If you’re planning a trip to the Orlando, Florida area, a great place to stay is the Gaylord Palms resort. It’s a high-end resort with lots of activities, shops, pools, miniature golf, top-notch restaurants, and an amazing spa. The Gaylord is a wonderful place for a weekend getaway for you and the kids, or for a little romantic getaway. They also offer excellent business conference facilities in their large convention area.
Gaylord Palms – Inside the Atrium
The entire complex is truly spectacular. When you’re inside its grand interior atrium, you feel like you’ve been transported to different parts of Florida. The atrium includes themed areas from various parts of Florida such as Key West, St. Augustine and the Everglades with incredible scenery. There is a large koi pond inside a fort in the St. Augustine section. One thing my kids really enjoyed was seeing the live alligators feeding, which is also in the fort area. The alligators are fed twice a day (be sure to check the lobby for times). There are also many cute shops that you can visit.
Gaylord Palms Koi Pond and Alligators
I feel like the most spectacular part of the atrium is the Everglades section, where you walk past tropical plants and old Florida-style buildings, including a little shack where kids can see baby alligators, poisonous snakes, and adorable turtles. The Old Hickory Steakhouse is also here, and just outside the Everglades area you’ll find a world-class spa.
Gaylord Palms Restaurants
The restaurants are world class; we ate at most of them on our visit. Sunset Sam’s a Key West grill is located within the Key West area within the atrium, where you dine aboard a 60-foot boat. sailboat. Villa de Flora is a very popular Italian restaurant that offers a huge Sunday brunch where you can enjoy fresh bread, pasta made to order, special selections from the carving station, Mediterranean favorites and homemade desserts prepared daily by the pastry chef. A great wine list is accented by traditional Mediterranean offerings, and sangria prepared tableside too! We also ate at the Japanese restaurant “Sora”, which we enjoyed very much.
If you prefer a great steakhouse, then the Old Hickory Steakhouse is for you. Their menu includes delicious aged veal as well as seafood and pasta dishes. We particularly enjoyed the European cheese cart along with an excellent selection of wines.
Gaylord’s palms at Christmas
They have some nice rooms with a balcony view that overlooks the atrium from above. During the Christmas seasons they have spectacular light shows and live entertainment with live music, dancing and acrobatics that can be seen from the balcony.
One thing The Gaylord Palm is known for is “Christmas in Orlando,” the gigantic ICE extravaganza they put on every year. Ice is a spectacular display that is made from two million pounds of ice. You should dress warmly as the exhibit is kept at 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Every year there is a different theme. Package deals are available that include a room, ice tickets, and a wonderful gingerbread building experience for the kids. They also hide gnomes in places throughout the complex, if you find them all, you get a prize.
One thing I found quite comical was the speed limit signs outside that said “17 miles per hour”.
Gaylord Pals is currently undergoing a major $50 million renovation project scheduled for completion in spring 2012. They are adding two sparkling new pools, a new one-of-a-kind multi-level restaurant, new amenities and extraordinary activities, luxurious new room features and a new DreamWorks experience. With all these new additions, it will truly be a one-of-a-kind experience. I know we will be back soon.
If you are planning a trip to Florida, you should visit http://www.FloridaVacationPlans.com, which is an excellent resource for planning a Florida vacation.