I love Christmas time. I love looking at lights, the trees, giving gifts, and so much more. Living only an hour from Orlando it’s surprising to me that I’ve never been to the wonder which is
I was invited to attend a special media preview for Gaylord Palms ICE! with the Mommy Spot Tampa last week. I jumped on the chance to experience what everyone has been talking about for years–and brought Bennett and my siblings along with me. We dug through our cold weather gear and grabbed some gloves at the dollar spot at Target and we were ready to go!
For Christmas at Gaylord Palms 15th season they are celebrating Christmas around the world. Through this 9°F walk through attraction you will see intricate ice designs that were drawn on site using over 2 million pounds of ice! Make sure to bring your hats, gloves, boots, and even a sweatshirt or jacket. Naturally if you are from Florida you probably don’t have a coat fit for these temps, luckily they provide large jackets on site for you to wear.
Right before you are hit with freezing temps, there are people there to take a family picture of everyone dressed in their winter attire. You have the option to purchase this picture when you exit. Once you have entered the attraction, plan for about 20-30 minutes to explore all that ICE! has to offer. I loved that they had the option to exit and reenter so you could warm up a little bit before continuing on your journey of ice tunnels, slides, and colorful ice designs including Santa’s sleigh! When you exit be sure to visit the Build A Bear shop, visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and even decorate a Gingerbread house.
Although Ice! was a magical experience, Christmas at Gaylord Palms offers so much more for you to see and do. In the atrium you can watch the amazing Cirque Dreams Unwrapped show, and the Light Show which begins at 6:15PM. After you finish there head over to Alpine Village to go snow tubing and even throw some snow balls.
We had the pleasure of staying the night in one of the rooms over looking the the gorgeous Atrium decked out in all things Christmas. It was a gorgeous room with a balcony, that I’m pretty sure Bennett would have slept on if I let him. One thing I wish we would have done was have breakfast with the Peanuts characters–you have to make that happen!
This was such a great event and I think anyone should put it on their Christmas bucket list.
Is there anything that you must do as a family to celebrate Christmas?
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