Moody Gardens opens winter wonder island
Slideshow created by The Signal reporter Macy Colello.
Moody Gardens added to its traditional holiday season celebration by including a new exhibit consisting of almost two million pounds of ice.
In addition to the Festival of Lights, holiday films, ice-skating, Arctic Ice Slide, holiday dinners and shows, “ICE LAND: Ice Sculptures with SpongeBob SquarePants,” made its debut this season, which will run through Jan. 4, 2015.
To create the “Winter Wonder Island,” which includes ICELAND, Moody Gardens brought in an international team of more than 30 professional ice carvers from Harbin, China, to dive into the 900 tons of ice and transform them into holiday scenes with the tropical theme of Bikini Bottom from Nickelodeon’s children show “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
“The SpongeBob exhibit is actually voiced by the real voice of the character, by Tom Kenny,” said Frances Moody.
To experience the “Winter Wonder Island” being held at 9 degrees, admission fee’s are: adults $26.95, senior $21.95, and children $15.95. Groups of 20+ are $15.95 each.
A mile-long trail of more than one million lights and 100 lighted scenes that tour the Moody Gardens property, the Festival of Lights has multiple views of the Galveston Bay. Outdoor areas offer food and drink, accommodations, holiday buffets and live entertainment.
Access to the Festival of Lights trail costs $8.95; other attractions are discounted with festival tickets, such as pyramids, theater tickets and other holiday attractions. Included in admission to Festival of Lights is access to the ice skating rink. Guests are able to bring their own skates or rent pairs for $7 each.
The Arctic Ice Slide has become a main attraction for Moody Gardens guests. To ride down the 100-foot-long snow tubing shoot, a single slide costs $7, 10 slides cost $20, and unlimited slides $25.
Train rides will be available to Moody Garden guests to enjoy through the Festival of Lights trail and around the Oleander Bowl attraction; tickets cost $4 for single ride or package of three for $10.
December 18 – 27, “A Magical Christmas,” Curt Miller’s holiday production featuring magic, music and crowd interaction, will be available to guests. Admission includes show ticket, Chef Urs’s Holiday Buffet Dinner and Festival of Lights. Adult tickets cost $55-$85, children’s (ages 3-12) tickets are $39-$70, and tickets for infants are $15-$75.
Nov. 28-29 Moody Gardens hosted its annual holiday gift market at the Moody Gardens Convention Center. The market featured more than 100 vendors, offering distinctive home décor, candles, craft food, accessories and more to jump start holiday shopping.
“The holiday market was a great start to my Christmas shopping,” said Jessica Kennemer, Moody Gardens visitor. “The convention center was a perfect location for shopping and was very easy and accessible.”
Moody Gardens completes its full holiday attraction with access to photos with Santa and holiday buffets available nightly through Jan. 4, 2015.
“The holiday season is our family’s favorite time of the year, and we are grateful to extend that to the public by creating such a large holiday celebration for all ages to enjoy,” Moody said.
