Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

ICE! has become an annual event during the holiday season at all four Gaylord resorts around the country. It’s part exhibit, part attraction. You buy a ticket, don a (provided) parka and step into what’s essentially a gigantic freezer chilled to 9 degrees farenheit.

Inside are room after room of amazing ice sculptures that are carved by artists from Harbin, China. This year the Gaylord Opryland has teamed up with the Schulz family to do scenes from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in ICE!

I got a peek inside the ICE! attraction last month, right after the artists had started their carving. Here’s a video look at how they create their frozen masterpieces:

ICE! featuring A Charlie Brown Christmas runs through Jan. 2, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn. It’s one part of the resort’s “A Country Christmas” celebration, which also features shows by the Radio City Rockettes and Louise Mandrell.

If you’re visiting Orlando during Thanksgiving week, here’s some fun you might want to check out.

The Polar Bear Club — the crazy folks who take a plunge into icy water — now has a branch in Orlando.

Now you know there’s no icy water to be found in Florida, so how is this going to happen?

Enter Gaylord Palms, and the resort’s “Ice” exhibit. The entire exhibit is carved out of ice each holiday season and this year, it will feature four ice slides that land in freezing water.

So on Nov. 28 at 8:30 a.m., the Orlando Polar Bear Club will run through the 9-degree exhibit in bathing suits and take the plunge. Tickets are $19.99 and include a “warm-up” reception with coffee and hot cocoa. And $5 of your ticket goes to Special Olympics.

If you’re interested in joining the club, you can buy a ticket at www.orlandopolarbearclub.com. Theme Park Mom is gonna be content to just watch.