Experience the magic of Christmas with ICE! At Gaylord Opryland

Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to ICE to facilitate this review, as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own 🙂 

One of my favorite things about living in Nashville during Christmastime is the Opryland Hotel.  The Opyland hotel is at the heart of music city and when it’s time for the holidays to roll in they don’t miss the chance to bring the holiday cheer! Every year they do whats called A Country Christmas and offer loads of fun activities to do with the whole family! So when I was given the chance to visit ICE! at Gaylord Opryland I was beyond thrilled and I gathered up the girls (me, my daughter, mother, and mother-in-law) to get into the Christmas spirit!

Check out all the fun we had when we went to ICE! At Gaylord Opryland:

This years theme for ICE! at Gaylord Opryland was Twas the Night Before Christmas and with it being one of my daughters favorite Christmas stories we were so excited to be able to experience the story like never before! See Ma in her kerchief, Pa in his cap and more as the classic holiday poem, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, is brought to life in TWO MILLION pounds of hand-carved ice sculptures, including two-story tall ice slides. This awe-inspiring experience concludes with the wonder and majesty of a full Nativity in stunning, crystal clear ice. It is all part of A Country Christmas at Gaylord Opryland!

All the rooms at ICE! are kept at a chilly 9 degrees so we made sure to dress warmly, and to ensure you stay toasty during your visit, they offer calf length parkas to everyone! They have sizes for infants to adults and they are perfect to wear when walking through the exhibit! Upon entering we were amazed at the detail that was put into every aspect of ICE! You really saw the entire story come to life right before your eyes. There were so many fun photo opps for you and your family to ensure and look back and remember what a good time you had!

Talk about detail! Even the cookies that look good enough to eat were made out of ice!

Arguably the best part about ICE! is the giant ice slides! And don’t worry mom and dad, you can go down them too! Fair warning though, you go really fast, ha! We spent quite a bit of time in the ice slide room because it was SO much fun! I do have a tip for you though, make sure your parka is underneath you when you slide, the slide is made entirely of ice, and you bottom will get wet if your parka isn’t underneath you!

It took us awhile to convince my daughter that we needed to check out the rest of the exhibit after she discovered the joy of the ice slide!

We stopped for a family photo opp before moving to the next room though. The ice Christmas tree was one of my favorite scenes in ICE! and really got me in the Christmas spirit!

Another awesome thing about the ICE! exhibit was the Frostbite Factory where you could watch an ice sculptor carve new creations live right in front of you! It was really neat to watch!

We got a little insight into what it takes to put on this exhibit every year while in the frost bite factory! From an incredible land of ice and snow halfway around the world, a remarkably talented team of artisans travels to the Nashville area — just to create the amazing ICE! attraction at the Gaylord Opryland Resort! This band of master carvers spends nearly a month of 12-hour shifts inside a 9-degree freezer, transforming two million pounds of ice into a breathtaking winter wonderland. Crazy right!?

At the end of the ICE! exhibit is a stunning clear ice naivety scene that is absolutely breathtaking. Clear, “crystal” ice is the most difficult to make. It is created using highly filtered de-ionized water. It takes 3 days to freeze the 45 gallons of water used to create each 400-pound ice block. By freezing it slowly, the molecules are able to line up perfectly, similar to a diamond or crystal. In fact, this ice is so flawless it is often compared to Waterford Crystal!

We had such a great time checking out ICE! at Gaylord Opryland and we will be going back again next year! After exiting the exhibit and turning in your parkas you are ushered into a fantastic gift shop with Christmas gifts, decorations, treats, and a hot chocolate bar! ICE! is fun for the whole family and if you are going to be in the Nashville area this Christmas season you have got to stop by and check it out!

Want to check out more about ICE! and all the other holiday happens going on at Gaylord Opryland? Then make sure to visit the Country Christmas Website and join in on the fun!