KISSIMMEE, Florida—Around Christmas each year, families from cold climates flock to the theme park capital of the globe, home to Walt Disney World, Universal, SeaWorld and many other attractions.
While they’re escaping snow, Florida families with young children often pack up and drive 12 hours or more, hoping to catch a glimpse of the white stuff falling from the sky. Actually playing in it would be a dream come true for many.
But this year, Florida residents have been able to play in the snow close to home, even as temperatures nudge the 80s.
That’s thanks to a creative Plan B at the 64-acre Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee.
From 2003 until 2019, the luxurious, amenity-filled resort added a Christmastime attraction each year, featuring a walk-through display of elaborate ice sculptures.
The resort spent about $1 million each year to transform an insulated tent into a nine-degree wintry wonderland, created by Chinese artisans, according to a report in the Tampa Bay Times.
Ticketholders donned parkas supplied by the resort to walk among hand-carved sculptures depicting intricate images of Christmas, such as toy soldiers, carousel horses, the Polar Express train, and life-size Nativity figures. Cost to explore was, most recently, about $29 for adults and $15 for children.
But in 2020 and 2021, the sculptors couldn’t travel to Florida, due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions, resort spokesman Gary Buchanan said.
So for 2020 visitors, the resort created an exhibit that featured classic Christmas movies, hoping the ice-carving experts from China would be able to resume their craft this year. But it wasn’t to be.
But Plan B has given Florida families an unusually cool reason to visit in a season when the least-expensive nightly rate is about $322.
This year’s attraction at the 1,718-room resort opened Nov. 19 and will remain so through Jan. 2, 2022.
The highlight is an indoor, high-speed, snow-tubing run called Snow Flow Mountain that sends participants screaming down a hill of ice built inside the resort.
And there’s a Snow Factory that gives Sunshine State residents the rare chance to make and throw snowballs at targets.
