By Barbara Gibbs Ostmann

If your idea of a holiday hiatus is warmer climates, think about Florida—palm trees, sunshine, and ice slides. That’s right, ice slides.

At Gaylord Palms Resort at Orlando (gaylordhotels.com), nearly two million pounds of ice steal the show. The walk-through ice spectacle features interactive holiday scenes and ice slides for adults and children. The ice scenes are hand-sculpted by forty artists from China.

Mickey Mouse is the most famous character in Orlando, so it is only fitting that he hosts a Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. The festivities feature a series of fun nighttime events for the little ones, including holiday shows, fireworks, and magic treats with Minnie and Mickey.

At nearby Epcot, a Holidays Around the World theme features international holiday storytellers, a daily tree-lighting ceremony by park characters, and an
eye-popping display of white lights. At Disney-MGM Studios, the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights electrifies the studio lot with millions of sparkling lights.

Here’s some Disney trivia to sprinkle in your holiday planning conversations: Walt Disney World Resort hangs seven million lights throughout
the property to celebrate the holiday season. More than eight hundred musicians, characters, storytellers, singers, and entertainers perform daily throughout the Disney theme parks at Orlando.

Orlando knows how to ring in the New Year with style. You can take your pick of fabulous New Year’s Eve celebrations at SeaWorld Orlando
(seaworld.com), Universal CityWalk, Downtown Disney Pleasure Island, Epcot, or the Magic Kingdom. Activities range from live music, street dances, champagne toasts, and parades to elaborate fireworks displays at midnight. At the Gaylord Palms Resort, a black-tie masked ball called the Grande Masque (grandemasque.org) rings in the New Year while supporting the local arts community. The ball offers fine dining, performances by the Orlando Ballet, the Orlando Opera, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as silent and live auctions.

On December 29, the Orlando Citrus Parade features more than fifty entries, including citrus-themed floats and marching bands from across the country. It takes five hundred volunteers three days to attach more than one hundred thousand grapefruits, oranges, and tangerines to the floats with rubber bands. After the parade, the fruit is donated to local food banks.

Labels: Christmas, Florida, Holiday, Orlando