LONG BEACH: Queen Mary CHILL

The Queen Mary
1126 Queens Highway
Long Beach, California
(800) 437-2934
queenmary.com

ATTRACTION: Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach is one of the nation's premier ocean aquariums. Don't stand in line and wait! Get your tickets here!

By C. MacDonald, past event coverage

LONG BEACH, CA--If you want to get in the Holiday Spirit and enjoy Winter sports at the ocean, stop by the Queen Mary's Third Annual CHILL. It's the largest Holiday-themed attraction on the West Coast,” said Steve Sheldon, Director of Entertainment Events at the legendary ship. You can ice skate in a 6,500-square-foot outdoor arena, next to the Queen. You can glide down ice in a tube, inside the Queen's Dome. You can scream with glee while flying through the air on the Swingin' Sleigh Ride from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. You can try and stay onboard the Bucking Reindeer and you can watch fantastic live performances of talented singers and dancers, like the beautiful and energetic Satin Dollz.

You'll be in for a spectacular good time that you'll always remember. This year, there's a special California Christmas twist in the 14,000-square-foot Ice Kingdom, where 35 sculptors literally created a Winter Wonderland, bringing more than 2 million pounds of frozen water to life with ice carvings of a Surfing Santa, Waves, Wildlife and other holiday gems, enhanced by colorful lighting. The magical kingdom is kept at 9 degrees to preserve the ice and you'll welcome the parkas, loaned to you at the Queen's order. There's even a 30-foot high replica of the world's most famous ship, complete with an ice slide for your pleasure.

In addition to the Swingin' Sleigh Rides, CHILL has some other neat new things: Every ticket gives a guest the opportunity to enjoy unlimited trips through the Ice Kingdom and on the Glacer Glide ice tubing; there's a Sand Sculpture being created before your very eyes, near the ice rink; close-by is a sandbox kids will appreciate. You can even create toys and decorate ornaments at North Pole Village or enjoy two bounce houses. There also are ELF (Express Lane Fast) passes, which for a nominal fee, allow you to zoom straight to the front of the line at the Ice Kingdom and Glacier Glide, plus unlimited access to the Swingin' Sleigh Ride.

We want to keep adding value, variety and flexibility to our guest experience,” said Brian Luallen, the Queen's Director of Attractions. We're thrilled with the success of CHILL and are always planning for the future.”

Enjoying CHILL recently was Henry DiCarlo, KTLA's popular meteorologist. For us, CHILL is a family tradition and it gets better every year,” he said. They keep adding to it. It's awesome!” DiCarlo's 11-year-old son, Jack, was excited with all he saw and said, I'm especially looking forward to ice skating.”

When the sun goes down, it really becomes a special place with thousands of lights, not only at CHILL but around the Queen Mary, including its fabulous smokestacks. Your ticket also allows you free access to the Queen! There are terrific things to eat on the ship as well as at CHILL, where you can taste Rudolph's Pizza and Sausage, Tinsel Tacos, Dasher's Dogs and Keurig's tea and coffee.

You can even rent cabanas or Claus Cabin for a private party. To find out more about CHILL, which is organized by the Queen Mary and Absolute Event Productions, with sponsors such as the Port of Long Beach, Coca Cola, Keurig, Hawaiian Host and others, visit queenmary.com/chill. The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queen's Highway in Long Beach, CA.