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ICE!: Behind the scenes at Gaylord Hotels' holiday exhibit
Each holiday season, the four Gaylord Hotels in the United States import about 100 master ice carvers from Harbin, China's Winter Festival to carve elaborate, life-size exhibits for the resorts.
I recently got to peek behind the curtain and watch the artists at work at the Gaylord Palms Resort near Orlando, Florida.
The ICE! exhibits are a wonder to walk through, with room out of room full of sculptures where everything - even walls and stairs - are made out of ice.
ICE! gets its start months before the exhibit premieres in November, with a theme and technical drawings to plan the exhibit. The carvers start their work about 30 days before ICE! opens.
Bringing in the ice is a logistical feat in itself. Each sculpture starts as a 400-pound ice block trucked to Orlando from Adel, Georgia. The timing of the ice's arrival is carefully planned because all of the colors in the exhibit are added when the ice is frozen and not on-site.
Larry Walter, one of the show's on-site producers, said two to four trucks of ice are delivered each day, with largely clear and white ice being delivered at the beginning of the process and the colored ice coming to add the finishing touches later.
The artists start the carving with chain saws to shape the ice. Fine detail work is done with small chisels and other hand tools.
Gallery: Behind the Scenes at Gaylord Palms ICE!
All this work happens in rooms at the hotel's convention center that are chilled to 9 degrees Farenheit. Visitors to the exhibit are loaned parkas to walk through.
This year's ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Palms has the theme "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The rooms are set up as if you are walking through the poem. The whole thing is lit and musically scored like a show.
Once the exhibit opens, most of the artists return to China. But a team of about 10 stays behind at each resort to do touch-up work and be on call to take care of any mishaps. Walter said guests usually can't resist touching the sculptures, and things do wind up breaking off from time to time.
The other Gaylord hotels have different ICE! themes. The Gaylord National near Washington, D.C. has "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee has "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." And "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is the theme at the Gaylord Texan near Dallas, Texas.
There are a couple of popular features that make their way into each ICE! exhibit, regardless of the theme. There's always a "slide room" with ice slides for kids (and some adventurous parents) to play on. And ICE! always ends with a life-size Nativity, done completely in crystal clear ice.
The ICE! exhibits all open in mid-November. You can save a few bucks on tickets if you buy them online in advance at the Gaylord Hotels Web site.
Here's a video look at my behind-the-scenes visit to ICE!:
I asked Walter what happens to the sculptures after the exhibit closes in early January. He said everything is bull-dozed, crushed and moved out to an area of the resort's parking lot to melt, which usually takes just two days in Florida.
This year's ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Palms has the theme "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The rooms are set up as if you are walking through the poem. The whole thing is lit and musically scored like a show.Once the exhibit opens, most of the artists return to China. But a team of about 10 stays behind at each resort to do touch-up work and be on call to take care of any mishaps. Walter said guests usually can't resist touching the sculptures, and things do wind up breaking off from time to time.
The other Gaylord hotels have different ICE! themes. The Gaylord National near Washington, D.C. has "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee has "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." And "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is the theme at the Gaylord Texan near Dallas, Texas.
There are a couple of popular features that make their way into each ICE! exhibit, regardless of the theme. There's always a "slide room" with ice slides for kids (and some adventurous parents) to play on. And ICE! always ends with a life-size Nativity, done completely in crystal clear ice.
The ICE! exhibits all open in mid-November. You can save a few bucks on tickets if you buy them online in advance at the Gaylord Hotels Web site.
Here's a video look at my behind-the-scenes visit to ICE!:
I asked Walter what happens to the sculptures after the exhibit closes in early January. He said everything is bull-dozed, crushed and moved out to an area of the resort's parking lot to melt, which usually takes just two days in Florida.
Filed under: North America, United States
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff Abbaticchio Nov 20th 2010 10:12PM
I love ICE! I also heard there will be a SNOW! attraction this year where I can go play in the snow, play snow carnival games and even have some cotton candy! Can't wait!
