Frozen Fun at ICE! Gaylord Palms

Price

Tickets are a little pricey at $32.99 for adults, although there are some deals where you can buy two for one if you keep your eye out.

Once you get there, parking is another $36.

You reserve tickets online and pick the time you want to go. We went around 12:30pm on a Thursday and it was not crowded at all.

Before ICE!

There is a very adorable “Alpine Village” set up in the room before entering ICE! It looks a lot like a little Swiss town.

There are activities like gingerbread house ($26.99) and toy making ($18.99) workshops, a big gift shop, a large ice slide ($24.99), and stands to buy snacks. My mom got a couple souvenirs and a drink ($15).

Definitely be prepared to drop some money at this event!

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Once we checked in we were issued warm jackets—it’s about 9 degrees Fahrenheit inside. There was also some interesting information about the people and processes behind creating the ice sculptures, which we enjoyed learning about.

The ICE! displays itself were spectacular. The colors were really vibrant and scenes were creatively crafted. We had fun taking pictures!

There were iconic parts from the movie, some of which were interactive, like Snoopy’s dog house.

Every ICE! showcase also features a giant slide anyone can go down (for free!). You don’t really go that fast but it is a fun concept.

The final scene corresponded to the final scene in the movie, where Charlie Brown and his friends gather around the Christmas tree and sing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”

And, so we don’t forget the true meaning of Christmas, every ICE! ends with a giant nativity scene made out of clear ice. Like everything else, this looked great.

On the way out we returned the jackets and bought souvenir pictures and frames ($55), which were expensive like everything else but actually looked pretty good.

Walk Around Gaylord Palms

When we were done we walked around the impressive Gaylord Palms property, which is like a little resort town that’s all indoors.

There are different sections based on Florida themes, like “Everglades” and “Key West.” There’s even a dining area that looks like a sail boat!

Here you can also find the Christmas acrobat show ($19.99). We didn’t watch it but it looked interesting from the outside.

The property also has a water park and other outdoor areas for sports. There are multiple places to eat, but we didn’t get anything there as we weren’t hungry.

Overall

I think ICE! is worth the expense, especially if you can get reduced ticket prices by booking ahead of time. The sculptures are really high quality and you won’t see anything like it most other places (I am reminded of the comparatively low-quality ice sculptures I encountered at Jungfraujoch).

There are five Gaylord hotels that have ICE!, in Maryland, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Colorado, each with a different theme. It’s especially nice when you don’t live in a cold winter area and want a bit of that traditional white Christmas vibe.

My mom and I both recommend this fun and memorable activity to get you into the Christmas spirit!