ICE! at Gaylord Texan

Went here with the family for the first time. We found a Groupon online and decided decided to go. First, the parking was absolutely ridiculous, it took us about an hour or so just to park. The place was super packed. Very hard to move around and enjoy the walk where the actual place was located. Once we got to the place the lines were annoyingly long. We waited about 2 hours in line even with a timed event. Once inside they showed us this long video, which honestly they should of showed us while we were waiting in line for 2 hours. Once we got through there they passed out huge blue coats for us to use since they said the temperature was about 9 degrees. It was definitely cold and I’m glad they provided that for us.
The exhibit was gorgeous! Loved all the ice sculptures it was definitely worth waiting in line and being extremely frustrated with the amount of people. I was able to take awesome pictures. It was hard to imagine how much time and work they put to sculpt these awesome sculptures. The nativity scene was my favorite.
What I enjoyed after the exhibit is the fact that they sold cupcakes and hot chocolate! Which was perfect after being in a 9 degree temperature exhibit. It was a great touch and a great idea.

Not sure why I keep coming back for ICE!, I guess just because it’s something different to do around the holidays. I brought a friend that had never been. I only go when the theme sounds decent, and sometimes it doesn’t (Madagascar anyone?). Christmases around the world sounded okay. and it was, okay. We bought our tickets online and printed them out, which you SHOULD DO! There were really long lines in both the ticket purchase and ticket pick-​up line that were unnecessary and we just walked right past.
Once inside the main entrance area with the big screen showing how the sculptures are made, you can purchase a ticket to the Ice Bar for $ 15. We asked the right questions and learned that if you don’t buy your ticket here, you can’t get drinks at the Ice Bar because there is no method for taking payment inside. Just a guy pouring drinks. The price included three drink samples and one regular size drink in your own light-​up souvenir cup! We took the bait and each bought a ticket.
We were told we could line up on either side of the big screen, so we went to the left. Everyone else seemed to go to the right so we ended up ahead of a good number of people and almost went right up to the area to get our parkas. I felt some dirty looks but we were legitimately in a line, so we just smiled back! You’re handed a parka and you try to tell yourself it was surely cleaned after the last person used it (probably not). But you’re going to need it. Don’t be that naïve family being the only ones standing there without parkas, you’ll regret it.
The line to get into the ICE! area wasn’t too bad, maybe 10 – 15 minutes as they move you through pretty quickly. Yes you take a cheesy flash photo that is going to cost an arm & a leg which you probably won’t buy. Once you get inside, it’s colder than you expected, I assure you (unless you’ve lived in places like Chicago). The cold hits your face like a brick and takes your breath away. Put your gloves on! I kept one glove off to take photos and kind of regretted it myself.
It was a little too crowded inside in my opinion. I think they could sell a few less tickets per hour. When you buy tickets online they are timed but it didn’t look like anyone paid attention to this. The Ice Bar was right at the entrance to the second room and we wandered in. It was much smaller than expected and just had a few ice tables and the ice bar with bartender. It was cool though! We were given a sample of a vodka/​cranberry/​apple drink that was delicious. Also a lager type beer followed by a peppermint mocha sample. Don’t try to substitute something, it’s not happening. Then you choose which you’d like as your full size drink. We got the vodka/​cranberry/​apple drink which we then noticed was heavy on the juice and light on the vodka. Oh well!
Several things we noticed while in the Ice Bar — many people wandering in, wondering how to get drinks. They did not plan ahead and had not bought Ice Bar tickets beforehand, so they were SOL. Also saw LOTS of kids inside. It’s a bar people, come on! Also, saw the parents without parkas inside getting their drinks and their little girl sans parka waiting outside the Ice Bar. Are you people nuts?
Anyway, overall, the sculptures were okay, lots of cartoony figures dressed in cultural clothing. I wasn’t super impressed. The slides looked boring, as did the snow tubing at the end. It was expensive and geared toward children as well. Photos were way overpriced and did not turn out well with the flash. And the gift shop prices were laughable.
To the people complaining about how cold it was — did you not know you were going into an area with huge ice sculptures? I’m pretty sure I read that it was 9 degrees well before I got to the place to buy my tickets. If you didn’t bring gloves/weren’t prepared, that’s your own fault!
As an aside, the Starbucks near the entrance of the hotel was abysmal. The woman tried to tell me their hot chocolate is made with water when the menu clearly says with milk. Having experience ordering Starbucks’ hot chocolate, when I pointed this out to her, she got an attitude and was pretty rude. Needless to say I decided not to patronize that establishment!