Abraxus Nov 16th 2010 11:38AM
They don't mention how freaking expensive it is though - great infomercial for Gaylord but not helpful. At the Gaylord in the DC area (actually located in Oxon Hill, MD, but only just over the Woodrow Wilson Br), for a family of 2 adults and 2 kids would cost around $100 to get in and they told me you only get to be in there for 30 minutes, no longer, and then you have to leave. This was the Gaylord National staff telling me this, so I have to say it's not worth it because that is ludicrously expensive per minute, and then they have ice skating too, but that's $12 a person too. Considering you haven't eaten anything, so that will cost you more too unless you take your own food or live very close to the place, then this is a very expensive outing that not many Americans can afford except the elite types perhaps. I know at $100 for ICE and then $48 for skating, so roughly $150 or more, I'd rather take my kids to a great movie like Harry Potter, go out to dinner, buy snacks at the movies, and I'd still have plenty of change from that $150 and we'd have had about 5-6 hours or fun instead of 30 minutes plus skating with no food at all! And yeah, have to agree with the bringing in Chinese artisans - I am sure they are super talented, but the reason they don't hire American is because the Chinese migrants are way cheaper!
shazbotbaru Nov 16th 2010 6:55AM
lived in Davenport, Fl and visited Gaylord Palms numerous times to just walk around and maybe have lunch on the ship restaurant..Most of us would have loved to have had it used for its original intent of a "Grand Ole Opry", but I guess disney had to stick its stupid nose into it and cause such a ruckus, it denied us the pleasure of having the entertainment we were so anticipating... the place turned out, very, very expensive, but ok, I guess.....nuff said...
yorogo5 Nov 16th 2010 9:09AM
Why did they have to hire people from China? There are plenty of ice sculptors in the USA. Just one more Co. sucking money out of Americans and outsourcing their work.
joel Nov 16th 2010 2:17PM
It is pretty sad to see Chinese people coming carving Ice in the USA when we have hundreds of them that can do the same job and better , this is an insult to every American .
WILL Nov 16th 2010 10:22AM
We have thousands of master ice sculpters here in America , why import them from china ? oh yea I forgot they'll work for pennies
Mary Nov 16th 2010 12:37PM
I saw this display 2 yrs ago at the Gaylord Pallms in Orlando. It was just beautiful. Just watching the movie of how it is all done is just great. If you get to go, don't forget to bring your cameras and gloves. It is very cold in the hall but it is all worth it. Enjoy.
Ol Bob Nov 16th 2010 1:06PM
So beautiful, but sadly so ephemeral.
Marie Nov 16th 2010 1:43PM
Thank you to those of you who posted positive messages. Much of what the naysayers post is true and we all know it, but why take the joy out of something so beautiful. I'll bet that many families save up just to take their kids to the exhibition. I hope these posts do not influence anyone who planned a trip from attending these attractions. Just seeing the beautiful pictures of the exhibition is mindboggling.
joel rambaud Nov 16th 2010 6:22PM
American Chefs are begging for work and we are importing ice carver from China, To Start by Check with the American Culinary Federation should you ever need qualified Ice carver .
The USA has nothing to gain from Chinese Ice Carver as the USA have cleaned out every competion in the food and beverage industry in the last 20 years , fair and square .
Truth is penny pinchers.
This statement come from a French Master Chef .
USA where is your and our Pride .
Matt S Nov 20th 2010 10:09PM
Went to the ICE! show at National Harbor near D.C. Total waste of time and money. $100 for a family of four. Wait in line for 60+ minutes for a 15 minute walk through of the display only to be exited (conveniently) in the gift shop where you are enticed to spend even more cash on cheesy Christmas stuff (including the required souvenir photo- seems like the ICE! people are in cahoots with the Disney company). The ice sculptures were well done, but the experience was not worth the cost (in either dollars, time or energy wasted). This show was Grinch-themed. Dr. Seuss is either spinning in his grave at the thought of how his work has been diluted and commercialized or cackling like Mr. Burns at how his empire is raking in the cash. Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas, but not when "celebrated" in such an artificial, commercialized way. Save the cash, buy the Charlie Brown Christmas DVD and watch it at home with the kids. You'll get much more out of the experience.