Bask in the glow of one of the most popular Walt Disney World Resort holiday traditions.

The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights brightens the Streets of America area with a dazzling display of trees, spinning carousels, 3-D and motion-based displays.

Delight in the flying angels, toy soldiers and giant Santa Claus light creations all strung along the high rise strewn backlot cityscape.


View a Gallery of the Osborne Lights HERE


Jennings Osborne, a Little Rock, Arkansas, businessman, began putting up lights nearly a decade ago, at the request of his young daughter. Each year, he added to the displays.

When he ran out of room, Osborne bought the two houses on either side of his home so he could continue his creativity. Neighbors complained, however, and the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled in October 1994 that Osborne's house, when adorned with the 3 million lights, was a public nuisance.

Although legally barred from causing a "spectacle", Osborne still lit the display three nights. He was found in contempt of court and fined $1,500. The court suspended a 10-day jail sentence, but ordered him to pay $7,000 in attorneys' fees.


Article by: Pieser

Putting up those millions of lights at the annual Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights takes months to complete, even if they don't screw those bulbs in one light at a time.

The lighting process actually begins in August, said show producer Chris Pieser, at a recent behind-the-scenes look at the dazzling display of lights held annually at the Disney-MGM Studios. There are now so many lights in the display, which originally was part of a huge neighborhood holiday display begun by Jennings Osborne in Arkansas, that Disney officials have given up counting. "We just say millions and millions," said Pieser.

The lights don't officially come on until mid November. And while almost 75 percent of the light show was complete by early October, there is still plenty of behind-the-scenes work to be done, said Pieser.

The elaborate show requires a team of 18 electricians 14 weeks to hang all those lights on the Streets of America backlit at the theme park. Counting the actual number of lights has become practically an impossibility, especially since the lights are hung in thousands of separate strings.

The huge display requires nearly 12 miles of extension cord, he said. And Disney workers start from scratch each year with all new strings of lights from China. "Bulbs burn out and the brightness fades," he said, so it is easier to have an all-new display each year. To get an idea of just how many lights there are at the Osborne display, consider that just one 70-foot tree contains 80,000 lights. Add to that the numerous buildings, a blue night sky and a dazzling 30,000-light red canopy, and the numbers soon become staggering.

It's hard to believe that the whole thing began some 18 years ago when Osborne set up his first display of a couple of thousand lights at home to please his young daughter. He liked the results so much that it soon grew to a million lights and then he bought the homes on both sides of his residence so he could put up more than 3.5 million lights. The display attracted so much attention that other neighbors couldn't even get to their homes so Disney and Osborne decided to move the whole thing to the Disney Studio in 1995.

There are now many more lights at Disney than there ever was in Little Rock, but many of the essential elements from his original displays remain intact, including the large globe, numerous flashing angels and revolving carousels and the red canopy that used to cover his driveway. All those lights continue to stun and delight the thousands and thousands of visitors who view it each year at the theme park.

"We see so many amazed looks on faces," said Pieser, "and some huge wows when the snow starts falling." The snow element is made by using a snow fluid mixture each evening. Pieser said that 66 gallons of snow fluid are required each night to create the snowfall effect. One of the key things to look out for at this year's display, and it will be easy to notice, is the new LED lighting on the town hall building. The new lights burn with a greater intensity and have a bonus effect, even Disney technicians didn't expect — the lights give the building a 3D effect.

Pieser said Osborne still has a lot of input on the light show and offers his suggestions. He and his family — actually it is a whole entourage — spend more than a week at the Disney complex each year to take in the show. Jennings also continues to light up Arkansas on his own. He has donated light displays to some 30 towns across the state. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights has been extended to 56 nights this year.

In 1995, the Walt Disney Company brought the Osborne Christmas lights to Walt Disney World! Disney's agreement with Osborne gives it the option of keeping the display for 5 years, possibly longer.

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