HALLOWEEN 2011

HALLOWEEN 2011   

And here is our SCARY staff.  It was an EPIC party.

Click the link to see our Halloween Animoto Video. It was a BLOODY RUSSIAN Night on Friday

Stay tuned for HOWL-O-FREEZE photos

Enjoy and BOOOOOO

CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS

It's the season for giving, and we are hosting our second annual Cell Phones for Soldiers party at Icebar Orlando. Bring a gently used cellphone, and we will give YOU a free entry into the icebar ($19.95 regular price). We will also have snacks, music, dancing, prizes and a heck of a party all night in honor of our troops.

Each phone is sent to be re-used or for parts, and the company gives a calling card that is sent to a soldier far from home. The gift of hearing the voice of their families is very much appreciated by these soldiers.

DECEMBER 11 STARTING AT 8:00 PM
21+

News from the Charity www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

Dear friends and supporters,

As we position Cell Phones for Soldiers for future success, we felt that a regular e-newsletter was in order…so welcome to the first edition!

At least quarterly, Cell Phones for Soldiers will issue updates on the many activities taking place to support the men and women serving in the U.S. military.

In 2011, a challenging yet achievable goal of serving 750,000 soldiers has been set. With your help, that goal is possible so please donate today. Cell Phones for Soldiers thrives on cash donations and the recycling of gently-used mobile phones.

Since 2004, Cell Phones for Soldiers has provided more than 90 million minutes of free talk time to the troops and kept more than 7.5 million cell phones out of landfills.

This mission could not be fulfilled without the generosity and dedication of our friends and supporters. We truly appreciate you and look forward to another successful year.

Many thanks,

The Bergquist Family Founders, Cell Phones for Soldiers

ITALIAN SKYSCANNER MAGAZINE

It's a pretty good translation, but this is from the Italian Skyscanner Magazine talking about the best in the world! Icebar Orlando is proud to be with this group of great ice bars.

Travel News

Friday, November 26, 2010

These days with snow in some Italian cities are a clear sign that winter is coming, and it freezes. Now why do not identify with a polar climate, and perhaps enjoy a few cocktails? Skyscanner investigates the festive side of the ice.

Stockholm

It is called Absolut Icebar and is a place where ice and design are the masters. Built with pure ice from the Torne River, the concept of playing the local aquatic environment, offering visitors a thrilling (in all senses) in an enigmatic submarine environment. People are always fascinated by water in all its forms, that perception has inspired sculptors dell'Absolut, but not limited to bartenders and waiters also have a dress code that invokes the theme of the underwater world.

Rome

Ice Club - RomaAnche the capital of Italy has his own restaurant and the ice is called Ice Club Designed by a team of artists as well as sculptors came from England, the place is completely frozen from walls, chairs, sofas and bar . The temperature is fixed at 5 ° below zero and the atmosphere is magic, enhanced by light, its fur and seating that makes the room welcoming and comfortable ... If well covered! The Ice pub is located in Rome at Via della Madonna dei Monti, close to the magnificent Colosseum. Virtually all the airlines go through Heathrow, starting from cheaper, why not take advantage?

London

The City could not be outdone, in fact, also the first English town has its Icebar London. Even with the glasses you drink the cocktails are pure ice and for about 40 minutes you can enjoy this atmosphere to below zero, but without hibernation, the entry will be given a warm cape. Located in the busy and hectic Heddon Street, a visit to the famous London Icebar is worth it. Both day and night is an unforgettable experience. One more reason to search for flights to London.

Orlando

We pass on to other dimensions, the Icebar Orlando is the largest ice bar in the world. Lights incredible caves, frozen and crazy music, here are all the ingredients to spend a crazy night 'Arctic'. Each visitor has 45 minutes to enjoy the frozen thrones and chairs, take part in a 'P' to the North Pole, complete with thrilling stories. Again, there will still be required to provide the heat, the gloves in a blanket. Who wants to be able to purchase the mascot or the Penguin Pizz.

