When Gaylord National invited our family to experience Christmas on the Potomac, I admit I wasn’t quite ready to think about Christmas. I usually wait until after Thanksgiving before focusing on Christmas. I had nothing to worry about. Our family had an amazing time at the Gaylord!
After noshing on some snacks, we bundled up and headed into ICE! featuring Shrek the Halls. Even though you can borrow a nice puffy blue parka, I recommend bundling up because it’s only 9 degrees Fahrenheit inside the frozen exhibit. Bring a gloves and scarves! It’s based off the holiday short of the same time, Shrek the Halls.
It’s really hard to take good photos in the frozen wonderland, especially when the kids won’t stop moving! So here’s a photo of Shrek and Fiona’s kids. There’s also 4 ice slides and they are pretty cool. I think Sophia went down each of the slides. ICE! has amazing ice sculptures. Before you enter, you’ll get a short video to show how the sculptures are made. Did you know that artists are flown in from China to carve them?
After our chilly walk through the frozen world of Shrek, we headed back into the the Gaylord hotel for a scavenger hunt based off the new movie Rise of the Guardians (the scavenger hunt is included as part of the Dreamworks Character Meet & Greets). Thankfully we ran into Sue’s family and then Jodi’s family. We all put our heads together to figure out the clues. It was pretty hard. I’m not sure what the age recommendation is, but I don’t think Sophia could have figured out all the clues on her own. Even if we helped her read them. However, we did get a nice workout walking around the hotel.
Now that we worked up an appetite, we headed straight to Gingy’s for a bit of gingerbread decorating. Jaxson was smart here. Right away, he asked for permission to eat the candy. I was happy to sit down for a while and watch the kids stuff themselves silly with candy. Sophia was very serious with her decorating, while Jaxson was more concerned with quantity. I have to send a shout out to one of Gingy’s employees, Elizabeth Farmer. We had some broken cookies in our kit and she didn’t hesitate to take care of it. Elizabeth’s bubbling personality made our entire experience fun and the kids love all the treats she “snuck” them.
Of course, we couldn’t leave before the tree lighting ceremony. (The tree lighting is free and occurs twice nightly.) Watching the light show and the fountain with the Christmas music put me in the Christmas spirit. I kinda felt like the Grinch-my heart just swelled. Especially as the kids ran around to catch the “snow” after the tree lighting. We had such an amazing day together as a family. Everyone had a great time.
I think it was a lot to do all in one afternoon. Even if you’re local, I’d recommended swinging for a room at Gaylord National so you can split up the activities on two different days. They even offer Christmas on the Potomac packages. I’ve stayed at the resort for Blogalicious-they have great hotel rooms.
ICE! Shrek the Halls and other Christmas on the Potomac activities run through January 6, 2013. For tickets or more info, you can call 301-365-4000 or head to the website.
Gaylord National hosted our family for an afternoon of activities including tickets to the above. All opinions are my own.