Looking for a fully immersive holiday experience in Denver? Check out our holiday visit at Gaylord Rockies and learn about all the fun activities.
Disclosure: We were invited to check out the holiday festivities at Gaylord Rockies. All opinions are my own.
Celebrate the Holidays at Gaylord Rockies
Over Thanksgiving break my family and I spent an entire day at Gaylord Rockies to check out everything Christmas and you guys, we were blown away. It was phenomenal and is definitely going to be part of our yearly traditions. I had been dying to check out Gaylord since it opened last year and from the moment we drove up and walked in, we were just wowed.
Gaylord Rockies is massive and when you go during the holiday season, the decorations are just incredible. From the old train caboose decked out in its finest holiday adornment, to a massive Christmas tree centered in a pond to a huge fireplace with stockings to match, Gaylord clearly does everything big and the holidays are no exception.
Gaylord Rockies put extra care into creating a home like feeling that brings the magic of the holidays alive and although the resort is truly as big as a Las Vegas hotel, it still has a welcoming atmosphere that brought joy and a little spark of youth that everyone needs during this season.
We knew that if our first impressions were this good, that beginning our season by celebrating the holidays at Gaylord Rockies was about to be mind blowing. With our itinerary and tickets in hand we sat out to conquer and experience every bit of the holiday happenings.
Our Holiday Visit at Gaylord Rockies
Let me start off by saying that a day was not enough. I wish we would have booked the room and stayed a night, because there is just so much to do and we did it all. Our kids were incredible and the day was just so splendid that we didn’t want to leave. We started our fun filled day at Gaylord Rockies with Rudolph’s Holly Jolly™ Breakfast.
We were able to eat a nice buffet style breakfast and do some character interactions with Rudolph, Clarice and Abominable throughout. I will say that we were the first people to go through the breakfast and it was a bit hectic, but the overall experience was good. Get to your reservations about 40 minutes prior to get in line, there are photo opportunities in line and that gives you plenty of time to eat.
With Rudolph and his friends on our mind, we headed straight to the main attraction, ICE! featuring Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. 2 million pounds of colorful ice, sculpted to walk you through that beloved holiday story, in just 9 degree wintery weather, this was our absolute favorite part of our visit to Gaylord. My breath was just taken away and at every turn we were oohing and awwwwing.
Walking into ICE! you are given parkas, and believe me, these native Coloradoan’s ended up being pretty thankful for them. You are able to get up very close and even touch the sculptures. There is no rush to get through and families were taking their time, reading the story as they went and looking at the incredible detail that was put into this amazing installation.
Inside, ICE! there is also a slide and it was SO much fun, be prepared, it’s a pretty abrupt stop at the end, but boy did we have the best time ever in there. It was amazing to see one of my favorite holiday stories come to life in such a stunning way. We finished ICE! and headed to Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Traditions.
We were invited into a warm space, where Mrs. Claus and her elf, read us a story, sang some songs and shared the most delicious sugar cookies I have ever eaten. When they were finished, we were invited to take some photos and of course my little one rushed the stage and got that photo in.
After Mrs. Claus, my husband was called into work and I was sure that our day would be pretty short after that, but the kids powered through and we headed outside to check out the tubing, ice skating and those ice bumper cars. We did it ALL and kept going back for more.
The tubing hill was by far my family’s favorite of all the activities. The ice skating was good, but I come from a skating family, so my expectations are always different, and those ice bumper cars were a good time too. If I had to choose between the three activities, the tubing hill would be my choice every single time. Once we finished round one of the outdoor activities, we headed to bubly theater to see Cirque Dreams Holidaze.
The show was crazy fun. I think I giggled and held my breath a billion times throughout. The costumes were insane in the best way possible and the music was fun too. The performers did a great job and although I think that adults probably enjoyed the show more than the kids, it was still a good time.
We also checked out Reindeer Games Scavenger hunt, LIGHT! the walking experience and the Naughty or Nice Escape Room. I had never been to an escape room and realized that I am extremely competitive and am a take charge person (that must be the teacher in me), so I felt bad for the other families that were grouped with us, because I was ready to win. The escape room was the best way to end our day at Gaylord Rockies!
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