This is a nice property. However, customer service is really BAD. We went there for New years eve this year. We did mobile check in 24 hours before the check in time. When we went there on 31^st. We had to wait for 2.5 hours to get our room. When we inquire about our room, while waiting. the front desk rep. tells us that our reservation is for ¹⁄₁ and not ¹²⁄₃₁. Some how, they managed to mess up the reservation. Luckily, I had the print out of the reservations.
After making that mess as well, they never apologized for their mistake. This resort might be OWNED by Marriott. But definitely, not the customer service standards of Marriott.
2 stars are only for the ICE. Other wise, Its a 1 star property.
Its expensive to the kind of customer service they provide.
Not worth your money.

Ok, I am as big of a fan of the holidays as anyone, but ICE has some things left to be desired. Here is my list…
1) Rediculously long lines that are not managed very well.
2) Rediculously high prices, then you are nickle and dimed for everything once you are their captive audience.
3) So many people taking pictures of their friends/​families in front of the exhibit that you can’t pause for a moment to appreciate the exhibits, even after paying 120.00 bucks for four of us to see them.
4) And just in case you have not been charged enough, they will get you for another 10 to 20 dollars for your parking.
That being said, the sculptures are well done and magnificent in their creation.

ICE ON THE BLOCK– The «VIP» add on «experience was AWFUL. There was no souvenir glass, no photo opportunities or cool atmosphere. The drinks were frozen and given in a solo cup with no napkins so holding onto a wet cup in 9 degree weather with bare hands caused extreme pain and burning on our fingers and hands. I’m surprised it didn’t cause permanent damage. Poorly thought out, complete rip off and a lawsuit waiting to happen. We ended up having to throw away the drinks (no trash cans either) and just run through the ice exhibit to get out and dry off our hands and warm up. It took a good 20 minutes to have any feeling return to our fingers. DON’T HAND SOMEONE WET CUPS IN A FREEZING EXHIBIT!!! A COMPLETE WASTE OF OVER $ 100 FOR TWO PEOPLE.
I also forgot to mention that the woman at the ticket window was unbelievably rude. When I asked her for information about the exhibit she said she didn’t know and kept rolling her eyes at me.

We had no expectations going in and thought this place was a blast. It is cold in there, so bundle up. The ice sculptures were amazing and so beautifully crafted. Abe the ice slides… too fun. We did them a few times. Fun night.

Our group (5 adults, 1 child) had a really great time at ICE! We didn’t have any wait time so we really got to enjoy, and appreciate all the sculptures in the exhibit. It took us about 15minutes to get through it all. Everything was really beautiful but our favorite part was probably the ice slide. Thankfully there wasn’t much of a wait there either… Over all it was a fun experience!
Here are a few tips so you can have a good time too:
— get your tickets on Groupon ($ 19)
— buy the discounted parking pass from the kiosk in the parking garage ($ 10)
— To avoid all the crazy lines go on a weekday afternoon
— dress warm. seriously you’ll be in a room full of ice. It’s freezing in there!
* wear socks
* boots
* a coat or thick sweater
* gloves, hat, and scarf
— Everyone looks the same in a blue parka. Stay close to your group.
— Everything is extra and overpriced (souvenir photo $ 25)

