On Friday, the galleries at the Musical Instrument Museum on Mayo Boulevard open their doors to bronze bells that have been buried for thousands of years. Twelve days later, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa opens a room it keeps at 9°F, filled with Buddy the Elf carved from ice. Both are new this year, and both are big enough to fill a December weekend by themselves.
They also charge the same way, and that shapes the season for anyone who lives nearby. Neither one has a single price. The museum's exhibition costs extra on top of general admission. At the resort, the ice! ticket is one charge and day-visitor parking is another, and the parking is charged every time you drive in. Visitors from out of town come once and pay once. For a household that lives nearby, the bill depends on how often you go.
The Museum Goes First, on November 6
"Unearthed Musical Masterpieces from the Southern Kingdoms of Ancient China" runs November 6, 2026, through September 5, 2027. MIM organized it with the Hubei Provincial Museum. It brings together more than 70 ancient instruments and related objects. More than 40 of them have never been shown in the United States, and 10 carry China's Grade One Cultural Relic designation, the country's highest rank for national treasures. The centerpiece is a bronze bo bell made for Marquis Qiu of Zeng around 650 BCE. It is the largest bell in the largest known bell set from the Spring and Autumn period, and it carries an inscription of 188 legible characters. The opening-weekend program runs November 6 through 8, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and its activities are included with museum admission, as listed on MIM's opening-weekend page.
The pricing is where the add-on structure starts. The exhibition ticket is $7 for ages 20 and up, $4 for ages 4 to 19, and free for children 3 and under. It is sold on top of general admission, not instead of it.
| Visitor | General admission | With the exhibition |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | $24 | $31 |
| Teen, 13 to 19 | $15 | $19 |
| Child, 4 to 12 | $10 | $14 |
| Member | Free | Depends on tier |
Membership is what makes repeat visits worth it, and MIM's tiers handle the exhibition differently. A Duo membership costs $100 a year and a Family membership costs $119 a year. Both cover general admission. The Song Circle tier, at $250 a year, is the one that specifically includes unlimited special-exhibition admission for two. The exhibition runs into September 2027, so a household that expects to bring guests through the winter and spring can work out pretty quickly which tier covers it.
Tickets are timed through April 30, 2027. Circle of Friends members can visit any time without reserving. The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closes on Thanksgiving, and opens at 10 a.m. on Christmas Day. Parking is free. That free parking is the biggest difference between the two headliners.
The Resort Follows on November 18, and Parking Is Part of the Price
Jingle at JW runs November 18, 2026, through January 3, 2027. The resort calls ice! featuring Elf the attraction's Phoenix debut. It is built from more than 2 million pounds of hand-carved ice, with Buddy the Elf, Mr. Narwhal and Santa Claus as towering sculptures. More than 3 million lights cover the rest of the resort.
Tickets are timed. You pick a date and entry time, and the resort asks guests to arrive 20 minutes early. Late arrivals get in only if there's room. Inside, the temperature is 9°F. Everyone gets a free calf-length hooded parka, but long pants and warm shoes are on you, and the ice slides require closed-toe shoes. The walkways are carpeted, so boots aren't necessary. Adult admission starts at $29.36 on the official ticket site.
Parking is where a local's math is different from a hotel guest's. Day visitors pay $38 to self-park or $65 for valet. In-and-out privileges are for overnight guests only, so day guests pay again every time they drive in. Tax is extra, and the resort is cashless, parking included. Prepaid on-site self-parking starts at $30 for up to six hours. Off-site parking costs $20 on certain days, with a shuttle to the resort.
For one adult on a single trip, that comes to $29.36 for ice! plus $38 to self-park, before tax. The ticket is less than half the total. If ice! is one evening and skating is another, the household pays for parking twice.
