8 Tips for ICE! at the Gaylord Texan 

It’s not just beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Gaylord Texan Resort. It’s an explosion of Christmas cheer in every hallway of this enormous hotel! I’ve always loved to visit the giant Christmas trees, nutcrackers, and holiday lights inside the main courtyard. But this year, we got to experience something really special: the ICE! exhibit.

Our sweet blogger friend Crystal from Travel and Table shared a 50% OFF coupon code with us for ICE!. (You can check out her blog post about all of the Christmas activities in Grapevine here!)

This was our first ICE! experience, and there were several surprises we didn’t anticipate. So, in addition to sharing our pictures, we’ve got a list of things you will definitely want to know before paying, parking, and standing in line. Here are eight tips for ICE! at the Gaylord Texan.

1. Look for coupon codes online before you buy tickets.

The tickets for ICE! are a little steep in my opinion. $30 per person can really start to get expensive if you have several kids in the family. Austin and I are always looking for ways to keep things affordable, so we were delighted to discover a code for 50% OFF our tickets. 

For anyone who still wants to visit ICE! this year, the coupon code word is MAGIC. Enter it at the end of your online check out process and your tickets will only be $15 per person! 

For future reference, you can almost always find a code for at least 35% off ICE! tickets on Groupon and similar websites. Make sure to do a quick google before you pay $60+ for the experience.

2. Choose your arrival time carefully. 

When you purchase tickets for ICE!, you will see a long list of arrival time options in 30 minute intervals. The time displayed on your ticket is NOT the time you will actually enter the exhibit, though. You are just eligible to get in line during your arrival window.

Moving through all of the lines and taking pictures throughout the exhibit takes a total of about 1.5 – 2 hours, so make sure you factor that in to your plans for the day. We chose tickets for 12:30 p.m. and we left the exhibit at 2 p.m. That was without doing the ice slide or shopping in the gift shop at all.

3. Take an Uber or pay for parking in advance.

Parking at the Gaylord was honestly a bit of a nightmare. In retrospect, I wish we had parked a mile or two away and just taken an Uber to the front door. It costs $16 to park for 0-2 hours and $18 to park for 2-4 hours, so an Uber would definitely be cheaper.

If ride services aren’t your thing, we recommend paying for parking in advance. We were stuck in some pretty long lines because we paid on site instead.

4. Dress super warm.

The inside of the ICE! exhibit is 9 degrees. Fortunately, Gaylord provides every visitor with a free blue parka to wear over your clothes. Unfortunately, the parka does not have any pockets or gloves. Dress in layers and bring a hat, scarf, and gloves with you to ICE!.

I wore tights under my blue jeans, a warm sweater, a rain coat, and a blanket scarf with gloves. I think it would have been nice to have a hat, and I wish I had upgraded from sheer tights to fleece-lined leggings under my jeans. For guys, under armor stuff is probably the way to go. 

5. Use the FREE slide inside the main exhibit.

ICE! offers combo tickets that let you walk through the frozen wonderland and ride down a large snow tubing slide. The snow tubing experience costs extra money, which I think is silly because there is a FREE ice slide inside the exhibit! 

You have to wear completely flat shoes to slide, so don’t wear heeled boots if you want to take a turn. The ice slide is a lot smaller than the snow tubing, and the line to ride is located inside the 9 degree exhibit. Other than those two factors, it is essentially the exact same thing.

6. Carve out some time for the ice bar.

If you are visiting ICE! on a date or with a group of adult friends, the ice bar inside the exhibit might be worth a try. $15 grants you access to the bar (if you are 21+) and buys you two drink samples and one full sized drink.

We didn’t know about the ice bar until we were waiting in line, and unfortunately we didn’t have time to add it to the itinerary. But it looked like a unique experience that would make an impressive date.

7. Bring a nice camera if you have one. 

If taking pictures of the ice sculptures or your kids is part of the appeal of this experience for you, bring along an actual camera if you can. The lighting inside of ICE! is kinda weird, and our iPhone pictures did not always turn out so great.

There are no restrictions on the size or number of bags and items you can bring into ICE!. We were really thankful to have our Nikon and Cannon DSLR cameras with us to better capture the experience. 

8. Plan on long lines when leaving the parking garage.

I know we have already talked about how bad the parking is, but this needs to be said: we spent 30 or 40 minutes waiting to get out of the parking garage after ICE!. And it made us late for our plans later that day. Don’t be like us.

If ICE! is not the only thing on your agenda for the day, and especially if you are planning to visit on a high traffic day, take the parking garage lines into account. Plan on 15-30 minutes to park, 2 hours to wait in line and see the exhibit, and 30-45 minutes to leave the garage. 

We hope these tips help you enjoy ICE! at the Gaylord Texan to the fullest!

We were charmed by this year’s Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer theme at ICE!. Since our experience included some pretty long wait times, we wanted to help others better prepare and enjoy their experiences too. Below are some of our favorite pictures from ICE! at the Gaylord Texan. We will also be sharing some more on Facebook and Instagram, so stay tuned!