Shanghai

Served about 45 tons of ice came directly from Sweden, to build and decorate the first Ice Bar in Asia. The bar is located all'Infinity Plaza Central Huaihai Road, and along with its 100 square meters can accommodate about 60 people at a time. Here too, the Swedish touch is missing, both in design and type of reception. I wonder if we also add a hotel of ice?

EVENTS ARE COOL

Need a place for a reception? Buffet dinner? A great way to show your clients how much you appreciate their business when you are in Orlando for a convention?

ICEBAR Orlando, chosen by Food Network TV as one of only 10 AMERICA'S BEST DESTINATION in the country. Shown this month on their America's Best show hosted by Alton Brown.
Chosen by Travel Channel as the "Coolest Bar in the USA" this is not to be missed. Room for over 500 guests, we can produce any event, create any theme. Talk to our meeting specialist today at 407-426-7555. Tell them the Ice Queen sent you!

ps: if you have a small group - we do those too! check our website at icebarorlando.com

Icebar/Fire Lounge

Icebar/Fire Lounge
I have been experimenting with creating slide shows to send to event planners and meeting professionals. This is the final (at least for now) version. We did have a great event last night for BioSource and I have some super photos, but I left the camera at the bar - so will update in the future.
If you have thoughts, insight as to what planners want to see, please share. Need all the help I can get.

Latin Nights @ Icebar Orlando

INSIDE the Icebar or in the FIRE Lounge it's Cool, then it's HOT HOT HOT!!!

Holy Salsa! We have been having a great time at the monthly LMP Promotions party at Icebar. So good, in fact, that we are starting a weekly event, here's the ad, and you can see photos of all the happy guests on their site. Come have a great time - heck I might even learn to do the dance! Here is where all the pictures are: http://www.lomaximoproductions.com/pics.php


Amazing drink specials, European Bottle Service at $100 and drink specials all night. You gotta BE HERE FOR THIS PARTIIIIIIIII

OUR BABY PENGUINES

When the chicks were small, it was important for one of the adults to always be around to protect them from predators. Now as they get bigger, the chicks need increasingly large amounts of fish to maintain their growth, and both parents must now go to sea to catch enough fish to satisfy the chicks' increasing appetite.

Despite being only a few weeks old, the chicks are now nearly as big as Ice Ice Baby, and need a lot of food.

With both parents away from the nest for much of the time, the chicks get more adventurous, and begin leaving the nest on their own. This makes it easier for us to take photos, and I now attach a photo of the chicks.

Although the chicks are now nearly as big as Ice Ice Baby, they still have a lot of growing to do. It will be about 4 to 6 weeks before they are ready to go to sea on their own.

First they need to shed out the soft fluffy feathers which you can see in the photo. These fluffy feathers are excellent at keeping the chicks warm when they are dry, but they are useless in the water. These feathers are not waterproof, and would soak up water like a sponge if the chicks went into the water, making it impossible for the chicks to swim.

So over a period of about three weeks the fluffy feathers fall out and are replaced by sleek waterproof feathers. These new feathers are just like those of Ice Ice Baby, except that the markings are different. The chicks will not develop the markings of the adults until they are 5 years old, and this change in markings indicates to other penguins that they are mature enough to take a partner and begin rearing chicks of their own.

The five years it takes to reach maturity are necessary for the chick's body to develop full muscle strength and stamina, and for the chick to become a master at catching fish. Without years of practice to become an expertise fish-catcher, the young penguin would not be able to catch enough fish for its chicks, and any other penguin pairing up with such a young penguin would be unlikely to be successful at raising chicks either. It is for this reason that the juveniles only develop adult plumage when they reach 5 years of age, to prevent other penguins from pairing up with inexperienced penguins.

The other change that the chicks need to undergo before going to sea, is the strengthening of their flipper muscles. The chicks have put down large deposits of fat over the last few weeks, which will be very important in providing the energy reserves they need to stay alive whilst learning to catch their own food.

But up until now the chicks have been confined to their nest with virtually no exercise, and their flippers have never been used, so the flipper muscles are small and weak.

