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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Christmas, Event Update, Gaylord Palms |
6 November, 2009
… a lot like Christmas at Gaylord Palms Resort! The special events crew has just finished installing the Majestic Christmas Tree inside the hotel atrium.
The tree, which towers above Emerald Plaza, has been decked with new LED lights, providing a brighter shine and greater energy efficiency.
This picture was taken shortly after the crew began testing the lights.
For more information about November and December events in Orlando, including Christmas events at Orlando theme parks, visit ChristmasInOrlando.com.
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, ChristmasInOrlando.com, Cool Stuff, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
4 November, 2009
Although Orlando's ICE! attraction won't open for several weeks, Gaylord Palms is giving a "sneak peek" of this cool holiday spectacle, thanks to two cool web cams that are already feeding live images to fans.
Web Cam One: The Crystal Carousel
The Crystal Carousel is currently under construction inside the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. This show-stopping scene will feature a full-sized "Christmas Carousel" made completely from ice. When complete, ICE! visitors will be able to step onto the carousel, and take advantage of several photo opportunities.
Artisans from China are currently at work inside the 9-degree attraction. To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the left-hand column of the page.
Web Cam Two: Santa's Magic Flight
Santa's Magic Flight is also under construction inside the ICE! attraction. This newly-engineered scene is created from nearly 1 million pounds of ice, and features ice slides for children and adults.
When it opens on Nov. 14, the web cam will catch visitors to the attraction as they slide down the scene's four slides.
To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the right-hand column of the page.
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Behind-The-Scenes, Carving, Christmas, Cool Stuff, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
19 October, 2009
A team of 38 artisans have arrived in Sunny Florida, after a trip half-way around the world, from Harbin, China!
The artisans are in town to dazzle Floridians again with their amazing artistry, as showcased at ICE!, a you-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it holiday attraction, just five minutes from Disney.
The attraction opens on Nov. 14, and it will take the artisans about 30 days to complete the elaborate walk-through "ice village."
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Behind-The-Scenes, Carving, Cool Stuff, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Media, Orlando News |
28 October, 2008
Breaking Orlando News:
COLD WEATHER IN ORLANDO IS BLAMED ON GAYLORD PALMS RESORT
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Oct. 28) — Central Florida residents woke up this morning to a burst of cold air that is being blamed on, of all things, an Osceola county resort. According to news wire reports, the cause of this morning's cool weather has been traced to Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, where a new holiday attraction is currently under construction.
The attraction, which is called ICE!, is currently being carved from 2 million pounds of ice by a group of 40 artisans from China. The temperature began falling when the elaborate refrigeration system used to cool the 18,000-square-foot attraction to 9 degrees began to malfunction.
"Essentially, they've created a 9-degree winter-like environment in the middle of sunny Florida," said an Osceola county official who asked not to be identified. "What they didn't count on was the accidental cooling of the entire region to 40-some degrees."
The attraction, which is nearly complete, will debut Nov. 17. The attraction will be open to the public through Jan. 4.
In its sixth season, ICE! will reflect the theme "Santa's Arctic Blast," featuring several scenes that star "Jolly Cold Saint Nicholas" himself. One such scene is a colossal Santa Claus photo opportunity, carved in an oversized scale. Visitors who sit on his knee will be dwarfed in the photo. Other scenese include Candy Land, a magical destination reminiscent of America’s favorite children’s board game. The ICE! castle and slides have been re-designed to celebrate Santa's Christmas Eve flight… reindeer and all.
According to Gaylord Palms spokesman Keith Salwoski, the situation is under control.
"Our attraction is still 9 degrees, and by afternoon, Orlando temperatures will be back near 70 degrees," he said. "So, in the mean time, we welcome local residents to, um, chill out!"
# # #
For further updates on Orlando Christmas, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, or Christmas at Orlando theme parks, visit ChristmasInOrlando.com
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Cool Stuff, Design Chatter, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
20 October, 2008
Although Orlando's ICE! attraction won't open for several weeks, Gaylord Palms is giving a "sneak peek" of this cool holiday spectacle, thanks to two cool web cams that are already feeding live images to fans.
