ICE! at Gaylord Rockies

One of my all time favorite holiday events is back and I'm so excited to share it with you!

ICE! is back at Gaylord Rockies after a two year hiatus and this year it features Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang in scenes from the beloved "A Charlie Brown Christmas" movie.

As the name suggests, ICE! is a holiday exhibition made almost entirely of, you guessed it, ice! The exhibition features ten scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" made of colored and clear ice brought to life with twinkling LED lights and music from the original score. The sculptures are so intricate and the colors so vibrant that Mathilde was convinced they were all really made of plastic! Nope - it's ice, ice baby!

Ok, I just made myself cringe with that one. Let's take a look at some pictures while I compose myself!

Ok, let's continue...

As you can probably imagine, an exhibition made almost entirely of ice gets pretty damn cold. In fact, in order to keep the ice sculptures from melting, the entire exhibition is kept at a frosty 9F (-13C). The perfect temperature if you're made of ice, but a little chilly if you're human. Visitors are given giant blue parkas to wear inside the exhibition, but you'll want to make sure that you layer up underneath as well as wearing gloves/mittens and something to keep your head warm. It was a similar temperature outside the night of our visit so we had puffer jackets on underneath the giant blue parkas and Lola was still a little cold. 

As you make your way through the exhibition you'll find all your favorite Peanuts characters in scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas". In this 17,500 square foot attraction you'll walk past ice sculptures as small as a coin and as large as 30 foot high as Charlie Brown tries to organize a neighborhood holiday play. The sculptures were created from 6,700 massive blocks of ice, each expertly dyed to maintain their vibrant color throughout the season. The sculptures were all carved on site by a team of 40 artisans from Harbin, China. Harbin is home to the world famous Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, the largest festival of its type in the world.  

While the sculptures are all awe inspiring, the highlight for most visitors, especially the younger ones, is the amazing ice slide. The entire structure is built out of blocks of ice, from the the stairs leading up, to the slides themselves. There are four long slides for visitors over 40" and one short slide for the littlest visitors. It takes a little practice to get moving at any sort of speed on the ice slides, but if you make sure that your parka is underneath you and you lean back with your feet raised you'll get moving. Visitors can ride the slides as many times as they like. 

The very end of the exhibition features a nativity scene made entirely of crystal clear ice. The clear ice is quite stunning and kids are sure to enjoy all of the fam animals. Mathilde was particularly impressed with the sheep and goat.

As always, there's so much to do at Gaylord Rockies during the holidays. After visiting ICE! make sure to check out all of the indoor and outdoor activities. Inside you'll find Mistletoe Village which features stores filled with holiday cheer, a Build-A-Bear Workshop, Gingerbread Decorating Corner, stories with Mrs Claus, and even Santa himself. The Bubly Theatre right next to Mistletoe Village features "Cirque: Spirit of Christmas. This 75 minute performance is filled with acrobatic feats and high flying stunts that will leave you in awe. Outside visitors will find Glacier Point. This is always a favorite with my kids. Here you'll find ice bumper cars, a tubing hill, ice skating and snowball build and blast. My kids spent so long at that last one making snowballs to throw at targets.

ICE! will be on display at Gaylord Rockies from November 18th 2022 through January 1st 2023. For more information and to purchase tickets visit https://christmasatgaylordrockies.marriott.com/ice.