Now that the chicks can wander out of the nest, they begin exercising their flippers, in order to strengthen their muscles. They can often be seen flapping their flippers up and down vigorously, as though they are excited at the prospect of getting into the ocean. The strength and stamina of their flipper muscles will be very important for the speed they will need to catch food when they begin life on their own in a few short weeks.

The chicks are very sociable, and mix with chicks from adjacent nests. Just as children go out to play with their friends, so too penguin chicks seek out other chicks for company, and it is common to find four or six chicks all in the same burrow. The adults do not mind other chicks visiting their burrow (it provides extra protection for their chicks against predators), but they never let other adults enter their burrow.

This season has been very dry, with very little rain, and this has led to differing fortunes for our colonies. Our penguins in Argentina have benefited from the reduction in rain, and chick survival rates have been high there this season.

The low rain fall has not really affected the vegetation there, which comprises mostly of drought-resistant thorn bushes, with deep root systems that seek out moisture during drought. The penguins use these bushes as cover for their nests, since the soil is too sandy to support burrows..

However here on Magdalena Island in Chile there are no bushes. The vegetation is short grass and small flowering plants, with relatively shallow roots, growing over a sandy soil. These have suffered badly from the drought, and most of the vegetation has died off leaving bare soil. The wind turns this loose sandy soil into dust storms, which in some areas are so severe that they bury the entrance of the burrows, with the penguins still inside.

Ice Ice Baby and the other adults are wise enough and strong enough to dig out the soil that comes into the burrow, but the chicks are not. They very often retreat to the back of the burrow, unaware that they are being sealed into their own tomb by the storm. Recently we have had to dig out several burrows to rescue the chicks trapped inside. If it were not for the burrow markers we use to name the penguins, many of the burrows would have completely vanished from sight.

Rain is desperately needed to restore the short grass cover, which in turn is needed to stabilise the soil in order to secure the long-term future of these penguins.

The chicks will begin leaving the colony in a few weeks, and I will write to you again when that exodus begins.

A NEW BEAR HAS BEEN CARVED

Aaron Costic of International Ice Carving fame, finished a new bear for us yesterday. This is what we have been waiting for!!! It is a 6'5" standing Polar Bear with one paw up, and already has instant success with Icebar Guests. We have moved and updated all the sculptures and added a new shelf for displaying some of the new an amazing vodkas we are featuring. The bear was made from 8 blocks of ice, frozen together starting out at 2,400 pounds! After the carving, I think he probably weighs close to a ton. This is a BIG FELLA.

Aaron started by stacking the blocks and we will get the video up so you can see how it was done. Really fun to watch him work. We also had a film crew from the International Drive Travel website come and take some movie shots. That should be great publicity for us and for Aaron. I am considering going to take a class in carving from Aaron's studio in Cleveland, but have to wait until it is not so darn cold!!!

I am a Florida native, and really don't like much snow... so why am I operating an icebar? Good question! It's FUN, people SMILE when they see it, and it makes me Feel GOOD! Besides, I get to taste test all the new recipes, like the one below.

Along with Diamond Standard Vodka, we have just tasted the 4 Orange Vodka made from Florida Oranges! This is, I believe, the first vodka distilled from Oranges. After the oranges are squeezed for juice the skins and pulp are made into molasses which is distilled to make the great tasting and quite aromatic vodka. We are trying a new drink with our ice glass that has a sugar rim! Then the orange vodka and a splash of fresh limeaid for an "Florida Orange Freeze". YUM YUM.

Here's the bear -and we are designing another bar to be installed in the future! Let us know what you like, and any suggestions.

Whacky Wednesday

We adopted our first penguin from the wonderful folks at http://www.penguins.cl/. The name of the penguin is Ice Ice Baby. This International Penguin Conservation Workgroup has the cooperation of many of the best penguin research and conservation organizations and is a collaborative effort that will benefit all the habitats.

Did you know? Penguins can run faster than most men, and swim faster than most fish! Skeletons have been found that are about 50 million years old. These guys are designed to be the best fishermen in the world. While penguins are perfectly adapted to the environment in which they live, they are less able to cope with alterations of the environment brought about by commercial fishing, oil pollution and coastal development.

