Halloween Town Carved in Ice: The Nightmare Before Christmas Joins ice!'s Biggest Holiday Lineup Yet
Marriott International is expanding ice!, the hand-carved frozen Christmas walkthrough, to eight resorts this holiday season with three new themes, including Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas at Gaylord Rockies. The attraction uses more than two million pounds of ice carved by 300 artisans from Harbin, China, and tickets are on sale now.
Three new stories join ice! this holiday season, and one of them is Disney's. Halloween Town will be hand carved out of ice at Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colorado, part of an eight resort lineup that Marriott International announced on July 23. It is the largest run the frozen Christmas attraction has ever had, and the first time Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas anchors one of its walkthroughs.
Key Details
- New themes: Harry Potter, Home Alone, and Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Nightmare Before Christmas at: Gaylord Rockies Resort, Aurora, Colo., Nov. 20, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- Closest to Walt Disney World: Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., running The Polar Express, Nov. 13, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- Scale: Eight resorts, including debuts at Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista, Calif. and JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort
- Tickets: On sale now, along with early bird overnight packages
- Plan at: SoMuchChristmas.com
Halloween Town, carved in ice
The Nightmare Before Christmas has spent thirty years living in exactly this space, a Christmas story told in Halloween shapes, which is why it keeps getting licensed for walkthrough attractions. Disney Theatrical Group already operates The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail, and the 1993 stop-motion film gives an ice carver an unusually good cast to work with: Jack Skellington's spindly silhouette, Sally's stitching, Zero, Oogie Boogie, and a Christmas Town that is already half made of snow.
It also makes Gaylord Rockies the one stop on this year's list that Disney fans will circle first. The other seven themes come from outside the Disney catalog, so the Aurora resort is the only place in the lineup where the ice is Disney ice.
How the ice actually gets made
ice! is not a light display with a few sculptures in it. More than 300 artisans from Harbin, China spend roughly 40 days hand carving 60,000 blocks into floor-to-ceiling scenes, using techniques passed down through generations of carvers at the Harbin Ice Festival that inspired the attraction. The finished walkthrough uses more than two million pounds of ice.
Each theme runs across more than ten scenes and includes two-story ice slides and carved passageways. The building is kept at 9 degrees Fahrenheit so the detail does not soften, which is why every guest gets one of the blue parkas that have become the attraction's most recognizable image.
"Having welcomed tens of millions of guests over the years, this beloved holiday tradition continues to capture the spirit of the season, and we are proud to introduce our largest footprint to date," said Johann Krieger, regional vice president of Marriott International.
Gaylord Hotels created ice! in 2001 at Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. It has drawn tens of millions of visitors since, and this year's expansion pushes it into two new states.
Where each story lands this year
Eight resorts, eight different holiday titles, all opening in November. Dates vary by property, and every location closes in early January.
Debut locations
- A Charlie Brown Christmas at Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista, Calif., Nov. 20, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- New Line Cinema's Elf at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 18, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
New themes at returning resorts
- Home Alone at Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 6, 2026 to Jan. 2, 2027
- Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas at Gaylord Rockies Resort in Aurora, Colo., Nov. 20, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- Harry Potter at Gaylord Texan Resort on Lake Grapevine, Texas, Nov. 13, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
Returning themes
- Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! at Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Md., Nov. 14, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- The Polar Express at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Fla., Nov. 13, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 23, 2026 to Jan. 3, 2027
The Kissimmee angle for Disney trips
Gaylord Palms sits in Kissimmee, minutes from Walt Disney World property, and it is the one location on this list that regularly turns up in Orlando trip plans as a non-park evening. Its theme this year is The Polar Express rather than the Disney title, but the practical read is the same: a resort holiday walkthrough about fifteen minutes from the parks, priced and ticketed separately from anything Disney sells.
Offerings vary by resort. Terms, conditions, and blackout dates apply to the overnight packages.
So Much Christmas around the ice
The ice is the marquee piece, but each resort builds a full holiday program around it under the So Much Christmas banner, with millions of lights, oversized Christmas trees, and heavy seasonal decor through the atriums. The add-ons include themed character dining, indoor ice tubing, interactive scavenger hunts, live stage shows, pop-up Christmas villages, and Santa photo sets.
Early bird packages went on sale the same day as the announcement, which for the two debut properties means the first tickets ever sold for ice! in Arizona and Southern California.
The Buzz
- Marriott International's announcement put three brand new licensed themes into one holiday season, and Disney fans zeroed in on the one Disney title among them.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas continues to expand outside Disney's own gates, from the Light Trail to an ice attraction at a Colorado resort.
- Harry Potter carved in ice is the other headline, given how tightly Warner Bros. normally keeps that property inside its own attractions.
- Eight simultaneous locations is the biggest ice! footprint since the attraction started in 2001.
Why fans are buzzing
Nightmare Before Christmas fans have wanted a walkthrough version of Halloween Town for years, and the closest they usually get is a seasonal overlay at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. An ice! theme is a different thing: a permanent-for-the-season, ten-plus-scene environment where the medium happens to suit the material, since Christmas Town in the film is already carved out of snow and ice.
The catch for Disney fans is geography. The Disney theme is in Colorado, not Florida or California, so the people best positioned to see it are Denver-area families rather than the Orlando or Anaheim crowd. Tickets and early bird overnight packages for all eight resorts are available now at SoMuchChristmas.com.