Photos: ICE offers chills and thrills in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ at Gaylord Palms

Florida’s coolest holiday attraction returns the week before Thanksgiving, and it brings back one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all time for this year’s theme.

ICE at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee kicked off Nov. 17 with “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The hotel’s popular Alpine Village, the Snow Factory and live entertainment and light displays in the atrium also opened the same day.

This isn’t the first time the ice carvers crafted Peanuts characters out of specially colored ice. The 2016 ICE attraction had the same theme. But there are a few new displays this year.

The biggest change to ICE is the scene in the auditorium, where Schroeder plays the iconic Peanuts Christmas song while the rest of the gang dances on stage. This room is also where the ice slides are, and this year there are options for thrill seekers and not.
The outside of the Peanuts school is re-created in a massive ice facade with two entrances into the ice tunnel locker rooms. Don’t forget to stop and look at all the Peanuts characters who get their own colorful lockers, including Snoopy.

The rest of the 9-degree, 20,000-square-foot attraction is a chilly walkthrough of the 1965 animated film. There’s Snoopy’s light-covered doghouse, of course, plus Lucy’s psychiatrist stand, a Peanuts ice skating rink, Linus explaining the true meaning of Christmas and the grand finale scene of the whole gang singing around Charlie Brown’s new tree.

Back in October, Orlando Weekly trekked inside the under-construction exhibit, where 40 ice carvers spent weeks sculpting characters and scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” This week, we headed back out to the resort to see the finished product before it opened to the public.

For the Floridians out there (like myself), the exhibit is set at a face-numbing 9 degrees, which means you’ll want to dress warm. Gaylord Palms supplies thick blue parkas to all ICE guests, but I highly recommend bringing gloves (with touchscreen-friendly fingertips), warm socks, and a beanie or hat to protect your ears.

You’ll also want to charge your phone up before going inside, as the chilly temperature will drain your battery. And you’ll want to take lots of pictures in every room of ICE.

For more information and tickets to ICE and other holiday attractions, visit ChristmasatGaylordPalms.Marriott.com.