Ice!

[tink'72]

I am so excited to be heading to the world for Christmas this year. I was just online looking for different things to do in December and came across ICE at the Gaylord Palms hotel. Has anyone ever done this or know anything about it?

[Ed]

Yes, we've done it. "Ice" has been held at Gaylord Palms every winter for the past few years. They take over the Convention Center at GP and install cooling equipment that brings the temp down to a nice, tropical 9 degrees.

Then a large crew of Chinese ice carvers take over and using chain saws, chisels and other cutting tools turn tons of crystal clear ice into amazing sculptures spread out through the center.

To view the display, when you pay your admission you are issued a heavy parka-like coat to keep you from becoming one of the attractions! They seem to recognize that not many people in Florida have their own parkas.

You can take your time wandering through the center, but on average it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 60 minutes to see it all.

Every year after the events ends, the local media make a point of being there when these amazing displays are pushed out onto the parking lot by Bobcats to melt in the Florida sun. Kinda sad to see all that craftsmanship become nothing more than H2O.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I just moved this thread over to Vacation Planning Beyond Disney" - hope everyone enjoyed the ride!

Also, check out this old thread: http://www.intercot.com/discussion/s...lord+plams+ice, there are reviews and pictures of "Ice" from a previous year.

It looks really neat, hope you enjoy it!

[Joannelet]

A friend of mine is a radio dj in florida and broadcasts live from there. They sent me pics and I've listened to the broadcast and it looks and sounds amazing!!!
The family that was there with them loved it!!! You will definitely enjoy it and its something to definitely check out!!! ENJOY!

[NJGIRL]

We have never been to Orlando during Christmas so we have always missed this but we have friends that went and said it was really cool. Some of the Ice is even colored. They also said GP is a really nice hotel and as Ed mentioned the exhibit is very cold.

[tink'72]

Wow it sounds like we may have to go! Thanks everyone.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We did ICE two years ago for during our Thanksgiving WDW trip and we loved it. We took one evening away from the parks and went to Gaylord Palms, which is something to see in itself. We toured the resort, did the ICE exhibit, and took the kids ice skating in the outdoor rink they had set up. We must have spent several hours there and it was actually a very nice break from Disney. Last year we were in Dallas for Thanksgiving weekend and were staying at the Gaylord Texan and they had the ICE exhibit as well and it was just as fun the second time. We will be in WDW again this Thanksgiving and may just have to go and see it again.

[passholderryan]

My wife and I stayed there last December and had tickets to see it. Being from Ft. Lauderdale, it only gets to about 60 in the winter, so we wanted to experience the cold. I would recommend seeing early in the day to avoid the very heavy crowds at night. It is really awwesome to see how big the exhibits actually are. They''ll even give hot chocolate at the end. As for the hotel, staying there was excellent. Tons of activites to do, and its the closest to the parks off of Osceloa Pkwy. I would definetly recommend staying there if you can't make it on property.