make a visit to ICE! at Gaylord Opryland

ICE! returns, and is back better than ever!

Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by Gaylord Opryland, however, all opinions on the resort are my own.

Have you ever imagined waking up in a winter wonderland, sliding down ice slides, and walking through a life size story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Welcome to ICE! at Gaylord Opryland. This attraction, as part of their SO MUCH CHRISTMAS theme, is featured at all 5 Gaylord locations.

Each Gaylord resort has their own ICE! theme, while at Gaylord Opryland you’ll see Rudolph. Rudolph the Red-Nosed reindeer is depicted in colorful ice sculptures which have been hand-carved by master artisans from Harbin, China using 2 million pounds of ice! Incredible talent! It features a 19,000sq ft walk through in below freezing temps (inside).

They DO provide the signature blue parkas to keep you warm but you’ll want to bring your own hat and gloves. After you get your parka, take your family photos provided by the resort, and share using hashtag #blueparka. They also provide super thick blankets to keep the babies warm, so bring your strollers and your littlest babes! We rode Golden through and he stayed warm… didn’t wake up at all from the temperature!

The kids favorite part was definitely the ice slides. They said they were cold at first, but after sliding down this that first time, they didn’t even think about it anymore. Check out the slide action here. I even got a chance to go on it a couple times. Hint: slide down making sure your parka is underneath you- you go down a lot faster! I learned the hard way of scooting down most of the way my first time down LOL.

Walking through and riding the slides, we still couldn’t believe this was all was made of ice. Every. Single. Detail! In the beginning of the attraction they actually have an example that everyone is able to touch, and you can literally feel how cold and frozen it all is.

This was our first time visiting ICE! and we had so much fun. The kids are still talking about how cold it was but fun. Being a native western New Yorker, this was another day walking to the bus stop to school in mid January weather – a breeze!

I highly recommend ICE! as there is truly nothing like it! The perfect Christmas experience that set this visit apart from any other holiday stay we’ve been to! If you’ve booked your stay you can purchase your tickets as an add on. You can also just visit for the day and purchase tickets to all the fun here.

For all the fun and itinerary inspo for you & your family, check out this article and video here . Cheers to making more holiday memories, friends!

-Sierra