OK… so who exactly is the genius behind ICE!?

Come opening day on Nov. 19, thousands of people will have worked on the ICE! attraction.  The behind-the-scenes story of ICE! is fascinating.

It begins with a team of 40 artisans — among the most talented ice artists in the world — who travel across the globe from Harbin, China, a thriving industrial city in Heilongjiang Province and home to the International Ice and Snow Festival.  (More on Harbin in the next post.)

With the help of Branson-based International Special Attractions, Gaylord Hotels is contracted as the exclusive American sites for Harbin Ice Exhibitions.  It’s an incredible partnership that brings about 120 artisans to three Gaylord Hotels:  Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Gaylord Palms in Kissimmee, and (for the first time this year) Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.

While design work begins in February, on-site preparations begin in early October.  The artisans arrive from China in mid-October, a day before the first shipment of ice.  And that’s when the fun begins.  During the month-long carving period, the artisans work passionately to transform the designer’s vision into a 3-dimensional representation, hand-carved from ice!

During the carving period, it is literally controlled chaos inside the "Florida Fridge."  To finish in time, every artisan has a job that reflects his or her specialty… from basic construction, to detail work, to clean-up.  Some artisans are even experts at the network of cables and lights that run throughout the scenes. 

Meanwhile, a team of Gaylord Palms staff members are assembled to take care of attraction operations, including ticket sales, reservations, retail, entertainment, marketing, public relations, food service and parking.  Nearly every one of the resort’s 1,406 employees play a part of the special event in some way.

For more behind-the-scenes information, check out other posts, by clicking on the "thumbnail" pictures to the right.