Gaylord Hotels presents ICE!
Photo: Marriott/Gaylord Hotels
There’s not much that will get this beach girl to willingly walk into a room full of ice with temperatures in the single digits. The one thing that will is when the location is a Gaylord hotel and the event is ICE! Plus, it gives me the chance to actually wear the cute, fur-trimmed boots that hang out in my closet all year.
Gaylord Hotels has presented the enchanting extravaganza of ICE! way before the recent phenomenon of frozen fractals took over the world. Open to the public from mid-November through early January, ICE! is presented by Pepsi and serves as the anchor attraction for over-the-top holiday celebrations at Gaylord Hotels’ four massive resort destinations.
More than 160 artisans from Harbin, China – home of the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival – carve, cut and dye eight million pounds of ice to create Gaylord Hotels’ signature ICE! attraction, a frosty wonderland of unbelievable ice creations.
“Each of our four locations offers more than two million pounds of ice sculptures and 20-foot-tall ice slides,” said Warren Lyng, director of special events for Gaylord Hotels. “We’re excited to introduce new ICE! themes for 2014 and to offer a brand new interactive area called The Frostbite Factory where visitors can watch artisans carve ice sculptures right before their eyes.”
Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee.
Photo: PRNewsFoto/Gaylord Hotels
ICE! themes vary between the four Gaylord resorts. Each unique resort has a specific ICE! theme as well as offers upgrades and location exclusive experiences.
- Gaylord Texan’s Lone Star Christmas (Grapevine, Texas) – “Frosty the Snowman”
- Gaylord National’s Christmas on the Potomac (National Harbor, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.) – “Frosty the Snowman”
- Gaylord Opryland’s A Country Chirstmas (Nashville, Tennessee) – “Twas the Night Before Christmas”
- Gaylord Palms Christmas at Gaylord Palms (Kissimmee, Florida) – “The Nutcracker”
The ICE! attraction is kept at a nippy nine degrees and has 10-inch thick walls. A series of inter-connected rooms features breathtaking 3D sculpted ice pieces, including two-story ice slides and memorable holiday scenes. Each ICE! display concludes with a Nativity scene carved in crystal clear ice and accompanied by an audio of the story.
The Gaylord offers big blue parkas for guests to wear on their trek through the frozen frontier of ICE! I also recommend layering on the sweaters, scarves and gloves.
A wide variety of ICE! upgraded experiences are available, ranging from VIP behind-the-scenes tours to wedding proposal packages and more. Visitors 21 and up can “chill out” at On The Blocks, an exclusive ICE! bar at select properties. This new upgrade option includes signature drink samples poured through an ice luge into a souvenir glass. Additionally, the Gaylord National has changed the location of its ice dome. It is no longer across the parking lot from the hotel. It is now located on the front lawn of the hotel, facing the Harbor and the Potomac River.
Gaylord National’s Christmas on the Potomac. Photo: Marriott/Gaylord Hotels
Gaylord Hotels is part of the Marriott family and offers a resort environment with “everything in one place” – diverse dining options, a full-service spa, on-site shopping, entertainment and more. Tickets and holiday vacation packages are now on sale at ChristmasAtGaylordHotels.com.
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting the Gaylord National’s ICE! display a couple of times. I hope to someday get the chance to visit the rest of them. How about you? Which Gaylord ICE! events have you been to?
To read about past ICE! events, please visit:
- ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas in ICE! at the Gaylord National
- Shrek the Halls: Gaylord National goes ogre with ICE! 2012
- Going Ogre at the Gaylord National with ‘Shrek the Halls’ in ICE!
You do not have to stay overnight to enjoy the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Hotels. Please visit Marriott.com to learn more about or to book Gaylord Hotel Christmas vacation packages.
Check out how to win a $500 American Express gift card from Gaylord Hotels by clicking right here.
Click here to enter for a chance to win a an overnight stay at a Gaylord Resort Hotel.
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