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A Must-See Holiday Tradition: ice!™ featuring The Polar Express™

LocationGaylord Palms

A beloved holiday story comes to life at ice! featuring The Polar Express™. Journey through captivating tunnels, zip down two-story ice slides, and capture the coolest pictures with your family throughout this frozen attraction.

Come for the day or make it a Christmas vacation with one of our overnight ice! packages and enjoy the splendor of the holiday season at Gaylord Palms.

BUY TICKETS to A Must-See Holiday Tradition: ice!™ featuring The Polar Express™
Guests explore dazzling lights, ice sculptures, and festive activities as part of a new holiday tradition at Gaylord Palms.
ice! Gaylord Palms Rudolph

Get to Know the Experience

Visitors bundled in parkas admire frozen storybook scenes at the ice! holiday attraction in Kissimmee, Florida.
24 YEARS OF HOLIDAY MAGIC

Families have embraced the Christmas experience, ice!, as a beloved holiday tradition.

11 SCENES
Come to life through ice from the beloved tale, The Polar Express™
10 FT. HIGH
Race down towering slides made of pure ice, standing as tall as a basketball hoop!
12,000 HOURS
Total time the artisans spend to create our signature Christmas attraction.
1.4M ATTENDEES
Visited ice! in 2025 across six locations in the U.S.

Take a Sneak Peek Inside

We Got It! Hot Hot Hot, Hot Chocolate!
We Got It! Hot Hot Hot, Hot Chocolate!
Dancing waiters made completely from ice juggle cups of hot chocolate in this whimsical scene. Visitors can take their very own seat inside the frozen passenger car for a photo opp to the soundtrack of the iconic "Hot Chocolate" song.
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Glide & Slide Through Glacier Gulch
Glide & Slide Through Glacier Gulch

Zoom down one of five ice slides, including a kid-sized slide, beneath a towering sculpture of The Polar Express™ as the iconic train races through Glacier Gulch. Dramatic lighting and fog effects bring the scene to life for an immersive experience.

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You Have Arrived At Your Destination
You Have Arrived At Your Destination
Reach your final destination, The North Pole, to find Santa's elves monitoring children around the world to see when they are naughty or nice! Plus, an 11-foot Santa Claus towers over visitors presenting the first gift of Christmas: a silver bell from his sleigh. Do you hear the bells?
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Frosty Facts

Know more about what it's like to step inside ice! featuring The Polar Express™ before you experience it yourself.
11 Iconic Scenes
Carved into ice from the beloved Christmas story
No Time Limits
Enjoy this self-guided experience at your leisure
9 Degrees Fahrenheit
Cool, controlled temperatures keep the icy designs intact
All Ages
Entertaining for both kids and adults

How It Comes to Life

Learn more about the magic and finesse behind the scenes that create these colorful, icy masterpieces.
Kids watch a vibrant science experiment during the Colorful Chemistry show, featuring fizzing reactions and bright colors.
The vibrant colors in the ice sculptures are specially created by a chemist with a proprietary formula to ensure it closely matches each character's specific colors and to maintain its bright color for the entire season.
An expert artisan sculpts a block of ice into a detailed character for the ICE! exhibit at Gaylord Palms Resort.
Traveling more than 6,000 miles from Harbin, China (known as "Ice City"), 40 artisans use their master sculpting skills passed down through generations to carve ice! over six weeks.
Massive frozen scenes carved from 2 million pounds of ice bring holiday stories to life at Gaylord Palms Resort.
Weighing in at a total of 2 million pounds, ice! featuring The Polar Express™ includes elaborate scenes sculpted from 6,700 massive blocks of ice.
Table filled with carving tools and creative materials used in holiday crafting or ice sculpting at Gaylord Palms Resort.
The carvers use chisels, chippers, tongs, handsaws, grinders, and even chainsaws to bring the experience to life. Some artisans have collected custom-made tools to perfect the irregular shapes and achieve the highest level of detail.
Artisan studies a blueprint of the intricate ice sculpture design for Gaylord Palms’ holiday attraction.
The artisans follow a 300-page design book filled with hand-drawn, to-scale sketches and blueprints to create every sculpture featured throughout the 19,000-square-foot frozen attraction.
Guests watch a skilled ice carver shape a holiday sculpture from a solid block of ice during the Carver’s Showcase.
Once the completed masterpiece is open for guests, a few artisans stay onsite at the exhibit to preserve the icy designs and perform daily, live sculpting demonstrations to showcase their craft.

So Much Christmas. So Many Ways to Experience It.

From ticket passes filled with Christmas joy to special ways to save on your visit—explore ways you can make this holiday season one to remember.
Guests show their Silver Pack passes, ready to enjoy festive experiences at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee.

Save up to 40% on Holiday Fun

Bundle ice! featuring The Polar Express™ with other festive activities and save big! Choose from two pass options featuring tickets to: ice!, ice tubing, scavenger hunt, gingerbread decorating, ice skating, and more.

Buy Now Save up to 40% on Holiday Fun
Guests enjoy priority access and savings on festive experiences with the Gaylord Palms Gold Pack.

Exclusive Room & Ticket Offers

Members of AAA, Military, Teachers and more can enjoy special savings on room nights and ice! tickets for the 2026-2027 holiday season!

Explore Offers Exclusive Room & Ticket Offers
Guests pose with their Ultimate Holi-DAY Passes, ready for a full day of festive fun at Gaylord Palms Resort.

Early Bird: Save up to 30% on Holiday Stays & ice! Packages

It's never too early to save big! Unwrap up to 20% savings on room rates & ice! overnight packages this holiday season. Package includes room + tickets to ice!. Book by Aug. 10 to save.

BOOK NOW Early Bird: Save up to 30% on Holiday Stays & ice! Packages

Explore Our Gallery

The Polar Express at Gaylord Palms
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Santa Claus is ready to spread holiday cheer at Gaylord Palms
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Experience the wonder of Gaylord Palms atrium where lights illuminate every corner
Immerse yourself in the festive spirit at Gaylord Palms
Gaylord Palms atrium shimmers with a dazzling display of color in their light show
Watch the atrium come alive with LIT, the captivating light show at Gaylord Palms
Witness the shimmering lights at Gaylord Palms atrium this holiday season
Gaylord Palms Market Square offers something for everyone
Step into a winter wonderland at Gaylord Palms ICE!
Experience the magic of Christmas with stunning ice sculptures, thrilling slides, and festive fun
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Slide into holiday fun at Gaylord Palms' ICE! attraction
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Who needs slopes when you have Snow Flow Mountain Gaylord Palms
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