If you want to experience winter wonderland in Florida, Christmas at the Gaylord Palms is the place to be. Living in Miami, we don’t get real winter and while we’ve traveled to destinations like Colorado and New York it’s nice to be able to just drive a few hours to Orlando to experience Christmas activities we can’t do at home. So what exactly is a Gaylord Palms Christmas, I’ll break down this fun event below.
What is a Gaylord Palms Christmas
Even though we stayed at the Gaylord Opryland on our trip to Nashville, this was our first Christmas at the Gaylord Palms. We weren’t exactly sure what to expect but we didn’t expect it to be so grand. There are so many activities to do that we spent hours doing them and weren’t even able to do them all, apparently it takes over 12 hours to complete everything. Still what we were able to do had our kids feeling like they aren’t missing out on a real Christmas living in Florida.
Gaylord Palms Christmas Activities
There are 15 events you can experience during Christmas at the Gaylord Palms. Some are shows and some are activities and these events can be purchased individually or you can bundle and save. Bundles are sold to include four specific events on the Silver where you save 20%, six specific events on the Gold pass where you save 30% and ten specific events on the Platinum pass where you save 40%. We had the Silver Pass and then also had tickets to the Greatest Story Stage Show and Cirque Dreams Unwrapped.
I Love Christmas Movies
The I Love Christmas Movies activity is a walk through experience where you view iconic scenes from popular Christmas movies. Regardless of your age you will experience a movie you know and love and there are both older movies and newer movies included. This is a timed event so be sure to arrive during your reservation.
Snow Flow Mountain
The Snow Flow Mountain at the Gaylord Palms Christmas is the ultimate indoor tubing. You can ride solo or tandem and have six lanes you can zoom down. With a 16’ and 12’ slide you can decide how thrilling you want your ride to be. Kids 36”-40” must ride with an adult in a double tube but kids 40” and over can ride alone on the shorter 12’ slide and those 42” and over can ride alone on the 16’ slide.
Once you fill out the waiver for this activity you’ll get a wristband and be able to have unlimited rides. There is no specific time you have to be here, just show up when you want to! Be sure to bring a jacket and closed toe shoes.
The Grinch’s Wonderful Awful Idea Scavenger Hunt
As usual the Grinch is trying to stop Christmas by stealing all the presents. In this scavenger hunt around the Gaylord Palms you’ll find all the presents, solve the clues and save Christmas. If you do you’ll get a special prize at the end!
Snowball Build & Blast
What is the typical kid’s most favorite winter activity? Making snowballs! While we’ll never get to make a snowball from snow that falls from the sky in Miami we were able to do so at the Gaylord Palms Christmas Snowball Build and Blast and my kids were in heaven. You get a bin of snow for each ticket you have and then have 90 seconds to make snowballs and throw them in various sized holes for points.
Cirque Dreams Unwrapped
If the title Cirque Dreams Unwrapped reminds you of Cirque du Soleil you’re right. While not affiliated it’s a very acrobatic show with some very thrilling stunts. The show lasted about 25 minutes and was excellent! Everyone in the crowd was oohing and aahing the entire time!
The Greatest Story
This show goes over the birth of Christ but tells it from various perspectives around the world. It’s a great lesson in how we all may be different but many share the feeling of faith and hope during this time of year.
When Does Gaylord Palms Christmas Occur
Each year specific dates of the Christmas at Gaylord Palms event will differ slightly but the event always starts around mid-November and ends shortly after New Years Day. This gives at least you a month and to experience the magical events at the hotel.
Events We Didn’t Have Tickets For at the Gaylord Palms Christmas
You can easily spend an entire day on property and not run out of things to do. The other events offered include Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Traditions, Gingerbread decorating, Sugary Sweet Storytime, photos with Santa, Feast with the Grinch character breakfast and the Elf Training Academy.
We had a great time experiencing a Gaylord Palms Christmas and look forward to returning next year to do some of the events we didn’t this year. If you’ll be in the Orlando area be sure to check out these other family friendly activities during your stay. Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it!