ICE! at Gaylord Palms--worth seeing??

[PrincessKitty1]

DH and I practically never get in our car when we visit WDW--we stay on site and take WDW transportation everywhere we go. Will it be worthwhile to venture oout on our own to see ICE! at Gaylord Palms?? It sounds very cool (pun intended! ).

 

[eeyoresnr]

We went the day we left Disney in 2005...we thought it was a bit high priced but it was pretty...we haven't decided if we are going to do it this trip or not

 

[eeyoresnr]

 

[christygobar]

I can't speak for the exact exhibit at Gaylord Palms, but just last weekend went to the ICE! at the Gaylord Texan here at home. It is super pricey ($25/pp) but a pretty cool exhibit (no pun intended hehe)

I would say that it's something to see, and enjoy the entire Christmas setup at the Gaylord. It looks like the setups are slightly similar (the ice slide room looks similar to the one here in Texas, as does the Nativity - but the rest of them weren't here). They probably also have some nice Christmas village setups in the main atrium of the hotel (free).

So I'd recommend it, if you are okay with paying a higher price for an afternoon or night out.

 

[Connears]

We got tickets for xmas day in Orlando for Ice! It is general admission, we have 10:30am ADR at 1900 PF and then we are heading over to Ice! How long do you think we will wait..just wondering. We always plan on xmas day as a non-park day and we have late dinner adr at Boma so there is no rush. Any body have a guess for wait time?
Connears

love the pictures..

PS we have our car and will be driving from our home resort OKW

 

[eeyoresnr]

once we purchased our tickets I don't remember waiting more than a few minutes while they handed us our parkas....then it took about ahour to walk through and see all there was to see. (we took our time)

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Thanks for all the info, you guys! (And for the outstanding photos, eeyoresnr!). I think DH and I would really enjoy seeing it but I'm not sure we would want to spend 25 bucks each. If it was on Disney property I'd probably go in a heartbeat though. We are just so spoiled by the easy bus transportation at WDW.

 

[*disgal*]

Also........I can't remember exactly how much we paid, but they do charge for parking. I think we paid $7 per car which I thought was a rip off after paying over $200 to see "Ice".

I thought "Ice" was neat and glad I saw it once. I don't think I need to go back but it is one of those things I don't mind doing one time, or maybe every 5-10 years.

The best part for us was going to the Christmas show afterwards that they have in the main part of the hotel. that is where we got our "free" hot chocolate also. We arrived right before it started and this actor came up to us and asked our children if they wanted to be on stage/part of the show. My older two (girls) and my niece said yes. They were the only kids in the show and we got everything on video tape. Just goes to show, the best things in life are free.

 

[Bkee13]

We're planning on going next week- advanced tickets for adults are $16.99 online then used a discount code for $3 off each so it was $13.99 each. I also added the ice skating for I think $8.99 each?

Not sure what to expect but figured we'd try it once

 

[ZeroToHero]

I loved it.... I went two weeks ago, and it was fantastic. the ice slide room is different.. more slides, and they're very fun... it is cold though, so bring gloves to go with your "complimentary" parka. And Thursday nights are cheaper... and emptier. Less waiting for slides. *thumbs up* They do new things each year, so I didn't recognize much from those previous pictures.

 

[souper]

Hi!
I have a few quick questions about Ice.

1. Where do you find the discount coupon?

2. If we are going on a weekday, how much time should we allow to see Ice?

3. Does anyone know the approximate cost of a taxi from the Epcot area resorts to Ice? Are there any "shuttles"?

Thanks in advance. Only 2 more snowstorms until we leave for WDW!
Souper

 

[ZeroToHero]

Hi!
I have a few quick questions about Ice.

1. Where do you find the discount coupon?

There are not discount coupons that I know of, but if you buy them online early, you get discounts anyway.

2. If we are going on a weekday, how much time should we allow to see Ice?

An hour, hour and a halfish... depending on the lines, if you're doing ice-skating too.. maybe up to two and a half hours. It does get very cold though, 9º is coldddddd.

3. Does anyone know the approximate cost of a taxi from the Epcot area resorts to Ice? Are there any "shuttles"?

No shuttles that I know of, but from the Swan it was about 15$ with tip for a Checker Cab, and about 20$ w/ tip for a towncar coming back from Gaylord Palms.

 

[souper]

Zero to Hero:

Thanks so much for your replies.

I appreciate it. I will pass on the skating...We can do that at home.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

So are the ice slides just to look at or can you actually slide down them? Is the whole thing just basically objects that you look at, or is there an interactive aspect?

 

[ZeroToHero]

You can actually slide down the slides in the slide room, but other than that, it's a walk-around and look place - the other.. three or four rooms, I think. The sculptures will get dirty and worn-down if people touch them, but I guess the slides are fine for some reason.. maybe they refreeze them when they have to. So it's both.

 

[toverly]

We went the first week of December and loved it. We are Floridians so, ice is only in drink glasses. My 9 year old loved it and we even made it our Christmas card this year. It is expensive. It was more to park at the hotel than at the parks. I say if you aren't from the cold climates, its worth it for the novelty and uniqueness. If you are from the frozen north, probably not.

 

[HopperFan]

We went last year and really enjoyed it. We walked through, rode the slides, backtracked & did it again, rode slides and even purchased our family picture - which we never do, but it was good and different in our bright blue parkas. At the beginning when you are waiting to go in it started to snow alittle. We bought our tickets online combo with the ice skating. After we explored all over the Gaylord, hunting the gnomes in the travelocity hunt. Just made a day of it. We felt like our day was fun and different, and worth the money.

PS Be sure to tuck your parka under your behind before sliding or you will go way too slow.

Here is video my DS shot on his camera going down the slide. Click on the image.

 

[IMCHARMED]

Everyone is looking for a discount code for the Gaylord Palms ICE show here's one I found that works...
EFSEM

Good Luck all!!!

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Last year we stayed off site in December so it was more of an Orlando trip not Disney trip so we did Ice. We very much enjoyed it and are somewhat from the north. We got advance tickets on a weeknight so that saved us some money on a family of 5. The kids really liked the ice slides and the pictures were unique.

The free hot chocolate while watching a xmas show was nice.

Now that said, I was off-site. If I was staying on-site probably we would not have gone.

This year I am happy to say the Gaylord has come to the DC area and I booked a weekend ICE package. Lucky me!!!