2013 last year for Osborne lights?

[NYDisneyKid]

Which is correct? Osborne or Osbourne (Wikipedia says the 1st)

 

[hoosiermike]

In a somewhat recent Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill, Jim talked about how incredibly popular this attraction is even though it is only up for 2 months out of the year. This was discussed in relation to how the Streets of America space could be put to better use for DHS. According to Jim Hill, the lights are a huge draw, which is why they haven't re-purposed that space for something else. If what Jim says is true, it would be very surprising that Disney would impact the Streets of America with their expansion plans.

 

[dcibrando]

Osborne lights will be moved to Disney Springs!!

don't be so quick to rule this out

 

[Spacedog1975]

And the un-most? Not all people can afford Disney

I think you are missing my intent. IMHO, most visitors to Disney Springs are going to be people who are already on property and likely already have tickets to the parks themselves. The "unmost" as it were would not be a significant enough number to seek to avoid placing the display at Disney Springs. The net benefit being that people would continue going to DHS (especially with the expansion) and they'd have greater reason to go shopping at Disney Springs. Streets of America presently is great because it requires the DHS ticket, but when people are there, they generally aren't also shopping as it's basically all facade all the time.

My expectation is that so long as there is someplace at DHS for the lights to go up, they will remain there. I simply think that if in the future there were not a place for the lights at DHS, then Disney Springs would be a great second choice.

In a somewhat recent Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill, Jim talked about how incredibly popular this attraction is even though it is only up for 2 months out of the year. This was discussed in relation to how the Streets of America space could be put to better use for DHS. According to Jim Hill, the lights are a huge draw, which is why they haven't re-purposed that space for something else. If what Jim says is true, it would be very surprising that Disney would impact the Streets of America with their expansion plans.

I don't disagree with this sentiment at all, it was packed last year each day when I visited, and it is enough of a draw to get me to return. This said, I would expect that if it interfered with a larger plan to improve the park (which needs it), they would not hesitate to move or eliminate the display.

Since they own the display and the rights to it, I would think moving it would make more sense than eliminating it.

 

[Castle2Castle]

In a somewhat recent Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill, Jim talked about how incredibly popular this attraction is even though it is only up for 2 months out of the year. This was discussed in relation to how the Streets of America space could be put to better use for DHS. According to Jim Hill, the lights are a huge draw, which is why they haven't re-purposed that space for something else. If what Jim says is true, it would be very surprising that Disney would impact the Streets of America with their expansion plans.

Assuming validity in the rumor. . .I don't listen to podcasts and don't know if anyone's quantified the popularity of the show, but it would have to be extremely large for a 2 month show -- that's only active a fraction of the night -- to outweigh the benefits of upgrades that could provide increased attendance for 12 months out of the year and throughout the entire day/night.

We greatly enjoyed the show when we saw it for the first (only) time in 2011, but other than the nights on that trip, we had no reason for visiting the Streets of America versus the rest of the park. If they have an opportunity to improve the use of that space, I would hope that they seize it, and I would also hope that they could find a new destination for the lights if possible.

 

[AJRitz]

Assuming validity in the rumor. . .I don't listen to podcasts and don't know if anyone's quantified the popularity of the show, but it would have to be extremely large for a 2 month show -- that's only active a fraction of the night -- to outweigh the benefits of upgrades that could provide increased attendance for 12 months out of the year and throughout the entire day/night.

We greatly enjoyed the show when we saw it for the first (only) time in 2011, but other than the nights on that trip, we had no reason for visiting the Streets of America versus the rest of the park. If they have an opportunity to improve the use of that space, I would hope that they seize it, and I would also hope that they could find a new destination for the lights if possible.

Walt Disney World often deals with "reserving" space to deal with peak crowds. It's a fact of life when holiday/vacation crowds need to be accomodated for a few weeks or months a year. Streets of America is a perfect location for the Lights precisely because it is so lightly traveled the rest of the year. It's an an outer edge of the park, so it draws guests through the rest of the park on their way (with lots of opportunities to buy stuff as they go). In addition to drawing crowds into DHS, the Osborne lights create dozens of opportunities per year for private parties/events that take place after park closing. Those are hugely profitable, as staffing needs are minimal. And the people who attend those parties also have to have a park ticket for that day.

It's not unlike Tomorrowland Terrace. Yes, it sits dead most of the year. It's a big chunk of otherwise usable space in the Magic Kingdom. But for those peak crowd times, it's necessary. So it's maintained and available to handle things like overflow when a major counter service location gets a refurb (like breakfast during the Main Street Bakery refurb).

While it's possible that the Lights might come down for a year, just because of the construction taking place during an expansion, I fully expect that they'll go out of their way to preserve the Streets of America space used for the Osborne Lights, specifically for that purpose.

Free Osborne Lights in Disney Springs don't generate the private party dollars that Osborne Lights in DHS (plus a park ticket entry) does. And they don't want the lights to be in an area that's already heavily trafficked - they're working too hard right now to improve crowd flow to say the hell with crowd flow during the busiest times of the year, lets put the Lights on the (relatively) narrow and crowded Sunset Boulevard from now on.

 

[Spacedog1975]

I actually didn't even consider the private party aspect. I'm sure it's a great space for that.

I understand and appreciate the crowd flow concern. I also appreciate that we're only dealing with rumors now, but a space that is mostly unused seems prime for expansion/replacement.

