Holiday Bucket List: ICE! at the Gaylord

If you've read my previous post, you know that the holiday season is my favorite time of year. With the season here, I will me be blogging about my bucket list of fun things to do in the area during the holidays:

"The thrilling, chilling, one-of-a-kind holiday attraction ICE! is back in the D.C. area this Christmas season... and it's only at Gaylord National Resort."

ICE! at the Gaylord has become a tradition of mine to experience every season. This year's 15,000-square-foot attraction returns with a new theme: DreamWorks' Animation holiday TV special Merry Madagascar. Last year my boyfriend Jojo and I attended the Dr. Seuss themed ICE! attraction. The Gaylord literally creates a holiday wonderland made out of ice. The sculptures strike you with it's detail. They are amazingly beautiful with added color and lights adding sparkle to the interactive wonderland!

If you've never been, you're probably wondering how and where the Gaylord creates an ice kingdom within their hotel. Well, the show is not within the hotel. It's located in a huge covered tent that is kept at the appropriate temperature of 9 DEGREES to keep the ice from melting. The tent is right across the street from the hotel, making it walking distance. 

Once you enter the covered tent, it is so cold that they require you to wear big blue winter coats they provide for you at the entrance. Trust me you are definitely going to need it. You'll even need your gloves to prevent your fingers from going numb.

This year's ICE! is themed after DreamWorks' Merry Madagascar. "The DreamWorks Animation Holiday TV special will be brought to life in an interactive world of colorful ice sculptures carved entirely from two-million pounds of ice."

The attraction will feature scenes from the TV special, such as how Santa and his reindeer crash-landed onto the island of Madagascar, and why Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman and the wacky penguins must determine how to save Christmas by personally delivering all the presents themselves. 

"Even the mischievous lemur King Julien learns the true meaning of the holiday and manages to get himself off the "naughty list" once and for all."

ICE! is created by dozens of artisans who come to the DC area all the way from Harbin, China to create this amazing attraction out of two millions pounds of ice. I read that it takes these artists almost a whole month of 12-hour shifts to transform the refrigerated tent into a dazzling icy wonderland. 

Learn more about how this holiday attraction is created here.

I can't wait to go see this year's ICE! attraction presented by Coca-Cola. It will be available from November 18th to January 8th. Tickets are available online now!

Ticket Prices: 

- Adults (ages 13+) $25-35

-Child (ages 4-12) $20-30

-Seniors (ages 62+) $19-24

-Military Adults (ages 13+) $22-32

-Military Child (ages 4-12) $17-27

-Kids ages 3 and under are FREE

Purchase your tickets online now.

You can also call and purchase at (301) 965-4000.

** Ticket prices range according to which week you're choosing to book. Lower price tickets are available on weekdays (Monday-Thursday), and obviously tickets are more expensive over the weekend. 

If you're a family or friend and wants to go, call me and we can make a big group out of it. Discounts are available for groups of 20+ people!

Hope you choose to add this one-of-a-kind attraction to your holiday bucket list. Keep reading to learn more about my holiday bucket list.  

xoxo Nicole