Meet Buddy the Elf at ICE! Orlando!

If you’re anything like us, you will currently be lining up your favourite Christmas films and relishing the annual movie-fest that now stretches to dozens of titles in this ever-growing festive period. And the chances are you will have a 2003 classic at, or very near, the top of your list.

Yes, we’re talking about the Will Ferrell laugh-athon that is Elf, the ultimate “Buddy” movie that earned rave reviews 21 years ago and is still racking up streaming views by the million. And, this year, it is also the centrepiece of another annual treat – the ICE! presentation at the fabulous Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee.

We don’t usually need any prompting to have this superb Central Florida Christmas celebration at the top of our Nice List for the festive season, but the theme for the 2024 version absolutely guarantees it will be No.1 in the Yuletide hit parade for us.

That’s because the Ferrell movie has been adopted, lock, stock and icy barrel, for the Big Freezer that is the yearly ICE! spectacular, a sub-zero wonderland of ice carvings, slides and full-on Christmas cheer. It is an absolute blockbuster production, and the Elf theming is a true masterpiece of ice-cold creativity.

Tell us about the film Elf

Oh, come on, surely everyone knows the story of this family favourite by now? OK, just in case you don’t, Elf is the star-studded creation of master movie-maker John Favreau (who has also given us the Star Wars series The Mandalorian in recent years), which also featured James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart and Zooey Deschanel.

It opened to rave reviews (the same week as Love Actually), grossed almost $230million and has been a staple of the great Christmas movie ‘season’ ever since, a perennial classic that needs little introduction, other than to say Ferrell was born to play the part of Buddy the Elf and his mission to find his biological father in New York City.

Amazingly, it has never featured in any of the Gaylord group’s ICE! presentations in their five eye-catching resorts around America – until now. It opened to visitors on November 15 and runs until January 4, so it is prime festive territory now.

What is ICE!?

Pioneered by the Gaylord hotels group since 2001 (originally in Nashville, and in Kissimmee since 2003), this is a multi-sensory experience of polar proportions. It is the annual creation of a group of 40 or so artisans from the Chinese city of Harbin in the northernmost part of the country, where temperatures can get as low as -30C in the depths of winter.

As a result of the weather, ice-carving has become a speciality of the locals, and their fame at creating incredible scenes from ice sculptures has grown to become a worldwide phenomenon. Now, they arrive in Kissimmee as a group each October and take about a month to work their magic in a specially created super-cooled ICE! tent alongside the resort’s convention centre.

Each presentation is carved from an imported stock of roughly two million pounds of block ice, dyed in various dazzling colours, and the tent is kept at constant -9C thanks to heavy-duty air-conditioning systems, hence it has the REAL feel of winter!

And, while ICE! is the undoubted heart of the hotel’s Christmas programme, there is even more to discover beyond the icy confines of the tent, much of it free to enjoy once you have experienced the North Pole extravaganza, including the nativity-style Greatest Story Stage Show and Here We Go A-Caroling Light Show, set in the resort’s astounding main atrium and featuring a signature 60ft Christmas tree.

Then there is the Alpine Village, another winter wonderland of snow-tubing, snowball throwing, seasonal snacks and drinks, gingerbread decorating, story-telling and Christmas scavenger hunt, all for an additional fee, along with the superb Cirque Spirit of Christmas show, with amazing feats of acrobatics, flexibility and high-flying stunts.

Into the Freezer

When it’s time to be suitably chilled, you must book your tickets for ICE! online in advance. Its popularity is such that there are days and times when it will sell out, so be sure to use the link at the end of this blog. Then, you just need to head for the Gaylord Palms and follow the ICE! signs to the main car park. A day’s parking costs $38, but it will be worth it.

After parking, you enter via the ground level convention centre entrance and ICE! will be the first thing you come to on your right. Go through the doors, turn right again and the official entry will be straight ahead. Once you have been checked in, you will be fitted out with one of the eye-catching blue parkas that will help to keep you warm (or, at least, not frozen!).

Big Tip: Bring your own gloves, scarves and woolly hat. These will be invaluable as you tour the exhibit. There’s no time limit for how long you can stay in it, but many people manage only 20 minutes or so, and you will definitely want to stay longer. Decent shoes and thick socks are a good idea, too.

Meet Buddy and his pals!

Finally, you are through the doors into the tent, and you are immediately greeted by the sights and scenes of the North Pole á la Elf. This is the start of Buddy’s movie journey to New York, and it includes characters like Mr Narwhal, Leon the Snowman and Pappa Elf, and it moves quickly through several scenes of his journey south before he reaches the city and discovers Gimbels toy shop (a great selfie opportunity!).

Buddy gets to meet his dad and mayhem then ensues over a family dinner, a snowball fight and a meeting with a “fake Santa,” all set around the key ICE! element of the four ice slides that make for super-slippery fun at the heart of this exhibit. The big finale features a full-size sleigh and reindeer in Central Park – the scene of Buddy and Santa’s showdown with the Park Rangers – before the official sign-off with Papa Elf back at the North Pole.

Regular visitors to this annual extravaganza will know that this isn’t, actually, the end of the show, as there is still the bonus scene of the Christmas Nativity, which is all carved from brilliant, clear ice that shines with an amazing lustre. It provides a magical sign-off before you exit into the Alpine Village – and the chance to warm up again with a nice hot chocolate from Snowy’s Snack Shack!

To see more, and buy tickets, check out this link.

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