jedimaster1227

Each year during the holiday season the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, FL transforms a portion of its convention space into a special offering called ICE!. The convention space is sectioned off and climate controlled to allow giant blocks of ice to be brought in, carved and colored to create a heavily themed walk through experience made almost entirely out of the solid blocks of namesake ice. Each year the space takes on a new story or theme, with this year's theme being "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The artistry behind each year's offering is incredible and immersive, and while I don't go every year (mostly because the experience aside from the theme is almost entirely the same each time), I try to revisit every few years, particularly with first-time visitors to experience it through new eyes. This time around, the first-timer was my fiancee, so it was definitely worth checking out! The giant atrium of the Gaylord Palms is dressed up for the holidays with hanging lights and a giant Christmas tree. A Cirque Dreams show is presented on a small stage for guests of the hotel and ICE! to enjoy. In addition to the main attraction of ICE!, the holiday village inside features snow tubing, a merchandise shop, a meet and greet with Santa and a gingerbread-decorating experience. That's right folks... This isn't like Madame Tussaud's where you can touch the figures. To preserve the ice, Gaylord Palms asks its guests to be hands off (as well as tongues off). The event is sponsored by Pepsi... But we won't fault them for it. Time to head in! Almost everything in this room has been carefully constructed with ice. Pretty amazing stuff! They even have an ice bar inside! The level of detail is incredible! Portals made of ice help transition guests between segments of the story. And there's room for wackiness too! Some of the rooms have huge setups like this one! I could barely keep up! One of the signature elements of ICE! is the inclusion of ice slides that you glide down while sitting on your parka. It's huge! The Frostbite Factory, where guests can see ice being carved firsthand. And so marks the end of the story, which leads to... The room glows in different colors. And here you can see ice sculptors from China working on new pieces for the experience. A cool side-by-side example of how un-carved ice can become a sculpted work of art. Some more works in progress... And more. The finale is a clear sculpture depicting the Nativity. It is quite impressive! Going back in for one more round! Lots of things to see here! We were both "blown away" by the experience! Another sculpture being actively worked on during our visit. In case you get a runny nose from the cold... And if you have extra time, you can pay a little more to go snow tubing! There's still time to check out ICE! this year at Gaylord Palms--I highly recommend it! If not this year, give it a shot next year when it returns with a new theme!

That slide looks fantastic! I can't wait to see the finished product with the eyes installed!

^What does the on-ride audio include? I'm asking on behalf of the many of us that won't get to Space World anytime soon...

This looks like a great layout for the coaster... A really great fit for this park!

^There's still plenty of land to build on if they wanted to... SeaWorld Orlando is using the retention pond land behind the Nautilus Theater for Mako, so it is always possible that Busch Gardens Tampa could do the same with theirs behind Kumba.

This thing seriously looks insane! And if it ends up with spinning cars... Wow!

^^^It is surprising that the Intamin trains were replaced so quickly... Sad to see a neat layout fall to pieces but I'm happy to see them re-tracking the ride to make it better.

^Perhaps if you look closely... But maybe that's why the huge gooberfish grabs onto your vehicle. There's always a bigger fish...

^ Fair point.

^Wasn't part of the reason Bandit was so rough because the trains destroyed the track over time? I thought that the Premier trains on Son of Beast did the same thing to the ride, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the root of the problem here.

If there's anyone who won (at least in some way) from this entire situation, it is Great Coasters International, who has a custom coaster design just waiting to be pulled off of the shelf for another park that can actually afford it.

We knew previously that they would be dry slides, but I'm surprised they have opted to go with a custom mat for guests to ride on. I wonder if they will be told to ride on their stomachs or to sit on the mat while sliding... It should be a really neat experience on an already incredible looking ship!

It should also be noted that in addition to the new The Force Awakens-inspired sequence in Star Tours, variations of existing scenes have also been unlocked on the ride. One example is when riders visit Naboo, the home world of Padme Amidala and Jar Jar Binks (seen most prominently in Episode 1), they normally pass by a swimming Jar Jar Binks, but in the variant sequence, they actually hit Jar Jar as he slides across the front viewport of the Starspeeder 1000. There are other variations throughout the original sequences that launched with the ride a few years ago and I've only seen a few so far, but it really does up appeal of riding again and again, particularly if you are a Star Wars fan.

This is definitely a nice variety of coasters they are building up... I doubt I'd ever get to Turkey, but if I did this might warrant a stop.

It is a sad reality, but like with the increased security at airports post-9/11, it is an added precaution that can only help, not hurt. It may be viewed as a nuisance to some, but safety is the first priority for all of these parks, so it makes total sense to move in this direction if other major tourist destinations are doing the same.

Wild Adventures is one of those parks that, having visited once before, I feel just kind of floats along without having to do much between seasons to keep its audience coming back. It is a local market, so the concerts and occasional headliners like Robbie Knievel seem to be enough. Something like the addition of the dinosaurs falls (in my mind) right in the same category of short term efforts to bring the locals back through the turnstiles for another visit.

This is a really awesome trip report Jimmy! I honestly had no idea that vacations like this were even an option, and while it doesn't look like my first choice trip, I'm glad we're getting to experience it through your eyes here on TPR! Thank you so much for sharing!

It'll be very interesting to see what happens next... They specifically called out a new element so I have to imagine that the re-tracking is something related to this... Or they're tearing it down for an AquaTrax. I'd be fine either way.

Phantasialand has always kept my attention as a beautifully designed park, and this time of year seems to kick it up a notch! I swear I'll get over there one of these days...

^^I agree that it will be a fun ride but nothing extraordinary when it comes to B&M hypers... But what SeaWorld Orlando needs right now are additions that grab potential (and repeat) guests' attention to try to draw them into the park based on the visual and thrill appeal. Universal Orlando did the exact same thing with Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit--they designed a ride that could be seen outside of the park limits and catch passerby's attention to draw them into the park. A new coaster, particularly one with airtime (floater or otherwise) is definitely not a bad thing for Orlando... I just have to remind myself not to get too excited because this isn't an Intamin airtime machine in the making.

^The Akbar's Adventure Tours building is used seasonally for Howl-O-Scream as a house but isn't big enough to support another coaster... Plus there's one being built just opposite it. Three coasters in one land might be overkill. As for Gwazi and Gwazi Park, that area is PRIME real estate for expansion... The biggest question is, what if anything from Gwazi will be salvaged in the process when they decide to use that space.

It looks like you guys had a great time! The Disney Dream is really one of my favorites around this time of year, so I'm glad you were to experience it at its best!

^^2021 seems like a pretty specific year to call out... And to say the park won't get a new coaster in the next seven years, being a Six Flags park is something that I would doubt. It may be a relocated coaster, but I can't imagine any one park in the Six Flags chain not getting a new coaster in the span of seven years.

This is definitely an interesting layout! I'm curious to see what the finished product ends up looking like...

Waldameer is such a wonderful park... It is very neat to see so much of it packed up for the offseason, so thank you for sharing!