One of our favorite holiday traditions from way back even before we had kids was to visit the Gaylord Texan. I still remember the first year that I moved to Dallas, Adrian and I bought tickets to see the ICE! exhibit with a few friends and we have since gone back every year since with our kids in tow! This year, the Gaylord Texan is ringing in the holidays a little different as the restrictions on international travel have limited the master ice carvers. Instead for 2020, the Gaylord Texan has kicked off an incredible Lone Star Christmas event that includes 11 different activities and over 12 hours of family fun — be sure to read to the end for an exclusive coupon!
Lone Star Christmas at the Gaylord Texan
similar holiday sweater (similar) | spanx faux leather leggings – S / size up (dupe) | golden goose superstar sneakers (similar)
The Gaylord Texan is an incredible resort spanning over 125 acres. In the past, we had always made a daytrip out of our visits to the Gaylord Texan, but this time we decided to stay overnight and enjoy a mini DFW staycation! We had a beautiful suite on the 8th floor (out of 9 total) that overlooked the center atrium. I loved all the Christmas trimmings and just going out onto our room balcony felt like walking into a winter wonderland.
#LIT Light Show
Can you see the 48-foot Christmas tree behind us? While I wasn’t able to get a good photo of the nighttime light show, imagine this expansive space lighting up with literally millions of twinkling lights set to festive holiday music — it was the best unexpected surprise welcome as we checked into the Gaylord Texan on Friday evening!
Ice Skating
on me: faux fur leopard coat | leopard mask | gold link mask chain
First on our list of activities was ice skating and it was hands-down my kids’ favorite experience! Inside the Gaylord Texan is a 6,000 square-foot skating rink made with real ice and it was the perfect opportunity for my kids to have their very first ice skating run. For the ice skating newbies, plastic bears were also available to use to help balance on the ice — Adrian and I took turns pushing the kids as they would alternate between skating and then resting. We could have easily spent an entire afternoon on the ice skating rink but we capped it at 3 hours — definitely highly recommend!
Pro Tip: Bring long pants and a jackets as the skating rink does get cold!
Santa’s Snow Throw
Situated right next to the ice skating rink was Santa’s Snow Throw and for my kids who had never played with real snow before, this was definitely a treat! We picked up a couple buckets of snowballs and got to throwing, aiming at various targets created by Santa’s Elves.
Build Your Own Snowman
faux fur leopard coat | spanx faux leather leggings – S / size up (dupe)
golden goose superstar sneakers (similar)
Ok, so it’s possible that Adrian and I were more excited about building a snowman than the kids were…but how good does our snowman look right?? Upon entering the BYO Snowman arena, you’re escorted over to a socially-distanced station where they provide a large trash-can sized bin of real snow along with a Tupperware containing all the snowman accessories. It took us a few different tries to figure out how to carve out a snowman (I recommend bringing gloves for this one cause that real snow was cooooold!) but it was such a proud moment when we were able to put the finishing touches and snap a pic with our snowman!
Pro Tip: Bring gloves!! We also realized that the lid of the accessories Tupperware served as a great tool for scooping up the snow. 🤣
Snow Tubing
Low-key the snow tubing was the activity I was most excited for. There are 8 snow tubing lanes situated atop an indoor hill, and both double and single riding tubes are available (the doubles are perfect if you have smaller kids!). Unlimited rides are included as part of the snow tubing experience — you can bet we took full advantage as the wait times were under 5 minutes! The lanes are covered in real snow and we had a great time racing each other down the lanes.
Christmas Carousel
Mei has always been obsessed with carousels so of course, you can imagine her excitement upon seeing this enormous holiday themed one at Gaylord Texan! There was almost never a line at the carousel so it was really nice to let Mei ride multiple times in a row to her heart’s content.
Yuletide Bright
The majority of activities for the Gaylord Texan’s Lone Star Christmas are indoors, but the Yuletide Bright is one that is actually outdoors. I actually took my kids to check out the Yuletide Bright display on Thursday night before our staycation and omg, it is amazing!! Yuletide Bright is an attraction that displays over 50,000 square feet of colorful glowing holiday-themed lanterns, characters, and scenes. The walking exhibit is spacious and really allows you to journey through a beautiful display of festive holiday. If you’re planning to spend the afternoon / evening enjoying the Lone Star Christmas activities, Yuletide Bright is the perfect way to close out the day!
