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Before and After |
12 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
Everything within the ICE! attraction begins as a 400-pound block of ice. In order to create "life size" carvings, these huge blocks of ice are stacked on top of one another to create the appropriate size needed. In the photo below, the "Victorian Fantasy" scene begins to take shape. just the day before, the Christmas tree was a stack of green ice. What could they be creating now?
As you can see in the picture below taken one day later, the pile of ice is being transformed into a rendition of a man and a woman, catching an innocent "smooch" under the mistletoe.
One day later, an artisan carves (below) the intricate details into the woman's dress. Notice the designer's rendering, which is attached to the ice for easy reference.
Later that day, another artisan (below) touches up the details on the male figure.
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General Stuff |
12 November, 2005
Note: The following blog entry was originally posted on "FROZEN! The Gaylord Palms ICE! blog" in 2005:
A short promotional clip has been posted on the official ICE! website. Although it shows some scenes from previous years, it will give you a good feel for the attraction.
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Carving |
12 November, 2005
First the bad joke:
Q. What kind of glue is most popular in Alaska?
A. That’s easy: igloo.
Get it? Go ahead and groan.
Now, the neat trick:
Q. What kind of glue is most popular inside the ICE! attraction?
A. You’d be surprised to learn that it’s ordinary water! Yup… H20! Elmer’s has nothing on us! In the 9-degree Florida Fridge, that’s all it takes to get two pieces of ice to stick to one another.
Just one more reason why you shouldn’t lick the ice when visiting.
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Cool Stuff |
12 November, 2005
What did this amazing artistry evolve from?
Ice Lantern Festivals can be traced back as far as the late Ming and early Qing dynasties of Imperial China. Five hundred years ago the far northern province of Heilongjiang had an indigenous population whose life was similar to the American Inuit with one large difference, where the Inuits are sea hunters, the people of Hailongjiang were forest hunters.
During long winter nights, getting lost in the forest was a real problem for the hunters. The frequently overcast skies obscured the stars, and without the compass, navigation was nearly impossible. So the clever Chinese came up with a novel solution. Allowing water to partially freeze in wooden buckets. Once overturned, this formed an ice block into which a candle would be placed in the center. The ice surrounding the candle sheltered the flame and acted as a type of lens magnifying the light from the candle –- creating an ice lantern. The hunters strung these
lanterns each night, leading from their homes to the hunt site.
In modern times, an Ice Lantern Festival has been held every winter in celebration of these brave hunters. As part of the Festival, citizens of Harbin, China cut blocks of ice out of the Songhua River to do some simple carving before placing them on display among intricately constructed ice lanterns. During the seven-month long winters, one of the highlights became informal competitions between families to see who could create the most impressive display of sculptures and carvings for the Festival. Sculptures of chickens, ducks and common household items soon grew into impressive displays of pigs, cows and barns.
In 1963, the Mayor of Harbin was so impressed by many of the amateur ice displays that he decided to create formal competition and encouraged adults and children to create more refined and extensive displays of ice for the following winter. The Mayor’s goal was to stimulate the artistic and cultural natures of his populous during the long dark winters, a time otherwise of little activity. Organized in the public parks as a government sponsored event, the family-created displays of 40 years ago have now grown into mammoth creations.
Today, the structures on display in January and February as part of the International Ice and Snow Festival and its many complementary events, are constructed by more than 3,000 professional artisans working with millions of pounds of ice. (pictured above) As part of the festival, more than 2,000 artisans carve a 100-acre walk-through Ice Park each year from blocks of ice taken from the Songhua River.
This annual festival starts in early January at Zhao Lin Park, which is named after a general buried in the park. The festival, which is extremely popular among locals and tourists, runs for two months. The "Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival" is one of the world’s four largest ice and snow festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival.
If you are wondering why Harbin is so closely identified with ice and snow… consider this:
- Harbin is located in Northeast China, where it receives severe cold winter winds from Siberia.
- The average temperature in summer is 70 degrees (21 degrees Celsius), and about 2 degrees (-17 degrees Celsius) in winter. While sources differ by a few degrees (probably due to frozen thermometers), It can be as cold as -36 degrees (-38 degrees Celsius) in winter.
- Harbin stays below "freezing" for almost half of the year.
