the fun of
this is you know we've got a new theme
for sure this year so that is different
so our pole to pole seam we're taking it
from the South Pole to the North Pole
so if you've been before this year will
be very different so you're going to go
through and you're gonna see penguins
and you're gonna go lots of penguins by
the way polar bears you'll go through
you'll see large whales reindeer Santa
Claus so in that you also have shivers
ice bar and it's changed up this year to
be a Northwest Trading Post and then
you go over to the ice slide and it's a
glacier ice slide it's 30 feet tall so
you want to bundle up because you're
gonna bring the kids in there yeah
they're gonna want to go on that over
and over and over and over and the
adults do too
that would be me is the bomb
okay so the festival of lights this is
also a very popular attraction because
this is one mile it's a walking trail
right and it's all choreographed to
music yeah as you go through you're
gonna see everything from the nativity
scene to Nutcracker soldiers we even
have an outdoor ice skating rink so this
has become a tradition for a lot of
families and we have even a fire pit
where you can go roast some s'mores ah
and and by the way when you roast your
s'mores the money that's raised there
goes towards conservation funds to help
with animals that are in peril so that
is fantastic
so it's sweet in many ways sweet in many
ways makes me want to have a dozen
s'mores all right so we already
mentioned the Arctic ice slide the train
ride and this is something people can
come hungry because you guys have all
kinds of food
we have food along the festival of
lights' Trail you can grab a hot
chocolate and you can grab some festive
food along the way or if you want to sit
down we have a fantastic holiday buffet
so you can sit down and really enjoy
yourself and have a dinner with your
family so you can schedule that around
your holiday film choices and your
festival of lights a nice land and even
wander over to see real Penguins inside
the aquarium there okay another huge
attraction we've had these guys on our
show Cirque joyeux noël yes this is a
fantastic dinner and show performance
that's taking place over at the Moody
Gardens Hotel and we have matinee
performances and dinner performances and
it's a Cirque show here that that is
none other the entertainment value is
phenomenal these guys are so great plus
holiday films on the big screen right
that's we've got Jerusalem and the light
before Christmas we've got some films
that are theming in with our North Pole
and South Pole as well so with a pole to
pole theme for Iceland so we've got some
traditional favorites and some new
surprises along route off and Rudolph
what's great is that you guys are doing
Rudolph in 4d so it's this fully
immersive experience where people feel
like they are in the movie yeah it
actually snows in the theater and even
your sense of smell is engaged so it's
it's really a special experience when
you go into the 4d theater engages all
your senses and if you're looking for a
place to stay
the Moody Gardens Hotel and Spa they
have special travel packages available
yes and we've actually got a great new
New Year's Eve celebration that's going
on with a hotel package for our New
Year's Palooza this year too so
something new and different and it's a
family-friendly New Year's Eve that
happens a little bit earlier in the
evening so we've got fireworks and you
can enjoy that and that kicks off the
balloon drop is at 9:00 p.m. so it's
early enough where the kids get to go to
sleep and they're not staying up too
late
so many things to enjoy we just had the
information on the screen about ticket
prices as well there are different
prices regular prices for adults
discounts for seniors is that what's the
best website for people to visit to find
more information and start planning
their trip if you go to moody gardens
org we've got all the ticket options so
you can go the evening pass is really
the way to go 444 95 you're saving $20
on a regular day pass price but you
still get to do everything and you just
come in a little bit later at 4:00 p.m.
and you can enjoy all of that and then
if you go on value days which are Sunday
through Thursday you stay five dollars
extra lines are a little bit shorter on
those days too so you can get in have
some fun on the value days and save some
extra money that all right Jerry Hammond
check thank you so much for stopping by
and we will see you down on the island
moody gardens org is the website to
visit for more information and stick
around Houston life we'll be right back