Kicking Off the Holidays with Light Up the Night at JW Marriott San Antonio
This time of year is always our busiest, and the past two weeks have easily been the craziest of 2024 yet!
From Thanksgiving to the official start of the Christmas season, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, and even Travel Tuesday, we are incredibly grateful for all the clients who entrusted us with their holiday campaigns. Seeing our months of collaboration come to life is an indescribable feeling that never gets old!
Amidst the hustle and bustle, we made a conscious effort to carve out time for ourselves this year by attending Light Up the Night, an annual event hosted at the JW Marriott San Antonio. We were thrilled to share the experience with Adam’s mom and our 10-year-old niece, making it a memorable family outing for all.
This year’s event took place on Friday, November 22nd, just before Thanksgiving week, providing the perfect opportunity to kick off the holiday season before diving headfirst into our packed work schedule. The evening featured a spectacular tree lighting ceremony, the grand arrival of Santa on a horse-drawn sleigh, charming Victorian carolers, and an exclusive preview of ICE! Featuring Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! and Snow Flow Mountain at the resort's festive Reindeer Lodge.
A Winter Wonderland Brought to Life
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly ICE! Grinch exhibit, brought to life through dazzling, hand-carved ice sculptures created by master artisans from Harbin, China—also known as "Ice City" and home to the world's largest annual ice and snow sculpting festival. Walking through the exhibit was like stepping into a magical winter wonderland. Larger-than-life sculptures, carved from over two million pounds of ice, depicted iconic scenes from the beloved holiday classic—all within a frosty 9°F environment!
Thankfully, complimentary parkas were provided to help us stay warm—and enjoy the ice slides, which were a crowd favorite. The experience captured the spirit of Christmas in a way that delighted both kids and adults alike.
Festive Fun for Everyone
The holiday cheer didn’t stop there. After the exhibit, we explored the Reindeer Lodge, where we tried out holiday-themed activities like Snowball Build & Blast (throwing snowballs at targets) and indoor tubing down the Snow Flow Mountain. Photo opportunities were everywhere, and we even had the chance to meet and take pictures with the Grinch, Max, and Mrs. Claus—moments our niece particularly loved!
Helpful Tips and a Few Hiccups
If you’re planning to visit San Antonio this holiday season, we highly recommend checking out the ICE! Grinch exhibit, which runs until January 5th, 2025. More details can be found at JW Hill Country Christmas.
However, we do have one suggestion for improvement: the parking process. While we managed to secure a convenient spot, the QR code system for entering and exiting the gates was problematic, leading to delays and confusion. Despite prepaying for parking and validating it inside the resort, neither the initial nor updated QR codes worked, and the attendants seemed unsure of how to resolve the issue. Thankfully, a kind stranger with a parking pass helped us exit. Hopefully, JW Marriott can streamline this process for future events.
A Full-Circle Moment
Not sure if this is the case for every year as this was our first year attending, but 50% of Light Up The Night's ticket proceeds were donated to CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. CHRISTUS was actually Anusha’s last employer before she embarked on her self-employment journey that led to the founding of A-Game Creations. It was a heartwarming, full-circle moment that made the evening even more meaningful as there were some children positively impacted by CHRISTUS who were there to share their stories and enjoy the festivities too.
As we dive into the holiday season, we hope this inspires you to create cherished memories with loved ones. Here’s to a magical start to the holidays!