Year after year, the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville offers an incredible Christmas experience. Between the stunning decorations and the endless activities, it truly is a winter wonderland. Every few years, we make a point to visit the ICE! exhibit and spend the evening wandering through the hotel’s festive displays.
One of our first experiences at ICE! was the Peanuts themed exhibit back in 2017. It was amazing to see larger-than-life ice sculptures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, and the rest of the gang.
This year, the exhibit featured the holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The most impressive sculpture, in my opinion, was the monstrous Abominable Snow Monster, which stood roughly 18 feet tall! Another favorite was the scene depicting Santa in his sleigh, pulled by his team of reindeer with Rudolph leading the way.
Altogether, it takes about 30 to 45 minutes to walk through the exhibit at a leisurely pace—including a few trips down the signature ice slides!
Pro-Tip: Don’t Forget Your Gloves!
The best advice I can give anyone visiting is: bring your own gloves. Because the entire exhibit is carved from ice, the temperature is kept well below freezing (usually around 9°F).
While they provide a heavy parka for everyone to wear, the coats do not have pockets. I was surprised by the lack of pockets at first, but it makes sense—imagine how many sets of keys and cell phones would be left behind in those parkas if they did!
