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Media |
21 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
When the "Big Freeze" hits Central Florida, it's big news. Over the past few days, we've had many media visitors at ICE!:
On Friday, weatherman Dave Marsh from WESH-TV (NBC Orlando) hosted weather reports on Friday from inside the 9-degree ICE! attraction.
We snapped a picture (above) of Amadeus, host of the Weekend Showplace on WJWB-TV (WB Jacksonville). Amadeus and his crew taped segments that will air thoughout the weekend on the station.
On Sunday, we hosted our first live radio remote of the season (above), WILD 95.5 from Palm Beach. On Monday, Meteorologist Randy Rauch from WTSP-TV (CBS Tampa Bay) shared the "chilling" news with viewers (below). His news report is available online… click here to see it.
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Behind-The-Scenes |
21 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
What do we do to get our 1,800 employees excited and "pumped up" about ICE!? This year, we created our own parade… indoors! As part of Gaylord Palms tradition, we hold an All-STAR Rally a few days before Opening Day of ICE! [We call it an All-STAR Rally, because we call our employees STARS]
Our rallies are always informative and entertaining, and certainly a party in themselves. We honestly believe that work should be fun… so our "all-employee" meetings should be fun as well. And this one was true to tradition. It was held in a section of our Florida Exhibit Hall… a few doors down from ICE! To create the perfect venue for a parade, we lined the room with bleachers, and painted a line down the middle to create a road. STARS were served "parade food" like hotdogs and nachos.
The script was a blast. It was hosted via huge video screens by Katie Cowlick and Matt Flour, our Today Show look-alikes. The first parade float was General Manager John Caparella, who stopped to make a "state-of-the-resort" presentation.
Following John were other members of the Leadership team interspersed with parade units, including the All-STAR Color Guard (below), a band of crazy cowboys, special guests The "Whack-Eyed Peas," the All-STAR band, and a finale with Santa, his elves, and a sassy gang of Rockettes wannabes.
The unit that stole the show, however, was the Engineering team, who paid tribute to the beloved Shriners, driving floats made from their work vehicles. They even threw candy. Gotta love that.
After the parade, all employees were able to experience ICE! for themselves wrapped in their ice-blue parkas.
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Behind-The-Scenes |
20 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
When visiting ICE!, you'll find a new series of recorded vignettes that play throughout the pre-show area. These segments, which feature Old Man Winter and his friends, provide valuable information and also spoof popular television shows. One of the segments features a toy soldier who instructs visitors on the proper use of the ice slides.
The toy soldier was played Gaylord Palms entertainment director Aaron Mendelson, who spearheaded the project. In a surreal moment, we caught him on film with his toy soldier "alter ego" on the screen in the background.
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Cool Stuff |
20 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
Opening day of ICE! was very successful! Our very first guests to the attraction were the Mays Family of Palm Bay, Florida! The couple was staying at Gaylord Palms for the weekend, enjoying a holiday package with Jessica, Brandon (5 1/2) and Brian (2). The picture above is the group in their famous ice-blue parkas… the picture below was before they entered the queue.
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Behind-The-Scenes |
18 November, 2005
November 19 is opening day.
That means the ICE! attraction has been a whirlwind of activity this week. The biggest efforts occur in Florida F, the section of the exhibit hall that houses the ICE! pre- and post-show area. Dozens of workers have been laying carpeting, hanging drapes, assembling the display pieces, and stocking the ICE!House Gift Shop.
Inside the Florida Fridge, the last minute touches are being added, including the "non-ice" props, final lighting, and other last minute adjustments.
All is on schedule, and we’ll be ready for our first visitors!
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Cool Stuff |
16 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
The artisans are wrapping up their final days of carving. This week, half will return to China. The other half will stay in Kissimmee to maintain the ICE! attraction. Earlier this week, the entire carving team assembled for a photo at the ICE! Castle.
[As with all of the photos on our weblog, you can click on the picture to see a larger image in a new window.]
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Media |
16 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
Candice Coleman, of WKMG-TV in Orlando, was the first television reporter to broadcast from ICE!, a distinction she has held for the past three years. She, of course, was intrigued by Chris Dunlop (above) of ISA, who faithfully shows up for work every day in shorts despite the 9 degree temperature.
While visiting, the station caught an unusual sight for Florida… SNOW! That's right. To create snow, the artisans grind up pieces of ice and blow it into the winter forest scene. This gives the feeling of freshly fallen snow. On this day, however, it looked like more of a blizzard (below)!
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Fun Facts |
13 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
Three types of ice are used in the construction of ICE!, the attraction at Gaylord Palms:
- Clear "crystal" ice makes up a majority of the overall sculptures. The crystal clear ice is created using highly filtered de-ionized water. It takes three days to freeze the 45 gallons of water used to create each 360-pound ice block. This ice is so flawless it is often compared to Waterford Crystal.
- White ice, which looks like compacted snow, makes up a smaller part of the attraction, but is invaluable when you're carving a snowman (below).
- Colored ice, dyed one of ten brilliant colors, is used for highlighting and accenting many of the ice sculptures. This year, the attraction has more color than ever… especially the Frozen Florida and Santa's Toyland scenes.
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Before and After |
13 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
Somebody once asked the famous sculptor Michelangelo about carving a beautiful angel in stone. As legend has it, he replied: "The angel is caught inside the stone, I simply carve out everything that is not the angel."
But how do you "release" an angel from several blocks of ice?
As you can see above, the angel begins as a stack of massive blocks of ice.
A day later (above and below), the angel begins to take form.
The next day, the angel's upper body begins to appear (below). Note that the details are all added using hand tools… not too different from the way Michelangelo carved his masterpieces.
The next day, the artisan adds definition to the angel's wings (below).
As work is completed (below), the true beauty of the angel shows through, even without the dramatic lighting that will be added later.
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Cool Stuff |
12 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
So, you need about two million pounds of ice to create ICE!
Not just any ice… about 5,000 blocks made to your exact specifications, including ten different colors. And some of the ice has to be so clear it could mistaken for Waterford Crystal.
Where do you go?
You go to Cairo.
Wait… this cairo: Cairo, Georgia.
Right over the Florida border, you'll find M&M Ice, the supplier of the namesake material for the Gaylord Palms attraction. Beginning mid-October, the ice makes the journey across the state to Kissimmee in several freezer trucks. If you check out the M&M Ice website, you may get the opinion these folks are pretty proud to be part of the project!
And when you linger at the Nativity scene, marveling at its crystal-clear beauty, you'll know where the ice came from!
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