Other Lone Star Christmas Activities:
Lone Star Christmas includes over 10 different activities including many that aren’t detailed here such as:
- I Love Christmas Movies Pop-Up Experience: Walk-through over 13 of the most iconic scenes from your favorite Christmas movies. Featuring THE POLAR EXPRESS™, ELF™, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION™, and more!
- Elf On The Shelf Character Breakfast: Kids and adults will enjoy classic breakfast favorites and chef-attended cooking stations.
- Gingerbread Decorating Corner: Choose from different design options to create either delectable holiday-themed gingerbread cookies or a complete gingerbread house. After you’ve decorated to your heart’s content, make your way to Cinnamon and Nutmeg, our gingerbread couple, for a heartwarming photo opp.
- Build-A-Bear: Make-your-own stuffed furry friend and outfit with fun accessories, sounds, and scents.
- Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Traditions: Delight in the retelling of the Christmas classic, ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, and sing along to favorite holiday songs while enjoying a warm freshly baked cookie and ice cold milk.
- Christmas Craft Studio: Kids and parents alike will let their inner artists come to life by painting a canvas craft or holiday wood project.
- Holiday Heist Escape Room / School’s Out! Holiday Breakout Escape Room: Enjoy the suspense of solving a case to break out of the escape room — especially fun if you have older kids!
Final Thoughts
The holidays are looking so much different this year so I’m glad to see how the Gaylord is still able to spread the cheer with their Lone Star Christmas activities that are perfect for the whole family. Lots of safety precautions are in place including wearing a mask at all times (including kids ages 2+) and standing at least 6′ apart. My kids were able to enjoy some of these classic winter-time activities for the first time including just playing in snow. It truly felt magical and huge props to Gaylord Texan for providing such a safe and fun family friendly experience in the midst of everything that’s happening this year.
I am so happy that I have 2 exclusive coupon codes if you’re interested in reserving tickets to check out the Gaylord Texan’s Lone Star Christmas. Use code LITTLE for 50% off I Love Christmas Movies and $5 off Yuletide Bright — click here to get your tickets before the event ends January 3, 2021!
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Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet?
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Thank you to Gaylord Texan for hosting our family at Lone Star Christmas. All opinions are honest and my own!
That looks like an amazing place to celebrate the holidays! I would love to take my family there. The kids would love it.
My family would have so much fun there! I love all the great decorations and lights. This is what I call holiday fun.
Love that this has been such a long standing tradition for you! It looks so fun!
Ummm okay, I know a lot of these things are made with kids in mind BUT I’m such a kid at heart that I want to enjoy them all myself. How fun! It’s truly a Winter Wonderland!
Wow, this looked like an amazing places for Christmas. I especially love how you can overwatch the whole space from the above when enjoying the drink. Such great!
This place looks awesome and looks like y’all had a great time.
I feel like crying (with emotion) this place is heaven! Wow I absolutely want to go there, I live Christmas even more than when I was a child how beautiful!
This looks like an amazing place to visit, I would love to go 🙂
Wow so much fun!! I really want to see lit light show sounds interesting!!
Oh wow this looks like so much fun!! Manchester’s and York’s Christmas markets are not on this year and the ice village has been cancelled too so sad roll on 2021 x
This looks like such a fun place for the whole family. I’m sure your kid loved it! xoxo, Sarah
Kids will definitely love this place,thanks for posting!
Oh my gosh, this looks like such a fun place to visit! This is such a good way to get into the holiday spirit and have a fun, family outing! Xx.
I love holiday outfits,you looks so great with that sweatshirt.
I literally want to come to Texas for Christmas now lol this looks like such a blast! Beautiful family as well.
This looks like so much fun! All of our Christmas places are staying closed this season but I’m looking forward to going next year. Would love to do the ice skating and snow tubing!
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
I would love to bring my family there for all the holiday fun. I can tell despite the restrictions, you all enjoyed this staycation very much.
Wow! This definitely looks like a fun place to bring the family!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
This looks like the best place ever to go for Christmas. I’m a huge Christmas fiend. I would have had the tree up already, but I’ve been too busy. Thisis perfect for me.