We'll be working to help make changes in the dangerous practices of some folks that are threatening the penguin existence. You can help! Adopt your own penguin, or just join us at Icebar Orlando on any Sunday where we feature Little Penguin Wine and donate all proceeds to Arctic and Antarctic preservation.

Hospitality Night At Icebar Orlando

Every Monday at ICEBAR Orlando is Hospitality Employee Appreciation Night. This Monday is a special night where we have invited hundreds of hotel and tourism employees to visit ICEBAR Orlando free and see what we are all about.

Since it is by initiation, if you didn 't get one, shoot me an email to: sales@icebarorlando.com to get on the guest list. You must be an employee of hotel or travel business, and have ID to show at the door.

We're mixing up our best beverages to give you a taste of what we can do with Vodka. I will tell you that 95% of the people who come and say "I don't like vodka" become, "Where can I get this?" in one visit.

We will also share our Ice bar with you, the cape, the gloves, the glass made of ice. You will feel what the Arctic feels like, and you won't have to go 3,812 miles to get there.

We'll tell you the story of Little Penguin wine, and why we serve that brand. It's about conservation of habitat (that's a hint). We'll show you a good time.

See you tonight.

ESKIMO KISS SHOOTER

Our first Icebar Bartender, Gill, told an Eskimo joke, goes like this:

The Eskimos, when they hunted polar bears to have warm clothing in the arctic winters only had spears to use as weapons. They didn't want to pierce the skin, because the cold air would then get inside whatever coat they made, so they had to come up with a way to capture the polar bear. The father Eskimo would cut a circle in the ice, and the mother would gather peas from their meager stores. The children would place the peas carefully around the hole in the ice late at night. In the morning,when the polar bear came to take a pea they would kick him in the ice hole.



Continuing with the new shooter menus, we have the following tests to report:

ESKIMO KISS REALLY TASTES LIKE A CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY, CREAM FILLING AND ALL

Ingredients:

1/3 fl oz Swiss Chocolate Almond (I used chocolate)

1/3 fl oz Cherry Brandy

1/3 fl oz Amaretto

Whipped Cream

Layer in order and top with cream. SHOOT!

This is one good shooter. I used Pinnacle Vodka Chocolate flavor, and it Made The LIST!

SHOTS - The Good, The Bad, The Awful

SHOTS FOR OUR NEW MENU

Testing new shots for our Icebar Orlando shot menu is hard work, but heck, the Ice Queen is up to the challenge…. I left out all the ones with objectionable names, hey, we’re in Orlando!

ANTI FREEZE yuk

Ingredients:

2 fluid ounces or 6 centilitres of Vodka
1 fluid ounce or 3 centilitres of Midori
Splash of Sprite

This is actually awful tasting. Even with the smooth Pinnacle Vodka. Maybe I should wait longer after I brush my teeth.

AMARETTO CHILL good, sweet needs a lemon twist

Ingredients:

1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Vodka
1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Amaretto
1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Lemonade Mix
1/2 a fluid ounce or 1.5 centilitres of Pineapple Juice

Instructions:

Shake with ice and strain into a 2 ounce shooter glass.

AVALANCHE YUMMY might make a good sweet martini with some vodka YUP, chocolate pinnacle is jist right Just add the Pinnacle Chocolate Vodka and the martini is VERY GOOD

Ingredients:

1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Kahlua
1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Creme de Cacao I used white godiva
1/3 a fluid ounce or 1 centilitre of Southern Comfort

Instructions:

Layer in a shot glass

BLUE FLAME BLETCH

Ingredients:

1 fluid ounce or 3 centilitres of Peppermint Schnapps
1 fluid ounce or 3 centilitres of Southern Comfort

Instructions:

Pour the peppermint schnapps into a large shot glass. Layer the Southern Comfort on top of it. Light the Southern Comfort on fire but blow it out before you drink it! ALWAYS USE CAUTION WITH FIRE