That's why the resort's bundles matter more to locals than to anyone else. Each bundle packs several activities into one trip, so you pay for parking once:
- $40, Monday through Thursday: ice!, snow tubing and snowball toss
- $50: the same three attractions
- $65: those three plus ice skating
- $115: all of the above plus gingerbread decorating and the scavenger hunt
Bought separately, skating at Frostlight Isle starts at $20 and runs 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Snow tubing starts at $24.36 and snowball toss at $10. Both open at 11 a.m. most days and at 10 a.m. on Saturdays. The skating hours mean the $65 bundle is really an evening visit. Plan for after 5 p.m. if skating is on your list.
The resort also offers discounts of up to 20% for AAA members and up to 25% for first responders, military members, teachers, Marriott Bonvoy members and scouts, with restrictions.
The Free Layer Fits Around Both
Some of the season costs nothing beyond getting there. At the resort, the 50-foot Enchanted Evergreen runs light shows at 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. every night. The Christmas Tree Trail, the Path to ice! light walk, the Santa's sleigh photo spot, the gingerbread village display and the lawn games at Jingle Junction are free too. The day-visitor parking charge still applies, so these work best as part of an evening already planned around a ticketed activity.
Desert Ridge Marketplace at 21001 N. Tatum Blvd. runs its own free schedule. Its Annual Holiday Tree Lighting is Monday, November 23, from 6 to 9 p.m. throughout The District, and the tree lights up at 7:15 p.m. near Jin Jia and Barnes & Noble. Free digital photos with Santa are December 6 and December 19, from 1 to 3 p.m., inside The District near AMC Theatres.
The Marketplace dinner options have grown since last winter, too. Arizona Digital Free Press reported in September that the Marketplace had recently added Kajiken and NADU. On High Street, Kanoki Sushi & Cocktails opened in April at 5415 E. High St., as Phoenix New Times reported.
MIM's Stage Fills the Weeknights
The museum's holiday concerts mostly fall on nights when the resort's skating rink closes early, and on the days around Thanksgiving. The free parking applies to them as well.
| Date | Performance at MIM | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Wed., Nov. 25 | Mark O'Connor, "An Appalachian Christmas" | 7 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 and Sat., Nov. 28 | The Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show | 7:30 p.m. |
| Wed., Dec. 2 | The Klezmatics, "Happy Joyous Hanukkah" | 7 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 and Sun., Dec. 6 | "Joy to the World" holiday signature event | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 10 | The Holidays with Canadian Brass | 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. |
The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day itself. That makes the two Blind Boys of Alabama shows the first MIM events after the holiday.
The Season, Week by Week
Put together, the calendar has a clear order. Here's how it lines up for someone working from a Desert Ridge address:
- November 6 to 8: The MIM exhibition's opening weekend, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free parking and timed entry.
- November 18: Jingle at JW opens, and ice! arrives in Phoenix.
- November 23: The Marketplace tree lighting, with the lights on at 7:15 p.m.
- November 25 to 28: Mark O'Connor, then the Blind Boys of Alabama at MIM, with the museum closed on Thanksgiving.
- December 2 to 10: The Klezmatics, "Joy to the World," Canadian Brass, and the first Marketplace Santa photo day on December 6.
- December 13 to 16: The Coca-Cola Christmas Caravan stops at JW Marriott, with the Coca-Cola Polar Bear and holiday giveaways.
- December 19: The second free Santa photo session at the Marketplace.
- January 3, 2027: Jingle at JW's last day.
The MIM exhibition stays open until September 5, 2027, long after the ice has melted. Of the two headliners, it's the one that rewards repeat visits, and its membership tiers are priced for exactly that. The resort's season is six weeks, and its prices work best when everything fits into one evening.
For more about the area around these venues, see our Desert Ridge neighborhood guide. For how the area's venues handled the summer, see our earlier look at why Desert Ridge stopped waiting for the season.
If you're hosting family in Desert Ridge this season, or thinking about a winter base near MIM and the resort, the team at Arizona Luxury Real Estate knows these streets well. We're happy to talk through seasonal rentals and lock-and-leave options close to all of it. Contact Us whenever it suits your schedule.
