‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Gaylord
Not a creature was stirring because they were all frozen solid.
The stockings were carved on the mantle piece there.
Ready for people to walk by in parkas to give them a stare.
The children were frozen in solid ice;
As were the cat and the mice.
With my family in our parkas, our scarves, and our mittens;
We walked through each room with frozen anticipation.
The moon was carved over the breast of the fake fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects two feet below.
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so frozen and stiff,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
There were Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen!
And Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen!
They were frozen in place but no worry at all;
They looked like they could have flown right out of the hall.
And then, in a twinkling, we saw in the next room
A set of ice slides for us to go zoom.
After we had our fill of the slides we did leave,
and go to the next room where St. Nicolas gleamed.
The ice was so perfect, the detailed defined.
It felt like he was really waving at us goodbye.
We finished with the nativity scene.
It was quite. It was reverent. It was the perfect ending.
As we walked out we started to thaw.
Our toes were all frozen, my fingers in pain,
but in the end, it was worth it all the same.
The carvers from Harbin, China had set out to delight
Every sculpture was a really great sight.
They chiseled and carved with all of their might
In the end, they created something that was a real spectacle in its own right.
We turned in our parkas and stuffed our scarves in our pack.
Took off our gloves and hid away our hats.
We walked to the car and I’m happy to say,
Twas the Night Before Christmas was a delight as always.
ICE! at Gaylord Palms runs through January 3rd at Gaylord Palms Orlando, Florida. Tickets start at $14.99 and can be purchased online in advance (recommended) or at the door.
Strollers are welcome and can be easily maneuvered through the exhibit. Of course, stroller-bound visitors may want to climb out to experience the Alpine Rush snow tubing experience (separate charge).