- You can imagine why Harbin has gotten the nickname "ice city." (Although its more prominent nicknames include "Oriental Moscow" and "Oriental Paris," after the city’s Russian and European cultural influences.)
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Behind-The-Scenes |
11 November, 2005
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.
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Design Chatter |
11 November, 2005
To give a quick update, here is the "official" description of each “ICE!” environment. Look for a more complete narrative later!
The absolute biggest change in 2005? COLOR! Seriously… a virtual crayon box of colors … TEN in all. More on this later… but I wanted to show off the incredible new poinsettia plants that were recently completed. If you love the vivid red and green… stay tuned for more!
ICE! at Gaylord Palms will feature the following in 2005:
- Frozen Florida: where guests are welcomed into this unbelievable world of “ICE!,” complete with arctic alligators and frosty flamingos… donning earmuffs!
- Victorian Fantasy: a tribute to one family’s Christmas in this heartwarming vision of yesteryear.
- Santa’s Toyland: a fanciful “machine-age” toyshop bathed in amazing colored ice, where the elves are hard at work carving toys and placing them on enchanted conveyor belts to load up Santa’s sleigh. Bright flashing lights and colorful candy decorations adorn the whimsical contraptions, all under Santa’s watchful eye.
- Demonstration Station: Nestled within Toyland is an area for guests to see the ice carving process firsthand. Here, Chinese artisans demonstrate their skill and craftsmanship for passersby.
- Santa Photo Opportunity: Who’s cooler than Santa? The Big Fella is here – in all his hand-carved glory – a perfect spot for family holiday photos!
- “ICE!” Forest: home to playful polar bears and pirouetting penguins – and the amazing ice bridge! The “ICE!” Forest is a tranquil and contemplative environment, featuring a running waterfall, twinkling stars behind a painted dusk sky, and a winding footpath.
- Church in the Woods: After crossing the bridge, visitors encounter a rustic church façade. Light streams through ice stained “glass” windows, creating a colorful aura.
- The Nativity: the awesome sparkling crystal-clear life-sized replica. This is the signature scene of the show, one of the world’s most beautiful and inspirational renditions of the Nativity.
- The Christmas Castle: Toy soldiers stand guard at this interactive scene where kids (and kids-at-heart) can climb up the towering spires, and race down the slippery slides. A favorite!
- Santa and Flamingo: one last photo op before returning to the Florida sun!
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General Stuff |
11 November, 2005
What is ICE!? The picture above should give you a good feel. It was used in last year’s marketing materials, and is one of my favorites, due to the dramatic blue lighting.
If you’ve gotten this far, you probably have at least heard of ICE!. But for those who haven’t, here is a rundown of the coolest holiday event in Florida history…
Here’s the short story:
ICE! is a walk-through holiday attraction hand-carved from nearly two million pounds of ice.
Here’s the longer story:
ICE! combines amazing artistry, heart-warming holiday scenes, and a dose of interactivity. Oh, and did we mention that it’s all hand-carved from two million pounds of ice?
These aren’t tabletop banquet carvings, either. Nope. These creations tower above you, surround you, grab your heart and guide you along on a holiday journey you won’t find any place else. The total package overwhelms you… the amazing skill, the dramatic lighting, the holiday music and the special effects.
And, let’s not forget one last thing… the temperature! Nine degrees. Wow… you’re gonna need that free coat we give our guests. Step inside and gasp with delight. If you ever spent Christmas in a northern city, this will take you back to a brisk winter day. If you grew up this side of Atlanta, you’ll finally understand what winter weather feels like to the northerners.
But, honestly, why should the northerners have all the fun?
And for the even longer story (including admission prices, etc.), visit the ICE! website: http://www.gaylordpalms.com/ice
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General Stuff |
4 November, 2005
Where’s the thermometer?
You guessed it… Central Florida’s cold front is about to return!
Welcome to FROZEN!, the behind-the-scenes weblog for ICE! at Gaylord Palms.
Come back every day to learn more about Florida’s coolest holiday attraction! We’ll keep you up-to-date and promise to keep the ice puns to a minimum. But, if we don’t, please don’t give us the cold shoulder. Yeah — they are so hard to avoid.
To view the posts in order, simply click on the link above that says "What is ICE!" That is the next post. Or… feel free to "poke around" by clicking on the photo "thumbnails" to the right.
Enjoy your visit. And, please, stay warm.
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