At ice!'s Phoenix Debut, Parking Can Cost More Than the Ticket

Forty ice carvers from Harbin, China, are now at JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. They are turning 6,700 blocks of ice, about 2 million pounds, into ice! featuring Elf. It opens Wednesday, Nov. 18, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. The cheapest adult ticket in November costs $29. Parking for a day visit costs $38 at the self-park rate. Before you pick a date, know that the parking and the calendar will shape your total more than the ticket price does.

What's Being Carved Off Tatum Right Now

Marriott said on Oct. 19 that more than 300 master ice artisans from Harbin had arrived at Gaylord Hotels and some JW Marriott resorts. They will spend nearly 40 days carving this year's attractions. In the Marriott announcement on PR Newswire, Desert Ridge is one of two debut locations this season, alongside Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista.

The resort's ice! page gives these details for the Phoenix build:

• 12 scenes from the film, starting at the North Pole and moving through the Candy Cane Forest to New York City
• 13 Buddy the Elf sculptures hidden throughout
• Five two-story ice slides, including one sized for kids, set inside a Central Park snowball-fight scene
• 12,000 total carving hours, following a 300-page design book
• A 19,000-square-foot attraction kept at 9 degrees Fahrenheit

After opening, a few artisans stay on site to maintain the sculptures and give live carving demonstrations every day. Those demonstrations happen inside the ticketed exhibit.

The Third Jingle at JW, and the First With Ice

The resort started its Jingle at JW holiday program in 2024, with skating and snow play but without ice!, as Phoenix New Times reported that summer. In its 2025 second season, the resort added tubing on real snow lanes and a Lazy River Holiday Light Stroll. That year's pass was advertised at $29 on weekdays and $35 on weekends, according to New Times' 2025 preview.

This year the anchor attraction is new to Arizona. AZCentral's July preview noted that ice! has used themes like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and A Charlie Brown Christmas at other resorts. Phoenix's first theme is Elf. Gaylord Hotels created ice! in 2001 and first staged it at Gaylord Opryland in Nashville.

Adding a 2-million-pound exhibit also changed the pricing. Ticket prices now depend on the date you pick.

The Same Ice, Priced by the Calendar

The ice! ticket calendar shows adult prices for guests 12 and older. Everyone 4 and older needs their own ticket. Here's how November 2026 breaks down:

Thanksgiving Friday and Saturday cost $48, while the following Monday costs $29. That's $19 more per adult for the same 12 scenes. The calendar has not posted December prices yet, so don't assume November's pattern carries into Christmas week.

Entry is timed. You pick a date and an entry time, and the resort asks guests to arrive at least 20 minutes early. Once you're inside, there's no time limit on the self-guided walk-through.

Where Parking Changes the Math

The Jingle at JW FAQ lists resort parking at $38 a day for self-parking and $65 for valet. Off-site parking is $20 on select days. Day visitors pay each time they enter, and in-and-out privileges are only for overnight guests. On the November calendar, day visitors can prepay on-site self-parking for $30, which covers zero to six hours. The resort calls that a 20 percent savings.

Here's what two adults would pay for ice! only, using the November rates above:

• Monday, Nov. 23, with prepaid parking: $58 in tickets plus $30 parking, for $88. Parking is about a third of the total.
• Saturday, Nov. 28, with gate-rate self-parking: $96 in tickets plus $38 parking, for $134.
• Same Saturday with valet: $96 plus $65, for $161.

On a $29 day, even prepaid parking costs more than one adult ticket. Because day visitors pay per entry, two short trips cost about twice as much as one long visit. The six-hour prepaid window easily covers ice! plus the evening program described below. The resort recommends allowing at least 30 minutes for parking and check-in.

The bundles take the same date-based approach. The Value Pass advertises savings of up to 40 percent Monday through Thursday and includes ice!, snow tubing and Snowball Build & Blast. Some late-November and December weekdays carry restrictions. The other passes are:

1. Silver Pass, up to 20 percent off: ice!, tubing, the scavenger hunt and Snowball Build & Blast
2. Gold Pass, up to 30 percent off: ice!, tubing, skating and Snowball Build & Blast
3. Platinum Pass, up to 40 percent off: ice!, skating, tubing, Snowball Build & Blast, gingerbread decorating and the TweElf scavenger hunt

The resort's offers page lists promotions for AAA members, military, teachers, first responders, Marriott Bonvoy members and Scouts, along with a limited-time SAVE30 code.

Half the Season Costs Nothing but Parking

You don't need a ticket or a room for a lot of what's on site. The FAQ says the holiday events are open to day guests as well as overnight guests. The ticket catalog marks these as complimentary:

• Enchanted Evergreen, a 50-foot tree with shows daily at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
• Path to ice!, a walk through holiday lights with ice! videos along the way
• Christmas Tree Trail on the lobby level, for all ages
• Santa's Sleigh, a life-sized sleigh photo spot in the lobby
• Letters to Santa and the Gingerbread Village display, both in the lobby
• Jingle Junction, lawn games including bean-bag toss

So you could see the tree show and the lights for the cost of parking alone, $30 to $38. Visiting Santa in person is a separate paid experience, listed from $44.99 between Nov. 18 and Dec. 24. Every guest must buy a photo package. Food and drinks are sold at the seasonal food trucks at Kringle's Kitchen and at Après Ski Bar. Dining at the resort doesn't require a room. Day guests can eat there subject to availability.

Timing One Visit to Cover Everything

Because parking covers a single entry, the schedules matter. Snow tubing and Snowball Build & Blast open at 11 a.m. Sunday through Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. They close at 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Skating runs 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. If you arrive in late afternoon on a $29 weekday, prepaid parking covers tubing, an ice! entry, and the 6:30 tree show before the six hours are up.

A few practical rules:

• ice! stays at 9 degrees. The resort provides a calf-length parka but has no coat check, and it recommends long pants and warm clothing.
• You need closed-toe shoes for the ice slides.
• No outside food or drinks are allowed inside the attraction.
• Snow Flow Mountain tubers must be at least 42 inches tall and able to carry their own tube.

This season runs alongside the Desert Ridge events covered in our Sky Crossing fall calendar post and the restaurant openings in our Desert Ridge dining post. For more on the area around the resort, see our Sky Crossing neighborhood guide.

At Rounds Petratis Legacy Group, we enjoy seeing Desert Ridge pick up new traditions like this one. If you're thinking about what your Sky Crossing home is worth as the year winds down, request a free home valuation and we'll put together a clear, local read for you before the holidays.