BLAST THAT CHRISTMAS MUSIC!

San Antonio resort will put the Grinch on ice for 2024 holiday season

Things are getting Grinchy at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort in 2024.

Photo courtesy of Gaylord Texan

The fevered work of bringing Yuletide magic to San Antonio is ramping up into full gear: JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa has unveiled run dates and ticket sales for ICE!, its most ambitious holiday attraction yet.

"ICE! featuring Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," will debut in the Alamo City on November 23, 2024, and run through January 5, 2025.

As announced back on ICE! is an awe-inspiring installation made entirely of frozen water. (Let's just say it was a slippery slope from buzzy 2023 festivities, which entailed covering a hillside in real snow for tubing.)

Grinch Gaylord Grapevine ICE!, JW Marriott Hill Country ICE! featuring Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!," will open November 23 at the JW Marriott. Photo courtesy of Gaylord Texan

Artisans from Harbin, China, will sculpt over two million pounds of ice into whimsical scenes and characters from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The mammoth undertaking will include walk-through scenes, two-story ice slides, and glittering passageways.

If it's anything like the 2023 "Grinch"-themed ICE! attraction at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, guests in San Antonio will cozy up in blue parkas while strolling through 10 themed rooms filled with oversized depictions of the Grinch, Max, Cindy-Lou Who, and other esteemed citizens of Whoville. The activation also includes a life-size nativity scene.

ICE! brings the magic of How the Grinch Stole Christmas to life. Photo courtesy of JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa

“We are thrilled to introduce the legendary ICE! experience as the centerpiece of our Hill Country Christmas celebration at JW Marriott San Antonio this year,” said General Manager Doug Gennardo in a release. “It’s a great honor to share a 20-plus-year Christmas tradition and memorable holiday experiences with our resort guests and the city of San Antonio.”

Holiday revelers can now make advance online reservations for accommodation packages using booking code 1GC and add a round of golf with booking code ZJ4.

Individual tickets for timed entry vary by date and time, and start around $15. Various packages and bundles are available via the website.

This is the second recent announcement of a fun new holiday event coming to San Antonio for 2024. Coca-Cola’s Classic Christmas, a new immersive experience from the creators of the world-famous "Enchant" holiday light maze, will also make its Alamo City debut in late November.

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Note: This story was updated with dates, prices, and details on July 25, 2024.

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Turkey Day news

San Antonio eats up top-10 rank on list of best cities for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving pumpkin pie at Kona Grill in San Antonio

Photo courtesy of Kona Grill

San Antonio is one of the best place to celebrate Thanksgiving in Texas in 2024.

San Antonio is sitting at the head of the table as one of the best places in the country to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, a new study has revealed.

San Antonio ranked No. 7 out of 100 of the largest U.S. cities in WalletHub's annual "Best Places to Go for Thanksgiving" report, published November 12. The city made a big leap over its 2023 ranking as No. 14, and remains the second highest-ranked city in Texas.

The study analyzed each city based on 18 metrics to determine the best places for Thanksgiving, such as the number of pumpkin patches per capita, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner, the number of volunteer opportunities, the average weather forecast, and more. The metrics were then organized into five overall categories to determine the rankings.

The categories that San Antonio ranked the highest in were the average weather forecast during the holiday period (No. 2), and affordability (No. 11), while the lowest-ranked category was for safety and accessibility (No. 90). Other categories that determined San Antonio's overall ranking were the number of celebrations and traditions (No. 14), and a "giving thanks" rank (No. 75).

"The best cities for celebrating Thanksgiving all have an abundance of high-quality restaurants and places to buy festive decorations, and their residents get very excited for the holiday based on their Google search history," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.

By Thanksgiving on November 28, San Antonio will be fully decked for the December holidays. San Antonians who will have extended family in town during Thanksgiving weekend can take in of all the marvelous Christmas lights brightening the city. The home of the Alamo certainly goes all out for the most wonderful time of year.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas ranked two spots above San Antonio as the fifth best city for Thanksgiving. Houston ranked No. 23, while Austin only came in at No. 39.

San Diego, California (No. 1) topped the overall list of best places to go for Thanksgiving this year, followed by its Golden State neighbors San Francisco (No. 3) and San Jose (No. 4). Atlanta, Georgia (No. 2) rounds out the top five.

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