ICE at the Gaylord Palms

I enjoy writing about the Bible the most, but I don’t take that task lightly. I want to do adequate research and study for those posts. Therefore, I’m writing about other things as well while I take the time to study.

I wrote about two things so far that I did with my family during this past Christmas holiday break – a Wildlife Safari Park and a Christmas Tree Stroll. Another thing that we did was visit the local Gaylord hotel. Marriott Hotels’ Gaylord chain holds their annual Christmas ICE event which conveys the stories of several popular Christmas movies, such as Polar Express, Rudolph, etc. The chain rotates the stories and the Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, Florida this year hosted the Charlie Brown Christmas story.

The event is staged in their Convention space, taking up a huge meeting area/ballroom. The area is insulated and held at a temperature of 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors check out a heavy-duty winter parka with which to walk through the exhibit. The following graphic from the Gaylord ICE website linked above provides a good summary of how the exhibits are prepared.

Here are some pictures from the display. My family, shown below, is all decked out in our parkas, even though it was 70 degrees outside the building.

Here’s a picture of me as well. The ice sculptures are all vividly colored using a specially formulated coloring agent designed to maintain its bright color for the several-month duration of the event.

Initially, we see the whole Peanuts gang enjoying their skating session on a frozen pond.

Snoopy can be seen relaxing as well on top of his doghouse with a handy pile of bones nearby.

But Charlie Brown is upset with all the commercialism that surrounds him during this Christmas season.

Snoopy has found a decorating contest that offers a cash prize….

His sister, Sally, has generated very lengthy and expensive wish list…

And the old-fashioned seasons greetings have all dried up!

On his way to see Lucy, he sees that Snoopy’s decorations won first place. Good Grief!

Lucy’s psychiatric advice is that Charlie Brown just needs to have something to take his mind off his problems. He needs to come and direct the school play.

The sheer size of this display is pretty amazing. Here’s the entrance to the school auditorium where the play is going to be rehearsed.

Of course, when we enter the auditorium, it’s sheer mayhem. There’s a party going on!

To add to the disarray, there’s even an ice slide you can go down.

But Charlie Brown tries to get things under control. He soon sees how futile it is to control this group, so he sets out to find that perfect centerstage tree instead.

There it is… the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. He took it because it just needed some love. But the gang all laughed at him. In frustration he says, “Doesn’t anyone know what Christmas is all about?”

Linus provides the answer.

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!’ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”