If this isn’t the most Christmas Christmas thing ever, I don’t know what it. I would love to visit with my family. We love Christmas. We’re already watching the Hallmark channel daily for their Christmas movies. LOL
okay this looks SO fun and festive!! so glad you guys have still be able to do some fun things even during these covid times!
xx rebecca // http://www.rebeccapiersol.me
omg what is this place!!! WONDERLAND!!! I would love to go there, that would be amazing…
Oh my goodness, how incredibly fun!!! This looks like the perfect family holiday event. I love all of the festive decor and even the activities like snow tubing, in Texas lol! So festive and fabulous, so glad you had a great time. I think the smile on your face was bigger than your kids! 🙂
xo,
Lisa
http://www.occasionallyluxe.com
We have a similar hotel near us. I love it and can’t wait to visit it again soon.
Wow! This looks like so much fun! I guess you can’t ask for a better Christmas getaway!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Omg this looks so fun and amazing ! I wish we had something like that here!! My kids would love it!
Xo, Steph
It looks like an amazing time, like so much fun. Thanks for sharing the joy!
Wow that is a holiday. This is very Merry
This post is giving me so many cosy festive vibes. Thanks so much
My son would love this so much. We haven’t been but maybe next year.
The place is sounds perfect for spent holiday with family. I think kids will have great time and fun in this place.
I can really feel Christmas in every pictures that you took! Those are so beautiful!
This looks like it would be such a great place to visit! I can’t wait until things start going back to normal and we can begin exploring our big, beautiful world again.
That is such a cute little winter village! A great place to visit 🙂
The decorations there are so gorgeous! I would love to take the kids these!
What a fun Holiday outing! The Gaylord always looks SO pretty at Christmas time!
xoxo,
Kim
Unfortunately I didn’t have time for Christmas activities yet, we start in December here. Would love to be in Dallas and try all those activities. Some Christmas Shopping would really help right now.
You really can’t go wrong with the Gaylord brand. We have stayed at the one in Tennessee several times over the years during the holiday season. The decor is amazing!
Wow this is so much fun, wish I could take my son there. He would love it.
I would love to be in The Gaylord Texan and make kids full of joyness. This place looks amazing.
I love the outfits and place. Really perfect combo for spent Christmas.
I never even knew that place existed! That looks like such a fun place to visit during the Christmas season. Just need to get to Texas now, haha.
I would love to take my family there. what a adorable place for having fun!
I would’ve loved something like this when I was a kid! Beautiful memories!
I love the Gaylord! I can imagine it’s fabulous during Christmas.
This looks too cute and so much fun!
This looks like just the type of place I would love to go with my girls. So much fun!
The place looks really stunning. I would love to bring my kids to a place like that once this pandemic is over.
I can feel the Christmas spirit! Looks like you had so much fun and beautiful pictures too!
I have seriously ALWAYS wanted to visit here. It looks amazing — especially at Christmastime!
Oh this really looks so fun!
Lisa | lisaautumn.com
Wow, this place looks amazing and the decorations are gorgeous! What a perfect way to get into the holiday spirit. I’m sure your kiddos had a blast!
That looks like a lot of fun! it’s nice you were able to go there and take part in some fun activities with the kids! 🙂
Hope you are having a great weekend 🙂 We went out and did more Christmas shopping yesterday which was fun 🙂
What a fabulous place to take the kids for the holidays. Everything about it shouts fun!
Oh yes, I am! And seeing posts like these, gets me there, a step at a time. Thank you!
I’ve been to the Gaylord in TN and its so gorgeous for the holidays! What an awesome experience!
Oh my goodness, this look like so much fun!! Wish I lived nearby to check this out!
Oh my goodness this looks amazing!! Totally adding this to my bucket list!
This place looks so amazing! Like all of my Christmas dreams came true in one place!
What a fun and festive way to spend the day with family!
OMG this looks like the most magical place in the world! I feel like anyone would be so happy coming here!!!
What a fabulous place to take the kids for the holidays. Everything about it shouts fun. This place looks so amazing! Like all of my Christmas dreams came true in one place. I feel like anyone would be so happy coming here. I would love to take my family there. what an adorable place for having fun.