You’ve decorated the Christmas tree, made puppy chow and ice skated. As festive as holiday traditions can be, sometimes it’s nice to spice it up with something new. This year I visited a friend in Dallas, and we got tickets to ICE! Featuring A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Gaylord Texan Resort. Sculptors turned more than 2 million pounds of ice into a winter wonderland that’s kept at a brisk 9 degrees. And if you combine all five Gaylord Hotel locations, the amount of ice totals to more than 12 million pounds at these attractions and almost 300 miles of Christmas lights strung. This ICE! attraction is held year to year but with different themes from Frosty the Snowman to A Christmas Story.
And let me tell you, ICE! at Gaylord Texan is the Disney World of Christmases. Impressive and interactive, this ICE! exhibit walks you through massive Peanuts characters, Christmas wreaths, ice blocks — heck, I even slid down a slide made of ice. But the holiday ice sculpture exhibit isn’t all there is. The entire resort is decked out and has lots of activities for the whole family. Here are the highlights and what you need to see:
Buy your tickets online
Start off by buying your tickets online and look at the bundle options in case you want to add in ice skating, snow tubing, gingerbread decorating or more wintry activities. Riley and I only opted for the ICE! exhibit, and along with strolling the resort, that was plenty for us. But the bottom line is there’s no shortage of things to do.
Bundle up
Once you get to the hotel and head to the ICE! at Gaylord Texan attraction entrance, one of the first things you’ll do is pick up a parka. Again, it’s kept at 9 degrees; so they lend everyone massive blue parkas to walk through the exhibit. I wore a down coat and the parka, and I was still a bit chilly. Don’t forget gloves!
Wander around the exhibit
Plan for around 30 minutes to an hour just in the ICE! attraction. There’s plenty of photo opts, and the sheer detail and amount of ice will make your jaw drop (or perhaps chatter). Near the end of the exhibit, there was a massive slide where you could race your friends, and it made me feel like a kid again. And no, you’re not too old for it!
Stroll the hotel
Even when the self-guided tour is over, the fun’s not. The hotel is decked out with massive nutcrackers, a Christmas tree, ornaments and more holiday galore. We walked around for over an hour and took lots of photos. There’s also several restaurants where you can grab a nice meal. Here’s a full list of what you can do at the Gaylord Texan.
A trip to the Gaylord to see the ICE! exhibit is a must this holiday season and is great for all ages. What are your favorite things to do for the holidays?
