ICE! at Gaylord Palms

Our Best of Florida Christmas season has concluded... and oh, what a wonderful celebration it was!

Guests of all ages donned bright blue parkas, bundled in their mittens and scarves, and entered the 9-degree "Florida Fridge" to enjoy our ICE! attraction—TWO MILLION pounds of ice, hand-carved into an incredible winter wonderland. Everyone loved this year's theme, Santa's Arctic Blast! It was so much fun to watch adults act like little kids again as they climbed upon Santa's Knee (our Santa was 14 feet tall and completely made of ICE!) And many a child's fantasy came true as they entered the Candy House, with a giant cupcake and ice cream sundae.

And, what about those slides! WOW. The artisans did an amazing job of capturing Santa's Magical Flight in ice. Santa—and all eight of his reindeer—were taking in the excitement as our guests slid down the slippery ICE! slides. Wheee!

What a great experience... and just the thing to put our guests in the Christmas spirit!

And that was just the beginning!

This year we introduced Lights Alive!, a magical show where thousands of twinkling Christmas lights danced rhythmically with laser lights and water features to the sound of treasured holiday songs. It was a sight to behold.

Of course, Santa was on hand to visit with the children, and his "better half" was the host of Brunch with Mrs. Claus. There were beautifully decorated wreaths to be seen from counties throughout the state of Florida... and gnomes to be found! We were pleased to once again host the Hidden Holiday Gnome Hunt, challenging guests to find 20 gnomes cleverly hiding throughout the hotel.

Overnight package guests—the VIPs of our holiday celebration—enjoyed the opportunity to participate in several exclusive Christmas experiences that surely created lasting family holiday memories! Families came together and, with the assistance of our amazing culinary team, created their own gingerbread house masterpieces! Such incredible creativity!

And, imagine the smiles on the faces of those children who had a special bedtime visit from Mrs. Claus! Surely every child's dream come true!

It's always sad to see Christmas come to an end... it's such a magical time of year! But don't worry... we're already working on plans for our Best of Florida Christmas celebration in 2009! After all, Gaylord Palms Hotel is the Orlando headquarters of the Christmas holiday! We just love Christmas... and we love sharing it with you!

Be sure to bookmark this page, and return for a visit in August 2009, when we'll announce all of our Christmas plans for the coming season.

Happy New Year!