The Gaylord Texan serves as a Christmas staple for many families who have made a tradition of visiting the famed hotel to brighten their holiday season. The Gaylord Texan offers a festive atmosphere that is hard to match and they have countless activities to ensure everyone is put in the Christmas spirit. Sadly, since the Covid pandemic, the hotel’s main attraction ICE! has been absent, leaving a void in the experience. It is no surprise that the announcement of the exhibit’s return this year has drawn huge crowds and attention. Take a look below to see what our experience was like this year as we toured Christmas at the Gaylord Texan.

To be honest, we were a bit leery of how enjoyable it would be due to the fact that most time slots for ICE! were at maximum capacity, including ours. The hotel traffic is clearly heavier than it has been in recent years, which is no surprise with the excitement about ICE!’s return. We joined the end of a long queue to enter ICE! but were impressed by how quickly it progressed. There was obviously some wait, but it seemed to go by faster than some of the less crowded exhibits in the past. Once inside, there was plenty of space to move around and enjoy the frozen marvels.

The theme this year is The Polar Express and the attention to detail that the ice carvers took is arguably better than any done before. In addition to the impressive artwork, the artists dedicated a spot in each section of the exhibit for visitors to take photos. There was no rush or being ushered through the exhibit and the only time it really felt crowded was around the ice slide section. However, this room also had some of the most impressive artwork with the derailed train lining the top portion of the walls, so it greatly overshadowed the amount of people there. The lighting and color of ICE! distinguished it from some of the past exhibits. If you have not made a visit this year, we would highly recommend it.

Following ICE!, we had to stop by and take a couple of rounds down the sledding hills in the Christmas Village. There are iceskating, sledding, shopping, and snowball throwing sections in this area. It can be a bit tricky trying to figure out where to go as there aren’t many clearly marked areas as where to purchase tickets, but definitely worth the while. They also added several food and restaurant stations this year, which is a major improvement to just having snack stations as in the past. They also offer a place to grab a bite to eat without having to be on a wait list like many of the other restaurants in the hotel.

We capped off the night with a stroll through Merry & Light, an outdoor walkthrough path that offers unique displays of Christmas lights and places to take the perfect holiday selfies. There were a couple of new additions to the attraction this year, but one of the biggest improvements was the inclusion of additional staff members. Workers were located throughout the displays and offered to take group pictures should you want one. This is great for families who rarely get the opportunity to have a photo of everyone without taking a closeup selfie and blocking out the lights in the background.

Christmas at the Gaylord Texan runs through January 1st, so there is still time to get there if you have not had a chance to visit. We do have an online coupon to help cut the exhibit cost in half on most dates. Simply enter the code “LIVE” when purchasing tickets from the Gaylord Texan online. You can buy tickets or find more information by clicking here!