Friday, December 8, 2017

ICE! featuring Christmas Around the World at Gaylord Palms


Baby, it's cold outside!! You don't get to say that much here in sunny south Florida, but last weekend at the ICE! featuring Christmas Around the World display at the spectacular Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, we sure got to be cold and have a fabulous time while doing it too. 


We donned our own hats and gloves, and the parkas (which they provided) and braved the freezing cold just so we could see what all the happy fuss was about (everyone who has seen it loves it). It did not disappoint.  




Over 2 million pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures depicting Christmas scenes from all around the world were on display. If you didn't know they were ice, you might not even be able to tell. The talent in these rooms was beyond amazing.


I love the fact that the ice was colored and made the characters look even more realistic. There were definitely photo opportunities everywhere you looked, like this classic Santa scene seen above, depicting a U.S. Christmas.


The United Kingdom display made me wistful. While I love holidays here, I do think it would be so nice to spend just one Christmas with the family in London. :)


Here you see my granddaughter and her daddy enjoying the scenes. I love that they had on matching gloves (it's always the little things that make you smile).


You're never too old to play outside in the winter, right? My 18-year-old daughter proved that to be true, by climbing in and under some of the tunnels that were on display. She may be grown now, but she's still a big kid at heart.  


Some of the scenes made me feel nostalgic, like the carolers you see above. Notice the little girl's pony tail sticking straight up in the air? How cute is that??


Ice! Christmas Around the World was such a fun way to spend some time with the family. The cultural displays allowed lessons to be taught too, both to the kids, and to us. None of us knew that in the Netherlands they leave carrots in a shoe for Sinterklass' horse...but now we do! I always like to learn about holiday traditions in other places, this is the most visual way I have been able to do so, for sure. :)


By the time we got to the end of the very large rooms full of displays, my 4-year-old grandbaby was about done with the cold and ready to go out we came across the huge multi-lane ice slides. Guess who got a second wind??


If you guessed my granddaughter, you would be correct. ;) Here's a picture of her laughing it up while going down the slide, and her dad attempting to get her picture through the ice. 


Everyone took their turn. Some of us got to go down together. That's my youngest son in the middle there, and his other siblings are behind him waiting their turn to go. As you can see, this adventure was fun for the kiddos and adults alike, just like everything else was at the ICE! Christmas Around the World adventure.


I asked my 2nd oldest if he missed the cold weather (we used to live up north for a bit. His response said it all. ;)  I can't say I miss the cold up north (because I don't) but it was still fun to experience it this way, for a short amount of time, during a holiday-oriented getaway. 


I thought everything was just great, but it was the huge Nativity Scene on the way out that really captured my attention and made this event beyond spectacular. Filling a whole room with the scene from baby Jesus being born, it was definitely a wonder to see. I am in awe that they can do these kinds of things with ice. This was the only display not colored in, and the dark background of sky lit with twinkling stars was definitely the perfect touch. This picture I have does not even do it justice, it was absolutely stunning in person.


The gift shoppe on the way out had everything you could possibly want or need for Christmas, including these cute, plush elves,


and these most excellent gingerbread homes that could light up.


I even found a reindeer in there that I took home. Cute, isn't he? ;)


When you leave the display area, there are SO many activities that you can do with the kids, including a little workshop area where you get to meet a walking Gingerbread Man. The kids thought that was a hoot!! I have to admit, it was my first time to see one too (I kept thinking of the Shrek movies, lol). 


We also got to have a Meet & Greet with Snoopy. He was very personable and gave everyone in our party big hugs, except the guys...he gave them High-5's. LOL. We love Snoopy. AND we love ICE! Christmas Around the World.

This display is running now through January 7th, and I highly recommend it for everyone!  Learn more by visiting here!

49 comments:

  1. Sure looks like a fun time was had, but cold? Bah, get enough of that here. Maybe if I didn't have it ever, then yeah. Can tell I'd never miss it, huh? Still would be fun to go down the slides and such though. A walking gingebread man would remind me of Shrek too.

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  2. What an incredible display! I don't think I've ever seen ice carvings that were in color before. Wish I lived closer - I would definitely go see it.

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  3. How fun! I love the idea of celebrating Christmas and learning about other cultures at the same time.

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  4. What a cool place! I would love to check it out. I am impressed by all this ice, especially the colored sculptures.

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  5. What a cool experience! I'm glad that they provided parkas for visitors. Having lived in South Florida myself, I know that Floridians are not equipped for visiting such a cold place! I think the clear sculptures are my favorite.

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  6. This looks like the place to be! So much fun under one roof? If we lived closer, we would take the kids to take in the festivities.

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  7. Oh wow, that is awesome! I agree, in north Florida, you don't get to say that much either.