Web Cam One: Winter Wonderland ICE Bridge
Winter Wonderland is currently under construction inside the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. This romantic scene will feature a romantic winterscape, including a large bridge made completely from ice. When complete, ICE! visitors will be able to walk across the bridge, and take advantage of several photo opportunities, before moving on to the Hall of Ornaments, a colorful new ICE! scene.
Artisans from China are currently at work inside the 9-degree attraction. When the attraction opens, this scene will be home to the ICE! Proposals program, a unique place to propose marriage in Orlando.
To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the right-hand column of the page.
Web Cam Two: Santa's Magic Flight
Santa's Magic Flight is also under construction inside the ICE! attraction. This newly-engineered scene is created from nearly 1 million pounds of ice, and features ice slides for children and adults.
When it opens on Nov. 17, the web cam will catch visitors to the attraction as they slide down the scene's four slides.
To see the progress, click on the web cam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com, found on the right-hand column of the page.
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Design Chatter, Disney news, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
1 October, 2008
If you'd like to be a "fly on the wall" during the construction of ICE!, Gaylord Palms is using Twitter to provide periodic updates.
Twitter is a popular online service that allows users to share bite-sized messages (or “tweets”) of up to 140 characters long.
To follow Gaylord Palms on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/gaylordpalms
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Design Chatter, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
5 November, 2007
Frozen!, the official ICE! "behind the scenes" weblog, is now active.
One of the first posts is a new recap of this year's design and theme, "A Holiday Road Trip."
Other posts include information about the blocks of ice used for carving, and the history of ice carving in China.
Of course, you'll also find updates about ICE! at ChristmasinOrlando.com, including the only live web cams INSIDE the attraction!
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Behind-The-Scenes, Carving, Christmas, ChristmasInOrlando.com, Cool Stuff, Design Chatter, Event Update, Gaylord Palms, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Orlando News |
2 November, 2007
Although Orlando's ICE! attraction will not open for several weeks, Gaylord Palms is given a "sneak peek" into the attraction — a first for this cool holiday spectacle.
Web Cam One: Penguin Pointe
Penguin Pointe is currently under construction inside the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. The scene is created from nearly 1 million pounds of ice, and features three ice slides for children and adults. One slide is the longest in the history of the attraction, measuring 5 feet taller and 30 feet longer than previous years!
Artisans from China are currently at work inside the 9-degree attraction. When it opens on Nov. 19, the web cam will catch visitors to the attraction as they slide down the scene's three slides.
To see the progress, click on the webcam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com
Web Cam Two: Frostproof Express
Frostproof Express is also under construction inside the ICE! attraction. The scene features an oversided train crafted from several colors of ice. When completed, ICE! visitors will be able to walk inside the train, and can take advantage of several photo opportunities, before moving on to Candy Land, a colorful new ICE! adventure.
To see the progress, click on the webcam link at ChristmasinOrlando.com
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Behind-The-Scenes, Best of Florida Christmas, Carving, Christmas, Cool Stuff, ICE! at Gaylord Palms, Media |
24 October, 2007
The Orlando Sentinel ran a great story in today's paper, featuring a "behind-the-scenes" look at the Chinese ice carvers and artisans who are responsible for the ICE! attraction at Gaylord Palms Resort.
The story can be found here.
A video of the construction can be found here.
A photo gallery, including photos of construction from 2006 and 2007, can be found here.
For more information, and for the latest updates on Christmas events in Orlando, visit ChristmasInOrlando.com.
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Behind-The-Scenes, Event Update, Orlando News, Sports |
21 October, 2007
Forget the bowl games, can their namesake parades be in competition, too?
If so, Orlando's biggest parade competitor is the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade. Both parades feature floats decorated with vegetation — citrus in Orlando's case and rose petals in California.
Orlando clearly has the easier task… it is said to take 60 volunteers working 10 hours a day for 10 days to decorate one single Rose Bowl float with teeny-tiny rose petals.
In Orlando, a total 500 decorators (over 3 days) are needed to affix the larger oranges, grapefruits and tangerines that are used to adorn the floats, more than 100,000 total!
The decorating happens December 26-28 at the Orange County Convention Center. According to organizers, no experience is necessary. It sounds like a fun (and perhaps sticky) way to play a part in this year's Capital One Bowl festivities.
For more information, visit the lisiting on ChristmasInOrlando.com.
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