Kung Fu Panda

Orlando’s Gaylord Palms Wants You to Get Scared Shrekless and Prepare for a Merry Madagascar!

21 September 2012 by Suzannah Otis Leave a Comment

I always love any chance I get to hang out at the Gaylord Palms Resort – it is like another little self-contained world. Actually, there isn’t anything little about Gaylord Palms. From the moment you walk in the lobby, the space is awe-inspiring and the attention to detail and theming just gorgeous. I think I could spend all day just wandering around and exploring the Florida-themed sections of the hotel (and they realize this and offer kids scavenger hunts as a result!). The rooms and dining are just as fabulous, making it a place a family or couple could truly escape and never leave the grounds for a mini-vacation.

Gaylord Palms knows how to entertain families as well. They have two holiday packages coming up, one for Halloween featuring Shrek and Kung Fu Panda – who wouldn’t want to trick-or-treat around 4.5 acres of hotel gardens?! Of course, their amazing Christmas experiences such as ICE!, decorations, shows and more! The official information follows – I can’t recommend the Gaylord Palms Resort enough, it’s just beautiful!

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Gaylord Palms Resort invites guests to come out and experience Halloween a little early this year during Scared Shrekless Family Fun, an interactive experience featuring beloved characters from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s Madagascar franchise and this summer’s hit film Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, along with friends from the Shrek and Kung Fu Panda franchises.

Package guests can dress up in their most spooktacular costumes; trick-or-treat around the resort’s 4.5 acres of gardens; participate in a kids’costume contest with prizes; make ooey, gooey Swamp Sludge; dive into fun at the Madagascar Crack-A-Lackin’ Pool Party and much more ghoulish fun!

Scared Shrekless Family Fun at Gaylord Palms offers families a safe and weather controlled environment to celebrate the Halloween holiday. Overnight packages begin at $179 and are available on October 13 and October 27. For more information visit www.DreamWorksExperienceatGaylordPalms.com or call 407-586-2000.

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ICE! featuring DreamWorks’ Merry Madagascar

Celebrating its 10th year, ICE! is back and features an all-new awe-inspiring tribute to the unforgettable DreamWorks’ Animation TV classic Merry Madagascar. Guests can relive the story of how Alex the Lion and his friends saved Christmas after Santa and his reindeer crash onto the island of Madagascar.

Thrill-seekers can take a trip down one of four, two-story ice slides. With more than 20,000 square feet of exciting hand-carved sculptures made of 2 million pounds of ice, the frosty 9-degree bliss of ICE! is Florida’s favorite frigid Christmas tradition. A team of 40 talented artisans from Harbin, China, spend more than a month in Kissimmee creating this one-of-a-kind attraction.

While visiting Gaylord Palms to take in the excitement of ICE!, guests can also amplify their Christmas experience with one of these special events available FREE of charge:

Majestic Christmas Tree Lighting — Guests looking for a more traditional treat can enjoy Gaylord Palms’ famous tree-lighting ceremony, complete with singers, carols, lights and the star of the show, a massive 54-foot-tall majestic Christmas tree! It towers over the St. Augustine atrium, waiting for the special moment to light up and cast holiday cheer on guests.
LIVE Stage Shows — As part of the holiday lineup, Gaylord Palms offers live stage entertainment, including the spirited Luminescence Christmas show, throughout the Christmas season. Shows take place in the Emerald Bay Plaza, and guests are welcome to attend, free of charge!
Polar Bear Pursuit Scavenger Hunt — Guests can take a joyful jaunt throughout the indoor atriums to spot cleverly hidden polar bears. Answers are entered online to be eligible to win a grand prize.

The festivities don’t stop there! Guests can also participate in a few of their favorite things (additional charges apply):

ShrekFeast Interactive Character Breakfast — Kids will love becoming an honorary Ogre and joining Shrek and friends for a fairytale feast fit for a king. Tableside hugs and photos included! This experience features a Magic Fountain bubbling over with delicious chocolate potions and Shrek-shaped waffles with syrup.
Gingy’s Gingerbread Decorating — This fun, sticky, interactive decorating tradition just got a whole lot sweeter! Hosted by Gingy, the most famous of all Gingerbread men, you can choose from several different design options. After you’ve decorated to your heart’s content (don’t forget the gum drop buttons!), make your way to meet Gingy for a heartwarming hug that you can capture with your own camera.

The best way to benefit from all that Gaylord Palms has to offer is to book a room and become immersed in the splendor of Christmas. Guests seeking to jingle all the way into their holiday hoopla can purchase special “Christmassy DreamWorks Experience” packages starting at $189 per room per night!

Specially designed with all of the activities above, packages include tickets to ICE! and the exciting adventures of DreamWorks Animation’s latest feature film, in theaters November 21^st, Rise of the Guardians Scavenger Hunt, in which the whole family will search throughout Gaylord Palms’ spectacular indoor atriums and enter their answers online to win a grand prize. Enthusiasts can then meet the whole DreamWorks gang with a “Character Passport” that allows them to stroll through Shrek’s beloved swamp for a face-to-face encounter with the green ogre himself; explore the island of Madagascar; discover China’s ancient Valley of Peace where Po, the Kung Fu Panda, has become a true kung fu master; and greet Gingy in a giant gingerbread house.

A DreamWorks welcome amenity package, character wake-up calls and a family photo are also included in overnight packages for guests to commemorate their unforgettable visit. Additionally, they can enjoy special holiday menus at the expansive dining outlets and attractive holiday merchandise at the myriad specialty shops.

ICE! is open daily from Nov. 10, 2012 through Jan. 1, 2013, including holidays. Ticket prices range from $13.99 to $29.99. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.ChristmasAtGaylordPalms.com.

