Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the whole Peanuts gang are getting a frozen makeover in Chula Vista this holiday season, as the Gaylord Pacific Resort prepares to host the West Coast debut of ICE!, Marriott's traveling ice-sculpture attraction. Visitors will walk through a exhibit built from more than two million pounds of ice, including 6,000 individually carved blocks, all shaped into scenes recreating the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The attraction runs November 20, 2026 through January 3, 2027, according to KPBS, with daily hours from 9 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., though the outlet notes dates and times are subject to change without notice. It marks the first time Marriott's signature frozen holiday experience has appeared on the West Coast, according to Marriott International, following more than two decades of ICE! runs at Gaylord properties elsewhere in the country.
Inside, guests can trace Charlie Brown's search for the true meaning of Christmas through larger-than-life Peanuts sculptures, ride ice slides built into the exhibit, and take in Charlie Brown and Snoopy moments recreated in carved detail, per the KPBS listing. The full walk-through takes roughly 20 to 40 minutes, and the experience is open to all ages, though guests under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and anyone age 4 or older needs an individual ticket. Strollers and wagons are not permitted inside the exhibit itself.
Artisans From Ice City Carve for 40 Days Straight
The sculptures behind the attraction are not a quick production. Gaylord Hotels says more than 300 master artisans traveled over 5,000 miles from Harbin, China — known as Ice City — to hand-carve the exhibit over approximately 40 days, working from a 300-page design book and using chisels, hand tools, and chainsaws to shape the ice blocks into their final forms.
To keep those carvings intact through the entire run, the exhibit enclosure stays at a constant 9 degrees Fahrenheit using a specialized chilling system, with Gaylord Hotels providing every visitor a signature blue parka to wear during the walk-through. The sub-freezing environment holds steady from the November opening through the early January close, preserving the detail the artisans spent weeks carving.
Ticket Prices and How to Get In
Per the KPBS listing, adult tickets start at $29.99 and child tickets start at $19.99, with children ages 3 and under admitted free. Tickets must be purchased online in advance through the attraction's website, and groups of 10 or more can contact Gaylord Pacific directly to arrange group visits. The resort sits at 1000 H St. in Chula Vista.
Part of Marriott's Biggest ICE! Expansion Yet
Chula Vista's debut is one piece of a much larger rollout. Marriott expanded ICE! to eight destination resorts nationwide for the 2026 holiday season — its largest expansion to date — adding new themes including Harry Potter, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas alongside the Charlie Brown theme, according to Marriott International. The 2026 expansion also marked new debuts in Phoenix alongside Chula Vista, giving the Southwest and West Coast their first taste of the attraction.
The Peanuts special at the center of the Chula Vista exhibit has deep roots of its own. A Charlie Brown Christmas, produced by Charles M. Schulz with Bill Melendez, first aired on CBS in December 1965 and went on to win an Emmy and a Peabody Award, remaining a fixture of American holiday television six decades later.
A Christmas Debut for a Resort Still Finding Its Footing
ICE!'s arrival lands during the Gaylord Pacific's first full holiday season since it opened. The $1.3 billion, 1,600-room resort debuted in May 2025 as the largest hotel built on the West Coast, developed by RIDA Development in partnership with the Port of San Diego and the City of Chula Vista as the sixth property in the Gaylord Hotels portfolio, according to the Port of San Diego. Port officials have projected the resort and the surrounding 535-acre Chula Vista Bayfront master plan will generate an estimated $475 million in annual economic impact and create 4,000 permanent jobs.
That opening followed nearly two decades of public-private planning, and the local hunger for those jobs showed early: a March 2025 job fair at Southwestern College meant to fill 800 positions drew such an overwhelming crowd that Hoodline reported organizers shut it down early. The resort has since become a broader catalyst for the area, with Hoodline noting it as a driver behind nearby commercial redevelopment at Chula Vista's Plaza 655.
Getting to the resort has also gotten easier this year. In May, Flagship Cruises & Events launched a daily 45-minute ferry connecting downtown San Diego's Fifth Avenue Landing to Safe Harbor South Bay in Chula Vista, putting the Gaylord Pacific within walking distance of a direct water route — a connection Hoodline covered as the fulfillment of a two-decade-old vision to link downtown San Diego with the Chula Vista waterfront. Just north of the resort, the Port of San Diego also opened the 39-acre Sweetwater Park in April 2025, adding nature playgrounds, 2.5 miles of trails, and Kumeyaay-influenced landscaping to the bayfront as part of the same revitalization push.
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