Look, there’s just no polite way to say this. Disney-MGM’s New York Street area looks terrible this time of year …
Photos by Jeff Lange
… During the day, anyway.
During daylight hours, this part of the studio theme park just seems to be a tangle of wire. An endless series of empty frames that workmen are still hurrying to put into place.
I mean, what’s so attractive about something like this?
Photo by Jeff Lange
Particularly when you’re some tourist who won’t actually be at Disney World in December. I often feel sorry for the poor slobs who visit Disney-MGM in September, October and November. They’re the folks who always get to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights being set up, but never get to experience the final product. Which — once the sun goes down and a few thousand volts starts moving through all those bulbs …
Photo by Jeff Lange
… the final effect can actually be quite magical.
I’m told that managers at the Walt Disney World Resort had also become concerned about the large number of Disney-MGM visitors who were just missing out on their chance to experience the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. Which is why they’ve reportedly decided to extend the operating season for this seasonal display. So — this year — the lights get turned on a full week earlier.
Meaning that fewer MGM visitors will now leave the studio theme park with images like the one below being their primary memory of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights …
Photo by Jeff Lange
And — instead — they’ll recall the 70-foot-tall pink Christmas tree that towered over the Chicago section of Disney-MGM’s faux cityscape …
Photo by Jeff Lange
… as a carousel loaded with angels spun around on a nearby rooftop.
Okay. I know. Not everyone out there is a Spectacle of Lights fan. Some people find the Osborne family’s collection of Christmas decorations to be ‘way too over-powering. The Osborne’s old neighbors back in Little Rock certainly did. Which is how this display eventually found its way down to Disney-MGM, where it’s been delighting millions of WDW visitors since 1995.
In defense of the display, I guess I should also say that not every building on New York Street is actually adversely effected by the annual installation of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. On some buildings, you can barely even notice that the lights are there.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Until — of course — the sun goes down and someone turns on the power. And then the sky overhead is suddenly filled with flapping angels.
Photo by Jeff Lange
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights is currently scheduled to run from November 14th through January 8th. For further information on this seasonal event at Disney-MGM Studios theme park, follow this link.
Photo by Jeff Lange
Jeff Lange is the staff photographer / archivist here at JHM. He recently launched his own series of unofficial Disney theme park DVDs. Which include “Jeff Lange’s Holiday Treat.” Which offers full coverage of last year’s “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party” at WDW’s Magic Kingdom. If you’d like to learn more about this or any other of the entertaining recordings that Mr. Lange has produced, we suggest that you follow this link.