This is a one and done kind of event. We admittedly went during Christmas week (when the kiddos are all out of school), but I can only describe it as madness. We went at opening (11am) on a Wednesday and it was already very crowded.
Ice!: it was very cold. Yeah, I know it’s a whole exhibit of ice, but it was so uncomfortably cold that our daughter didn’t want to stay long enough to go down the ice slides. They provide a parka with a hood, but we heard they aren’t that warm, so brought our own coats. *Bring hats and gloves if you want to wear them. I was fine without a hat, but could have gone for some gloves. My favorite part was the nativity scene at the end, very impressive. We were all ready to get out of there and get warm again.
Ice Bar (inside the ice exhibit): not worth it. For $ 15, they give you a sample (think shot size) of a beer and a vodka cocktail, then a small drink to go in your souvenir glass. I would recommend grabbing a drink at the full bar outside the entrance since you can walk around inside with it. Unless you really need another souvenir…
Snow tubing: worth it. This was our favorite thing to do, despite the line, which didn’t seem to take that long since there are so many slides. You get to go down three times before you have to stand in line again.
Snowball throwing: not worth it. Unless you are obsessed with carnival games, then you might like throwing ten wet tennis ball sized snowballs at elves and such.
To sum it up, we’re not crowd people and it was crowded. Our daughter (9) enjoyed everything except the ice exhibit itself. Enjoy at your own risk!

We honestly had a great time! After reading other reviews we decided to go ahead and purchase the fast pass– that was money well spent! Although this was a pricey activity it was worth it for us. We ended up walking around the entire beautifully decorated resort and eating in the river walk cantina, which was delicious. We made a lot of memories and are headed home exhausted (in a good way)

Such a waste of money. We went just to ride the ice slides today. It is $ 18.99 for 12 rides. I went with my sister thinking we could split the rides between our kids. No such luck. We had to buy 12 rides for each of us. It was that or nothing. I did not want to ride a slide 12
Times and wait in a long line 4 times! Not good bang for buck. Kids had fun, but they would have had fun doing something else as well. Will not be back.

Rip off. Long Lines for parking, valet, & all the Ice activities, including the line to get tickets if you didn’t get them online. Here’s a break down of Ice. Wait in line to get into the area, then wait in line to get parkas, then wait in line to slide down the slides, then look at stereotypes of cultures around the world. The ice sculptures are more like ice molds and most are painted, so they may as well be made of plastic.
One of the activities billed as «Snowball Workshop», is a you give them $ 10 and they give you 20 pre-​made snowballs to throw at Xmas targets. They should call it what it is $ 0.50/snowballs.
Most of the people I saw looked really happy to be there. I guess if you have never left the South, this all pretty amazing.

This is just my two cents. I did not enjoy this exhibit. I waited an hour in line. Just to be shoved… literally… Into another line for an hour. Then I got my coat, which smelled like vomit. The staff was shoving people through the exhibit and they were all in a bad mood. I was moved through the exhibit in ten minutes and I felt that it wasn’t worth my money and time. 2 hours in line and ten minutes for the exhibit.
Dress warmer than you think. Gloves and hats are a must.
Now… To not be a negative Nancy, the ice sculptures were «cool.» If you go, try to go early so that you don’t have to deal with the crowds.

I’ve heard so much about ICE! over the years and I was excited to finally get to visit this season.
The theme is «Christmas Around the World». The ice sculptures have to be seen to be truly appreciated. Our visit was a late weekday afternoon so we did not have the crowd issues that some reviewers mentioned. I’m told that the temperature in the exhibit is maintained at a frosty 9 degrees, so I was quite appreciative of the parka they provided. Originally from Minnesota, I decided to forego the hood to show that I hadn’t lost my Minnesota toughness. OK, I left Minnesota in 1977. After about five minutes the hood was up.
I posted a few pics, but they really don’t do it justice. This is a great venue for a nice family outing. Give it a try.

Interesting concept, but not worth the money.
Like others have suggested, it is FREEZING inside. And like a few have noted, it’s cold to the point where it actually does physically hurt. I had my hand on one of the sculptures (the tunnel-​looking one) for about 3 – 4 seconds while posing for a picture and it stung for maybe 20 seconds afterwards.
The exhibit itself was fairly short; my family got through it in about 20 minutes. None of the sculptures were necessarily anything memorable. Interesting, but just not memorable.
I didn’t go on any of the slides, so I can’t really comment on that. But it was so cold that I was more focused on how cold it was than actually paying attention to the sculptures. Having lived in Texas for almost 8 years from New York and New Jersey, I guess I’m just not used to extreme cold anymore.

