Gaylord Texan's Lone Star Christmas ~ Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

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The Gaylord Texan Resort has outdone themselves again this year for the holidays, providing us with a fun-filled family Christmas adventure. Our family has been lucky enough to have attended one of the magnificent ICE! displays in the past.  I love that they create a new theme each year.   This year, the Gaylord Resorts have teamed up with DreamWorks Pictures to present, "Merry Madagascar" for their ICE! production. And it is just one of many Lone Star Christmas events at the Gaylord Texan Resort.   Let me tell you how magnificent ICE! is this year - imagine over two million pounds of ice carved int colorful ice sculptures and 20-feet tall ice slides.  The crafting begins back in September, bringing in 40 artisans from China especially to design the display.  Alex the Lion and his friends tell the story of how they saved Christmas after Santa crashed on the island of Madagascar (pulled from the DreamWorks animated Christmas special).  Everything is so bright and cheerful, you almost forget they are carved out of ice....that is, until you are reminded by the chilly 9 degrees the display is kept at.   All guests (infants & children included) are provided with hooded winter coats to keep them warm through out the display.  Long pants and closed-toe shoes are required and we brought hats and gloves as well.  You are in amazement the whole time, so you hardly notice the cold.

While you are there, make sure to enjoy some of the other events going on for the Lone Star Christmas.  My kids favorite was the Kung Fu Panda Awesome Snow Tubing. This eight-laned tubing hill is covered in REAL snow and is not for the faint-hearted. I went with the 3 year old in a double tube but both of my big kids enjoyed tubing by themselves, trying to spin as they flew down the hills. You can get a combo ticket for ICE! and ten runs down the hill for a pretty decent price.

Gingy's Gingerbread Decorating, with Gingy - the famous gingerbread man from Shrek!  is an event for the whole family.   You can choose to decorate a Gingerbread Cookie Family (complete with family pet), a Train, a Christmas Tree, or a traditional House.  The price includes all the materials and time you need to create your masterpieces.  And you even get to meet Gingy and pose for a photo.

I remember coming to the The Gaylord Texan when it first opened just to see how made up it was for the holidays - way before ICE!.  It is beautifully dressed up for the holidays, with a gorgeous 52-foot rotating Christmas Tree in it's atrium - the perfect place to take that family Christmas card photo.  Santa Claus visits the resort for photos, see the miniature trains, and look for singing cowboys and stilt-walkers to entertain you.  It is a fun place to spend an evening with the family.

Pricing for ICE! featuring DreamWorks' Merry Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda Awesome Snow Tubing, and Gingy's Gingerbread Decorating can be found here.