Christmas Mini-Vacation

Hubby & I spent the night at Gaylord Palms Resort this weekend.  We had never been and wanted to experience the much raved about and highly proclaimed ICE! Christmas festivities that take place there annually. 

I love Christmas time, so this was right up my alley.  You will have to excuse the tons of pictures I snapped, I couldn’t help myself!  

We started out the day exploring the atrium, which our balcony overlooked.   

    
Next, we ventured to the arcade (2 big kids at heart).  We played basketball, skeeball, air hockey, and fruit ninja to name a few.

   
 
On to a late lunch/early dinner poolside at the adult bar.  We liked the fact that there was a dedicated adult only pool and spa area. It was a nice getaway from all the families with babies/kids when we needed it.  

   
 
After dining, we made it to the main attractions, the Christmas tree lighting ceremony and ICE!  I highly recommend this, kids or no kids. It was unbelievable. The detail of the sculptures was impressive.  I also loved how each room closely followed the classic poem from Clement Clarke Moore, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (each stanza was written).  

A word of advice…dress warmly because it is only 9 degrees in the exhibit since everything (seriously everything) is made of ice.  We brought our own winter gear, but they do provide a coat if you dont have one.  And get the fast pass and skip the wait, its worth it. 

  
    
    

   
    
    
    
   
    

We both agreed our favorite part of the attraction had to be the nativity scene at the very end. It was so nice to see that the meaning of Christmas still shines through! I hope this stays part of ICE and isnt done away with. 

We will definitely go back again one day. I wont lie and say there werent any tough moments with the kids running galore amongst us. We had our moments… we talked through them, shed a few tears, but most importantly we decide to keep our hope for our future.  We CANNOT wait for our next trip with our whole family!