Self-​parking– $ 20
ICE + Snow tubing ticket — $ 40 for adults, $ 30 for kids
Keep in mind that there are plenty of other activities such as gingerbread decorating, cookies with Mrs Claus, meet-​and-​greet with the cast of Rudolph, etc… BUT nothing is free. Everything has its own separate charge.
What to expect: Lots of people, traffic, expensive food, and lots of waiting. If that doesn’t sound like a good time to you, you might want to reconsider the cost-​benefit analysis.
Gaylord is tricked out in tons of gorgeous decorations and is Christmas-​ed to the hilt! I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all of the lights and decorations, especially at night. Having a bunch of impatient young ones can make this a challenge though, but the good thing is that with copious amounts of money, you can buy several distractions for your daylong adventure here.
ICE! exhibit–
It is NINE DEGREES in here, people. IT’S ICE that needs to NOT melt. Prepare for it!
Tip: It is so f***ing cold that they give you a jacket to wear on top of your jacket. TAKE IT. It is so cold in this exhibit that it physically hurts, which is expected, especially since us Texans are chicken in the cold. There are no pockets in the provided parka (I can’t imagine the things people would put in them), so you need the most serious gloves you own. Toes will also go numb from the cold, so plan accordingly. Bring clothing like you are one of those Ice Climbers from the Nintendo game!
If you complained about how hot it gets while wearing two parkas at the different holding points before the exhibit, you shouldn’t broadcast it on Unilocal; everyone will then know that you were too much of an idiot for not taking it off when you got too hot. All you had to do was take it off for a perfectly climate-​controlled experience before exhibit entry…
Most people complain that this exhibit isn’t long enough or that you’ll be done in ten minutes. I think that your body gives up on you before your mind does; we raced through the exhibit and didn’t get to spend time admiring the exhibits the way we would have liked to just because it’s cold. If you can hang with the cold, take your time to enjoy all of the exhibits and intricacies.
You will do a lot of waiting even if you bought tickets ahead of time. You’ll wait in line to pick up your tickets and then wait some more in three different holding areas before the actual ICE! exhibit itself. Someone will try to buy time by getting everyone to sing Happy Birthday to the people on stage. And you’ll wait in line for the snow tubing (separate), which is actually quite anti-​climatic if you are older than 7.
The actual logistics to this place aren’t bad, but they definitely try to max out their occupancy and sales, which leaves you in long lines. I am not entirely sure that it’s worth the cash if you are bringing a big family. It stacks up quick on this trip.

I must say that I had a complete blast with the family while checking out ICE! at The Gaylord Resort. This is definitely a festive holiday adventure and it’s VERY VERY IMPORTANT to note the cost to attend.
At roughly $ 30 an adult and $ 17 for children this isn’t an easy pill to swallow for most people; however, as a one time adventure to mark off your bucket list I highly recommend it. There are plenty of other activities featured at ICE! but note each activity is sold separately.
There are set entry times you can select from which is probably to help manage the crowds maneuvering around in «A Christmas Story» Parka which are provided to you. It’s about nine degrees in there so take the jacket and make sure to dress appropriately. Short shorts and a sweater is not going to cut it here. Ask the girl who was trying to be sexy for her date inside this ice winterland; she lasted for about five minutes.
There are a few waiting rooms you’ll need to wait around in; however, if you’re lucky enough to be allowed into VIP like we were it was a great way to cut the wait time. The first room is a general information video room which explains how the concept originated and why it was brought to Texas. I personally loved it as I’m a nerd at heart and love having behind-​the-​scenes knowledge of places. ICE! is an annual tradition that is brought over from China and ICE! actually flies over these skilled artisans to create these winter wonderlands.
Featuring over 2 million pounds of ice, you can expect to see plenty of details throughout the installations.
This years theme is Around The World featuring children from all over! I personally loved the Nativity scene inside the closing room. Did I mention this is all made out of ice from the mega slide to the floating ornaments?!
If you’re interested you can also upgrade your ticket to experience the Ice Bar for an extra $ 15 which includes samplings and a full size cocktail in a souvenir glass.

Disappointing. Overpriced. Waste of time. $$ for self parking. And on and on… Too bad because my family was looking forward to this tourist trap. If you want to see ICE go to Alaska.
To sum it up… first and last time for ICE!