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  8. looks like a fantastic holiday wonderland. what a fun place to visit i know your grand daughter loved it!

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  9. How fun. I would have loved to take my great grand-baby here. She would love this as much as I would.

    Your son is most handsome.

    Have a fabulous day. ♥

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  10. This looks like an awesome Christmas adventure.

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  11. Oh what loveliness to experience and in Florida where it's warmer!
    Your family is so lovely Rosey.
    I do hope that you will have your desire to spend time in London with your loves.
    Awesome photos!
    I'd love this adventure also.

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  12. It looks like a cool display! Get it? Cool! Hardy, har, har.

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  13. What an interesting place! sounds like the perfect place to spend time with your family!

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  14. This looks like such an experience. I would like to see the exhibits but not for the cold factor. I'm from New York state and I know cold.

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  15. It's just so impressive what they're able to do with ice! This looked so fun!

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  16. Oh my goodness how absolutely amazing is that, I would never have thought some of those sculptures were made out of ice, I honestly had to double take with some!

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  17. Wow...looks like the perfect place to spend the holidays.

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  18. OMG...this looks sooo cool! (pun intended! 😉). This is the kind of thing that every kid should be able to experience; it looks so magical and festive. Thanks for sharing your photos!!!

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  19. Ice slides?!? I'm generally not a fan of cold weather, but that sounds way too cool to resist, even for me!

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  20. We saw T'was The Night Before Christmas at Gaylord Texan this year and it was spectacular as usual. I saw the one you saw last year I think.

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  21. Wow, that sounds like a blast! I have no doubt my kids would love it!

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  22. Ok, this is amazing!! I would love to visit somewhere that has these ice sculptures, and fixtures.

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  23. Well, that's one way to get a little bit of ice into your holidays now ;) It really does look like a fun place to visit. All of the sculptures are really neat and I also like how they colored them! The slides look like a lot of fun, and what a nice touch to have Snoopy greeting the guests.

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  24. We went to the ICE show last year. My kids were too young to enjoy it but might be old enough to try agin next year. It made me miss Alaska so much! We used to go to the national competition for ice sculpting every year in Fairbanks.

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  25. Those are some very lovely displays. That looks like a fun place!

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  26. I saw ICE!a few years ago in Florida and absolutely loved it! It was suchba fun experience and the ice carvings blew me away. My favorite part was the nativity.

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  27. We love the Gaylord's Ice Displays. We go every year here in Texas. Our theme is different, but looking forward to it. Looks like you all had fun.

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  28. Oh how nice! Your granddaughter sure looked she enjoyed minute of it. I will ask around if we have something similar around here. Hopefully there is. My kids would love to experience Christmas around the world too.

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  29. This looks like such a great time! Your granddaughter looked like she had a lot of fun! Sometimes I wish I lived where it was warm year 'round! Ha ha

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  30. This looks SO fun! I am sure my kids will enjoy it here!

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  31. This looks great and so fun! I've never been to such a place.

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  32. Wow! This is so nice. what a great way to experience Disney on ice with literally seeing ice and artistic nativity made out of ice! Indeed a lot of fun for all.

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  33. Wow so many fun and festivities things to see and do! I love the nativity scene made from ice! That’s such a spectacular work of art!

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  34. Ice sculptures have always been fascinating what more if you go to a place like this! I love all the attractions and I'm pretty sure the kids will love it.

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  35. What an awesome place to go to with the whole family in tow. It's perfect for the season! The displays are super impressive.

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  36. What a cool place for some holiday fun! You look like you had a great time!

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  37. The ice sculptings are beautiful and that song you mentioned "Baby Its cold Outside" is one I love to sing to m y husband at Christmas time. Christmas is for families so enjoy your family and their activities in this season.

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  38. That's not something I'd expect to see in Florida.

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  39. Ice in Florida! This looks like so much fun! And who doesn't love Snoopy. I may be coming down and I would love to go!

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  40. Well if doesnt scream Christmas I dont know what does! I wish I can go here so much fun and great things to see!

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  41. Very impressive! To see that it was all made out of ice is pretty darn cool. I went to the Gaylord Opryland in Memphis. Wow! The thought that they could do that much inside of a building.

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  42. It looks like you had fun! It’s good that they feature different Christmas traditions.

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  43. Wow! This looks an awesome place to visit. I am sure my kids will love it here. It looks so fun!

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  44. This looks like it was such a great experience. I would love to be able to visit one day.

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  45. That's a cool place.. I wish I could visit there too sometime.. Hope you guys had fun

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  46. That looks like such a fun place to visit! If we lived near there, I would definitely take my family to check it out.

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  47. That looks like a festive and fun place to visit. I'm amazed at the talent of ice sculptors. That ice slide would be fun!! I'm not a fan of the cold weather.

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