This is the Polar Express: ice! rolls back into Gaylord Palms Resort

Part art, part engineering, all aboard — “ice!” featuring The Polar Express is pulling back into the station at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee.

The fan-favorite attraction is once again serving as the centerpiece of the annual Christmas at Gaylord Palms celebration and a returning theme based on the 2004 animated Christmas adventure movie.

Guests will stop dead in their tracks the moment they walk into the 20,000-square-foot attraction — a full-size train locomotive engine, carved completely from solid ice.

From there, they follow the story of Hero Boy, a doubting child who boards an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, through roughly a dozen larger-than-life scenes carved from approximately 2 million pounds of solid ice.

“This is kept at 9 degrees, so the ice stays nice and pristine through the entire season,” said Meghan Hash, director of special events and entertainment at Gaylord Palms. “The colors stay intact. We work with a chemist to help really bring these scenes to life with color matching from the movies themselves.”

No trip on the Polar Express would be complete without the iconic hot chocolate scene. Inside “ice!”, guests can relive the moment — and even climb aboard a replica train car to snap a picture.

One of the most popular stops inside “ice!” is Glacier Gulch, where five two-story-tall slides made entirely of solid ice send guests zipping down the side of an icy mountain — just like in the film.

Further inside, the journey culminates at the North Pole, where a towering Christmas tree comes alive, elves sing and Santa himself makes an appearance. It’s there that Hero Boy receives the first gift of Christmas — a bell from Santa’s sleigh — and finally begins to believe in the magic and spirit of the season.

Nearly 40 world-renowned artisans travel more than 7,000 miles from Harbin, China — home to the world’s largest annual snow and ice festival — to bring the experience to life.

Christmas at Gaylord Palms runs Friday through Jan. 3. For ticket information, click here.