This is such a fun place to go. Especially at Christmas. Buy your tickets a head of time so you don’t have to wait in line. The sculptures are always amazing I particularly liked it this last time because they showed step by step how the sculpting was done. It was fun but also educational with all the informational pieces they had set out. My only complaint was that it was such a short show compsred to others id seen there. If you walk slow it can take you maybe 15 – 20 minutes. That’s without going down the ice slide. It had too long of a line.
Overall I’d definitely return. It’s a fun experience for the whole family

This place is AWESOME!!! The entire exhibit is carved from giant ice blocks made a whole year in advance and shipped cross-​country! About 40 artisan carvers are flown in from Harbin, China, for just this location alone, and it still takes them one month to carve everything in the exhibit. I’m sure the manufacturing/​shipping of the ice blocks and travel costs alone cost them a forture, not to mention how much it costs daily to keep this entire place at a freezing temp of 9 degrees fahrenheit! So stop complaining about the cost because there is tremendous overhead in bringing such an intricate exhibit to Texas!
Upon admission you are handed a huge blue coat and are led into a standing room only auditorium to watch a brief intro film about the exhibit. Because it is literally below freezing inside, if you’re prone to cold I’d suggest wearing extra layers and possibly also bringing gloves and/​or a scarf. Me? I love the cold so I just wore the coat unbuttoned over my hoodie. Also because of the extreme temperature, I would also suggest NOT bringing small children or the elderly… this would not be an appropriate exhibit or climate for them… Do people not realize this when they complain that it was too harsh for their infant/​toddler/​baby?
They have a different theme annually and this year’s theme was Frosty on Ice! Each room has characters and scenes from the original Frosty the Snowman movie! I had never seen the movie before, but this visit made me want to go home and immediately watch it! There is also a room with a giant Frosty themed ice slide, completely carved out of ice! Rides on this one are FREE, unlike the other supplemental rides and attractions they try to sell you at the box office!
Towards the end, there is an artist doing a live carving demonstration — this time it was a dragon. The artist was surprisingly friendly when we started asking him questions and he even stopped carving to talk to us. So if you speak Mandarin and have questions you’d like answered feel free to field them to the artists themselves!
It does get a little crowded on the weekends, which are considered peak times for them. If you can, I’d recommend a weekday morning where you’ll experience less crowds and even save a few bucks taking advantage of the off-​peak day pricing. We came on a Monday at 11 am and there was only a small line at the beginning to enter the exhibit.
Overall, even at the steep pricing of around 30 bucks per adult, this place is totally worth the cost and I would not hesitate to return in future years if I happen to be in town!

Went here on 12÷1÷14 with Brian P. and his family. It was a Monday at 11 AM and there was NO line. While this place is not cheap, it is totally worth the cost! AMAZING.
My favorite part of the exhibit was the fact that no strollers are allowed. Yay! I hate it when people try to use their strollers as a battering ram with their screaming kids.
Speaking of kids, if your kids are little, don’t bring them here. It’s 9°F and babies, toddlers and the infirm won’t do well in here. Elementary aged kids and older would be appropriate and would enjoy this exhibit. (All of us were 20+ years old) That being said, please discount all the reviews of people complaining that their toddler had nothing to do at this show because… uhhhh yeah, it’s not age appropriate to bring babies to an ice carving exhibit.
Also disregard reviewers who complain because god forbid they’re shown a short video showing how the exhibit is put together so that people aren’t asking the poor people working the exhibit the same questions and potentially blocking the exhibit. All a bunch of entitled hyenas who are expecting to breeze right through with concierge level service for the price of a Shake&Bake coupon.
According to my bf’s translation of one of the carvers who was working on a dragon sculpture, 40 workers carved everything over the course of a month and they’re flown in from Harbin, China. Obviously, beside the materials and the utilities to keep this place up, it’s a costly exhibit to put together, hence the price. Again, totally worth it.
We were inside for over an hour as my bf’s mom and brother went down the ice slide in the exhibit a bunch and we all took TONS of pictures. So much fun! If you aren’t interested in the story, or taking pictures, well I guess technically you could run though this, but why would you?
Absolutely loved the ice nativity at the end. I was really impressed by this exhibit and would love to visit again next year.
Also, use common sense — just like the grocery store is busy right after people get off of work, as well as on weekends and the day before a holiday, don’t go on a peak day or time unless you have to. Should you go on a peak day and/​or time, don’t complain about it being busy.