For our family, heading to National Harbor to check out ICE! and all of the Christmas on the Potomac features at Gaylord National Harbor has become a holiday season tradition. And we loved this year’s version of the ice sculpture wonderland, ICE! Dream Works’ Merry Madagascar.

Yes, King “I like to move it,  move it” Julien and friends pictured above are crafted completely from blocks of ice.

Our Freeze and Fun Day Pass included bundling up in the warm blue coats the ICE! attraction loans you and walking through ICE! with its Merry Madagascar theme. Of course, we had to try all of the FIVE indoor ice slides!

We also enjoyed a new feature this year, the  “Character Passport” Meet & Greet in which our children were excited to meet (and hug) a slew of Dreamworks characters in the atrium of the Gaylord National Harbor Resort. Shrek, Puss in Boots, Po from Kung Fun Panda and Gloria from the Madagascar movies were all waiting in a special Dream Works village created just for kids.

Also available for families is ice skating on an indoor rink and a mini train ride within the ICE! tent, a Puss in Boots Quest for the Magic Beans Scavenger Hunt in the Gaylord, and gingerbread house decorating with Gingy from the Shrek movies. You can also reserve tickets for Brunch With Santa on Saturdays and Sundays until Christmas Eve.

Worth the drive alone is the (free) viewing of a 60-foot glass Tree of Light in the atrium with indoor nightly snowfalls nightly and 2 million twinkling lights.

ICE! featuring DreamWorks Merry Madagascar is open daily through Sunday, January 8, 2012 including holidays

A photo of Alice and I from a cool free-e-mail-a-pic-of-yourself machine at ICE!

Disclosure: My family and I were given Freeze and Fun Day Passes for review from Gaylord National Harbor as part of a Momz Share holiday party. All opinions expressed are my own.