The Gaylord Palms resort in Orlando is an enormous place, with a massive atrium filled with tons of plants, waterfalls, rivers, walkways, reproduction stone castles, even live animals, and it's all enclosed.
It is also home to a very popular ice carving show called, fittingly enough, ICE!, which features over two million pounds of ice carved by Chinese ice carvers flown here from China. The theme this year was Frosty the Snowman, and visitors walked through a colorful winter wonderland of ice and characters from the holiday cartoon.
It was NINE DEGREES in there. Visitors were given parkas to wear. Enjoy these pictures and video of this awesome display, which will run until January 5th, 2014.
In this blog post are pictures and videos of the ICE! exhibit and the Gaylord Palms resort itself. I'm heading back there soon!
Here's a video walkthrough of the ICE! attraction. You don't even have to freeze; I endured the cold so you don't have to.
Here are some pictures of the awesome displays, all made entirely of ice
The entrance area to the ICE! attraction
There are four slides in the "town square" part of the attraction, all made of ice, and HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL IT'S COLD IN HERE!!!
What's an attraction without merchandising? After visitors emerged from the freezing ICE! environment, they could buy hot chocolate, roasted nuts and other snacks, and lots of Christmas swag.
The two-story sports bar has more televisions than any place I've ever seen. This enormous screen is two stories tall! It would be a great set up for the ultimate man-cave!
Three televisions beside the elevator...?? Really???
One part of the atrium was set up for a very impressive holiday concert, done up in true Orlando style. Check out the video below:
Below: All the rooms in the Gaylord Palms resort have a few of the enormous atrium which is like a self-contained biosphere. You can literally get lost exploring this resort
