ICE!, an arctic attraction filled with towering displays made from 6,700 frozen ice blocks, will return to the Gaylord Palms in 2022! After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, this Orlando tradition will rejoin a slew of other holiday-themed activities during Christmas at Gaylord Palms. This festive celebration (running November 18 – January 1) includes a wide selection of live entertainment, beautiful decorations, festive activities, and specialty dining experiences. Let’s explore some of what’s waiting for you at Gaylord Palms’ 2022 holiday celebrations – including the return of ICE!
ICE! featuring How The Grinch Stole Christmas
With attraction temperatures set at 9 degrees Fahrenheit (and event-provided parkas to keep you warm even in your Florida attire), ICE! includes a walkthrough experience featuring colossal ice sculptures and scenery. This year, explore Mount Crumpit with more than 10 scenes from the classic, Seussian tale “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.” Using a mixture of colored and clear ice as well as strategically-placed LED lighting, displays will include characters like The Grinch, his canine pal Max, and the ever-innocent Cindy-Lou Who.
“We can’t wait for our guests to once again experience the magic and wonder of ICE! during this year’s Christmas at Gaylord Palms celebration,” said Johann Krieger, general manager of Gaylord Palms Resort. “Since debuting here in 2003, ICE! has always been a one-of-a-kind attraction for our guests, and we’re excited to welcome this Gaylord Hotels tradition back this year with ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ and all the beloved characters in the classic Dr. Seuss story.”
After enjoying the themed walkthrough, guests can enter a wintery play area (with two-story slide, colorful arches, and freezing tunnels). As always, the attraction’s finale will include a beautifully massive nativity scene made completely of clear, colorless ice.
More Holiday Fun at Gaylord Palms
While ICE! is undoubtedly the Gaylord’s signature holiday attraction, there’s still an entire Resort full of Christmas activities, twinkling lights, yummy treats, and holiday fun.
Here are just a few of the other events and happenings you can look forward to during the 2022 holiday season. For more details and a full listing of Gaylord Palms’ Christmas activities, visit their website.
*Event descriptions are from Gaylord Palms’ official ICE! announcement.*
- Yule Be Amazed
A Gaylord Hotels original production, “Cirque: Spirit of Christmas” features high-flying stunts, acrobatic feats, elaborate staging and a dramatic musical score. Returning after its successful debut in 2021, this Cirque-style show centers on Noel, a child dismayed by the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Throughout the 30-minute atrium show, Noel is visited in dreamlike chapters by trapeze artists, acrobats, aerial silk performers and others who help rekindle the Christmas spirit.
- A Musical, Storytelling Celebration
The birth and life of Jesus Christ has been called “the greatest story ever told.” Guests can experience it through the eyes of six international storytellers in “The Greatest Story,” a musical stage show and multicultural celebration of everlasting faith, hope and love. - Ready, Set, Glow!
The skies above the Gaylord Palms atrium burst in a spectrum of animation in Shine. Vivid LED curtains suspended from the ceiling come to life in a light show that features an original musical score, dancing spotlights and a Christmas tree bathed in an ever-changing array of colors.
- Journey of the Three Kings
Guests experience The Journey of Los Tres Magos, a live stage production that honors the date Jesus was visited by the Three Wise Men. Told through story and song, the show commemorates the Christian tradition celebrated in Latin America, Spain and around the world. *Note: This show will be presented at Gaylord Palms from Dec. 26, 2022-Jan. 1, 2023.
- A Holiday Escape
Guests test their winter weather wits inside the Naughty or Nice Escape Room. Yuletide trickster Jack Frost is back with his icy antics and has added new names to Santa’s infamous Naughty List. But Jack has a deal to make – if guests can sneak into Santa’s office and solve a series of puzzles, their names will disappear from the Naughty List. Guests need to put on their holiday thinking caps on, solve the mystery, and then dash away, dash away, dash away all!
- Make a Date to Decorate
In the Gingerbread Decorating Corner, guests let their Christmas creativity run wild while they adorn gingerbread treats. After they’ve reached confection perfection with their edible art, they can enjoy a sweet meet-and-greet and photograph with Nutmeg the Gingerbread Man.
- A Tree-mendous Holiday
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! In all, there will be more than 3 million holiday lights sparkling at Gaylord Palms. More than 100 Christmas trees – with more than 20,000 ornaments – will be on display, including a centerpiece, 60-foot-tall tree in the main atrium. Beautiful trees will also be suspended from the ceiling in the Everglades atrium and placed on floating islands in the Key West Lagoon. Another guest favorite, the Christmas Tree Trail, will once again wind through the atrium and feature elaborately themed trees for picture-perfect, family photo moments. - St. Nick Takes ‘Santa’ Stage
Guests can chat with the jolly old elf himself, Santa Claus, to make sure they’ve secured a spot on his prestigious Nice List. Santa will meet guests inside Alpine Village from Nov. 18 through Dec. 24, before he heads back to the North Pole for his gift-giving journey. - The Feast with the Grinch Character Breakfast
Enjoy a delicious holiday buffet with special appearances from The Grinch and Max!
All the festive fun starts on November 18. Don’t wait to book your stay. Start planning your visit now, on Gaylord Palms’ website!
