There are some Christmas traditions you expect to see every year. Lights on the house. A tree in the living room. Rudolph leading Santa’s sleigh.
Then there are the traditions that give families a reason to make new memories every Christmas.
At JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, one of those traditions returns this holiday season with a new story to tell. Now in its third year at the resort, the immersive Christmas experience ice!™ is welcoming Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ for 2026, turning the classic Christmas tale into a frozen, larger-than-life attraction.
From November 23 through January 3, 2027, families can walk through scenes from the beloved television classic, all carved from 2 million pounds of ice. Rudolph, Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster, and other familiar characters take shape in towering sculptures throughout the attraction.
It’s a familiar Christmas story, but not quite the way most families have seen it before.
Guests can wander through the self-guided attraction at their own pace, stopping to look for favorite characters, take photos, and discover details tucked into the frozen scenes. There’s no time limit, so families can linger when they find a moment they want to remember.
And then there are the slides.
Two-story ice slides rise 10 feet above the floor, giving kids and grown-ups an opportunity to turn their visit into more of an adventure. The attraction is kept at a brisk 9 degrees Fahrenheit, but parkas are provided to help guests stay warm while they explore.
For families who have visited JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa’s immersive ice! attraction before, the new theme gives them something different to discover this year. The attraction may be familiar, but the story changes, giving the experience a fresh reason to come back.
And for anyone who hasn’t experienced ice! yet, Rudolph makes for a pretty memorable introduction.
But the frozen attraction is only one part of the holiday season at JW Marriott San Antonio.
The resort’s annual Hill Country Christmas celebration brings the holidays throughout the property, with festive décor, twinkling lights, and a lineup of activities designed to keep families busy long after they’ve warmed up from ice!. Guests can add experiences like snow tubing, a holiday scavenger hunt, gingerbread decorating, Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Traditions, and Snowball Build & Blast.
There’s also plenty to do when the family needs a break from the holiday festivities. JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa sits on 600 acres in the Texas Hill Country, with resort amenities, dining, and recreation that give families plenty of ways to spend time together between Christmas activities.
That can be especially appealing during a season when the calendar seems to fill up faster than anyone expects.
Instead of trying to squeeze ice!™ featuring Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer™ between school concerts, shopping trips, and holiday parties, families can make the Christmas celebration itself the destination. There’s time to see Rudolph, go snow tubing, have a great meal, explore the resort, and simply enjoy being together.
For Texas families, JW Marriott’s Hill Country Christmas offers a chance to make an entire outing of it, whether that means spending a few hours at the resort or booking an overnight stay. And with Rudolph taking center stage at ice! this year, even families who have made the attraction part of their Christmas tradition have something new to see.
The holiday season runs November 23 through January 3, giving families plenty of opportunities to find a date that works amid the rest of the Christmas calendar.
So if Rudolph has always been part of your family’s Christmas, this year there’s a new way to experience his story.
It just happens to involve 2 million pounds of ice.
And a very cool trip to the Texas Hill Country.
Tickets, packages, and offers are available at www.jwhillcountrychristmas.com.
Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
