Buddy the Elf is coming to Gaylord Palms’s ICE this year, and he’s bringing all of the best characters from 2003’s Elf with him.
The 20,000-square-foot holiday exhibit in Kissimmee will be filled with different scenes and characters from the holiday comedy. As guests journey from the North Pole to New York City alongside Buddy, they’ll encounter characters like Papa Elf, Mr. Narwhal, Jovie, Walter Hobbs and Santa Claus. There are also several interactive ice rooms, including the elf classroom and the shoeshine stand in NYC.
As in previous years, ICE will have live carving demonstrations and a grand finale exhibit of the Nativity scene carved from sparkling clear ice.
This is the first time Elf comes to ICE at any of the Gaylord resorts. Since 2003, Gaylord Palms has brought dozens of expert sculptors from Harbin, China, to Kissimmee to bring ICE to life. The exhibit features two million pounds of ice carved from around 6,700 blocks in various colors.
The ice carvers usually arrive at Gaylord Palms in October, and it takes four to five weeks for them to complete the ICE exhibit. That’s over a month of working in frigid 9-degree temperatures as the rest of Florida remains in the balmy 80s.
ICE returns to Gaylord Palms on Nov. 15 and runs through Jan. 4, 2025.
Other holiday experiences at the resort include a cirque-style Christmas show, meet and greets with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Christmas lights and a tree trail, festive menus and themed entertainment for hotel guests. The convention center area — which houses ICE — also becomes a winter wonderland village with shops, a Build-a-Bear experience, holiday arts and crafts, and a snow play area with ice slides and snowball throwing.
Tickets for ICE and some vacation packages are available to book now at ChristmasatGaylordPalms.com. [content-1]