Gaylord Palms Resort is located five minutes from the gates of Walt Disney World at 6000 W. Osceola Parkway, Kissimmee, FL 34746. For more information, visit www.gaylordpalms.com or call 407-586-2000.

Be sure to “Like” Gaylord Palms on Facebook to get the most up-to-date information and promotions!

Move It Move It to Gaylord Palms this Winter for ICE! Featuring Merry Madagascar

18 July 2012 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

Madagascar characters at Gaylord Palms — King Julien, Gio – my 3 year-old, me, and Mort!

This morning we learned that the 2012 season of Gaylord Palms Resort’s ICE! will feature Alex, Marty, Gloria and the whole gang with a Merry Madagascar theme. Alex the Lion and King Julien were on hand last year with the Kung Fu Panda themed ICE!, for character greetings. Now in addition to Alex and Julien, there is a Mort and Gloria and penguins characters as well. Mort is simply adorable and my favorite, so I was excited to see him there.

ICE! is an amazing display of sculpted ice along with some play areas as well. Gaylord Palms will present ICE! from November 10, 2012 – January 1, 2013 and will be themed after the Dreamworks Animation holiday special Merry Madagascar. An interactive world of colorful ice sculptures and four two-story ice slides carved entirely from two million pounds of ice. It is truly breath-taking (and don’t worry, winter parkas are provided!).

Gingy’s Gingerbread Decorating will be back this year as well, where you can choose from two different options to create a gingerbread cookie family or a complete gingerbread house – don’t forget the gumdrop buttons! Gingy will be on-hand for photos after you finish your edible creations.

Gaylord Palms also offers amazing holiday decor throughout the sprawling Florida-themed resort. Holiday lights, trees and entertainment as well as scavenger hunts offer plenty to keep you in the Christmas spirit.

ICE! tickets start at $22.99 for adults and $13.99 for children – you can call 407-586-2000 or head to ChristmasAtGaylordPalms.com for more information. There are also special packages starting at $189 per night, where you can enjoy the beautifully renovated rooms and Cypress Springs Water Park within the resort grounds.

I can’t wait to Move It, Move It! in November!

Oh, and as a special treat – Gaylord Palms brought in Vanilla Ice to sing his hit “Ice Ice Baby” for this fun announcement. Vanilla Ice is back and better than ever! Check out the video of his performance below:

Experience Cold and Snow in Florida at Gaylord Palms ICE-Shrek the Halls!

16 November 2011 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

My family first visited the Gaylord Palms and its ICE! event back in 2007. We loved it back then and I’ve been lucky enough to attend the last two ICE openings at a media sneak peek. This year was the first time I brought my littlest guy, now 3, to experience the fun. I wondered what he’d think of the extreme cold temperatures, but despite his initial resistance to wearing the puffy blue parkas the hotel provides for ICE visitors, he was excited to see everything!

As you enter the Gaylord Palms convention center, you are greeted by the “Holiday Halls” where ICE!, Snow, Gingy’s Gingerbread Decorating, and the DreamWorks Experience are held. In addition to the free elements of the Gaylord Palms holidays, the special ticketed events include ICE! with over 16,000 square feet of 9-degree weather – quite the contrast to the 80 degree temperatures we are experiencing.

This year, ICE! is Shrek-themed with perfect representations of your favorite characters including Shrek, Fiona, Puss in Boots, Donkey and more. It is amazing how much the huge blocks of colored ice look like their animated counterparts. Also within the experience are the slides made entirely of ice, which my big kids (and my friend and I) loved sliding down! It’s such a fun way to experience winter in central Florida!

Shrek in Ice — Donkey, Puss in Boots and more in ICE!

Shrek characters in ICE — An overview of some of the characters from Shrek

ICE slide — This slide in ICE is so much fun (and cold!) to do!

Kung Fu Panda Awesome SNOW is another play area with a separate admission. Inside there are more slides and playground equipment and 130 tons of freshly made snow. No parkas are needed in here, it’s around 50 degrees, but snowball fights abound as you play in a courtyard themed to the Valley of Peace from Kung Fu Panda. The whole family loved making snowballs and playing in the snow – without the shoveling and scraping ice off your cars!

New this year is Gingy’s Gingerbread Decorating. This area was not open last night but will be now. There guests can purchase and decorated gingerbread houses, cookies or a tree ornament cookie and meet with Gingy himself!

The DreamWorks Animation 3D Theater Experience is also now open, where guests can walk the red carpet with Puss in Boots and enjoy gourmet theater food and beverages with Shrek and Princess Fiona before enjoying Puss In Boots on the big screen, in 3D!

Ticket prices vary by date and you can also look into a one or two-night DreamWorks Experience package to stay at the Gaylord Palms and get some amazing amenities, including interactive Character Meals, Meet & Greets and more. Check out pricing and more info at ChristmasAtGaylordPalms.com Be sure to check in on foursquare for a special treat too – free hot chocolate! Those on twitter can follow the action using the #GPICE hashtag and you can upload your photos to the group flickr account too. Speaking of flickr, for more photos from me check out my Gaylord Palms ICE set on flickr. As you can see below, photographers are on hand to capture your family’s experiences and allow you to bring home memories to last a lifetime.

ICE photo — Group shot of the family and Amanda Tinney's family too in our ICE! parkas!

Some of the free events within the hotel include Luminescence, a musical journey into the spirit of Christmas, Christmas Wonders and Majestic Christmas Tree Lighting and Visits with Santa. I can’t wait to bring the family back again and check out all of these beautiful events in person.

This Saturday, 11/19, Gaylord Palms is teaming up with the amazing local kids charity Give Kids the World, for 50% off admission to ICE! Be sure to use promo code: SEGKW when purchasing tickets!