 

[Castle2Castle]

In addition to drawing crowds into DHS, the Osborne lights create dozens of opportunities per year for private parties/events that take place after park closing. Those are hugely profitable, as staffing needs are minimal. And the people who attend those parties also have to have a park ticket for that day.

From what I've gathered, private events and parties can be held throughout the entire park, so it seems unlikely that profitability from such events would be hurt by repurposing Streets of America. There's also no reason to think that a new use of the space couldn't still be used to host private events and parties.

It's not unlike Tomorrowland Terrace. Yes, it sits dead most of the year. It's a big chunk of otherwise usable space in the Magic Kingdom. But for those peak crowd times, it's necessary. So it's maintained and available to handle things like overflow when a major counter service location gets a refurb (like breakfast during the Main Street Bakery refurb).

I'm not sure how comparable Tomorrowland Terrace is to SOA since they at least function throughout the day as a restaurant and offer a dessert package for the fireworks at night; even without consideration as a venue for special events and parties, it's generating additional revenue throughout the entire year that SOA isn't.

Since events and parties can be held with or without SOA, it's essentially just the lights bringing in some additional foot traffic during the holidays -- mostly during the night time hours at that. While that makes a nice case for the lights under current conditions, new attractions in that space would likely generate significantly more foot traffic through the year than the lights do in a couple of months. There's a lot of potential revenue in that, as well as possibly better distributing crowds throughout the park to enhance the average guest's experience.

This is all speculating based on a rumor, but if there were to be any consideration to reimagining the SOA for a new attraction or two, I don't see the Osborne Family Lights presenting a compelling financial case for not doing so.

 

[101disneyfan]

In a somewhat recent Disney Dish podcast with Jim Hill, Jim talked about how incredibly popular this attraction is even though it is only up for 2 months out of the year. This was discussed in relation to how the Streets of America space could be put to better use for DHS. According to Jim Hill, the lights are a huge draw, which is why they haven't re-purposed that space for something else. If what Jim says is true, it would be very surprising that Disney would impact the Streets of America with their expansion plans.

From what I have read, the Streets of America would be a later phase of the Pixar Place expansion. Star Wars Land's later phases would use space from the parking lot. Pixar will expand into the Backlot first, then Streets of Amer, and eventually into Animation Ctyd.

 

[darnheather]

The photos I've seen of this event are so gorgeous! I'd love to go one day but it won't be any time soon. Will I be disappointed if it goes away? Sure. But will it be the end of the world? Of course not.

Oh and to PP it's Osborne not the Ozzy family.

 

[cbnsoul]

I, for one, would be all kind of excited to see Star Wars Land, Carsland, Pixar Place, etc at HS. I was a bit surprised to see the other day that the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground was closed for refurbishment. If money is being spent on that, I can't imagine they are gonna just up and rip it out real soon. Even if the Streets of America is an area affcted later rather than sooner, as is mentioned in a prior post, I'd think it would be relatively soon and there would be little reason to refurb the playground. Based on that, my guess is the lights will be up at least next year.

 

[newdeal]

I, for one, would be all kind of excited to see Star Wars Land, Carsland, Pixar Place, etc at HS. I was a bit surprised to see the other day that the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground was closed for refurbishment. If money is being spent on that, I can't imagine they are gonna just up and rip it out real soon. Even if the Streets of America is an area affcted later rather than sooner, as is mentioned in a prior post, I'd think it would be relatively soon and there would be little reason to refurb the playground. Based on that, my guess is the lights will be up at least next year.

They could do a name change and make Honey I shrunk the kids play area be the Bugs Life play area which would then fit perfectly with a Pixar land.

 

[uramr]

Any word on a dates for 2013 yet? I have made some assumptions based on last year but this will affect what date I stay in Disney world through in November. Thanks!

 

[SharkBoy]

I finally made it to Disney during the holidays and the Osborne lights really were spectacular. I hope they will not be disappearing... It was my second favourite Christmas event after seeing Cinderella Castle all decked out.

 

[kesha]

Any word on a dates for 2013 yet? I have made some assumptions based on last year but this will affect what date I stay in Disney world through in November. Thanks!

I hope the dates are posted soon. We are going in Nov. this year. and would really like to see this. We are going to be booking within the next couple weeks.

 

[brertoad]

NOOOOO!

I love the Osbourne Lights!
It's my favorite thing about HS.

I don't think they should touch a thing about it. (And they should leave the Muppets alone too.)

 

[sjs314]

Any word on a dates for 2013 yet? I have made some assumptions based on last year but this will affect what date I stay in Disney world through in November. Thanks!

I hope the dates are posted soon. We are going in Nov. this year. and would really like to see this. We are going to be booking within the next couple weeks.

I am not sure about the ending date for OL which is usually sometime in early January I believe but they start this year on Friday November 8th, the day we leave which if the rumor of this being the last year I am thinking of changeing.

We saw the OL for first time last year and loved them

 

[kesha]

I am not sure about the ending date for OL which is usually sometime in early January I believe but they start this year on Friday November 8th, the day we leave which if the rumor of this being the last year I am thinking of changeing.

We saw the OL for first time last year and loved them

That date will work well for us! We are planning on getting there on the 14th.

 

[salemnews]

That date will work well for us! We are planning on getting there on the 14th.

Hey Guys were heading down Nov 11-17 anyone know if there dates they will be lighting them up

 

[sjs314]

Hey Guys were heading down Nov 11-17 anyone know if there dates they will be lighting them up

OL start on 11/8