History of the Osborne Lights

As the story goes, Arkansas resident Jennings Osborne and his family were very big on the Holidays. In 1986, Jennings asked his youngest daughter Breezy what her Christmas wish was. She replied that she would like to see their whole house covered in lights. They had quite a large house but Jennings was determined to make his daughter’s Christmas dream come true. That first year the Osborne family covered their home with a modest 1000 red lights. With each passing year, the family wanted to do more. The Osbornes eventually purchased property adjacent to their own in order to expand on their newfound hobby.

The display grew to millions of lights. There were flashing lights, multi-colored lights, custom-made light sculptures and a 75-foot Christmas tree adorned by lights. This drew onlookers from all over Arkansas. Displeased by the resulting traffic jams, the local residents asked that the Osborne family stop the annual display. Legal intervention was sought, and it appeared that the Osborne’s beloved tradition was about to come to an end. When Mickey Mouse got word of this, he offered a venue where the Osborne lights could be shared with visitors from around the globe. In 1995, Residential Street at the Disney’s Hollywood Studios became the home of this dazzling light show. Approximately 80% of the lights that are on display come from the original Osborne collection.

In 2003, Residential Street began undergoing a major renovation in preparation of the new stunt show scheduled to open in 2005. For the first time in 8 years, the Osborne lights were not displayed.

Fortunately, a new home was found for this magical attraction. The Streets of America (formerly New York Street) is now hosting the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

As in years past, once evening descends, this amazing display springs to life. Formerly drab buildings become twinkling light sculptures, while a host of angels fly overhead. Visitors are welcome to stroll through at their own pace. With over 4 Million Christmas lights, this is not to be missed. To enhance the experience, Florida “snow” flutters down while Christmas tunes fill the air.

Admission to the display is free with admission to the park, and it’s a MUST SEE if you’re visiting Walt Disney World over the holidays.

Hanging out with C3PO and R2D2 at the Florida Mall in Orlando.

Jedi Mickey Mouse at the Florida Mall Star Tours 3D Preview Event

Star Tours is true to it’s former counter part, but very updated with the latest digital 3D technologies and visual effects. The theme of the line cue has been for the most part revamped drastically, complete with bio luggage scanners that guests get to see the humorous contents of the luggage. I saw random items in the briefcases ranging from mickey ears, an ewok, Madame Leotta’s head, Mickey’s sorcerer hat, broomstick from Fantasia and even scuba gear, bowling balls. The luggage scanner also projects in 3D, much like the end of the line cue at Haunted Mansion. Pretty amazing to see it up close in the second room of the line cue. The motor conveyor belts are gone, and a new LED wall of celeb Star Wars passengers shows up, much like the one in DLC. There’s also a thermal imaging camera as you make your way up the last walkway toward the loading areas. I won’t spoil every little detail…

The ride itself is perfected in terms of motion, visuals and sound. C3PO whisks you away to random areas through the Star Wars universe. There is an “in-ride” camera that takes a picture of a guest, and you become part of the ride, and part of the rebel spy alliance. I saw some repeats on the ride, but for the most part, each of my 5 rides were different. I saw two different intro sequences, two different endings, three different hologram messages from 3 of Stars Wars noted rebel alliance Akbar, Yoda and Leia. The holograms are stunning 3D, and done in the style of R2′s holographic message system. I visited a number of planets, each ride being unique and in different orders. My favorites are Hoth, Naboo and Tatooine. The new 3D glasses are form fitted, much like the same style of IMAX 3D glasses.

All in all, fans will not be disappointed, it’s a nostalgic look back, and a giant leap forward in terms of today’s neatest modern tech tricks of the trade. It would be well worth a long wait to see this, and you’ll be thrilled and cheering aloud much like I was I’m sure.

May the Force be with you.

2010 brought many great things my way, and I do mean great things. It all started when Alex and I were asked to come NYC for a new job that would let us travel the States, and perform ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ to deserving individuals, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to see a show or afford merchandise. It’s an idea that spawned from the mind of Blue Man Group co-founder Chris Wink, and brought to light in April 2010. The following month, we were invited to NYC to go over the details of this amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity, and brought into the family and world of Blue Man Group officially for the first time. Since then, The Insiders ‘Joe & Alex’ have traveled on NCL’s Norwegian EPIC cruise ship, Fayettville, AR, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Las Vegas, NV and soon to be in 2011 Atlanta, GA. The Insiders adventure has been an ongoing blessing, and seeing people’s face light up with excitement is all the reward we need.

The Insiders in Denver, CO handing out complimentary merchandise, and greeting the fans of Blue Man Group before the show.

Another milestone event this year locally here in Orlando was the opening of ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ at Islands of Adventure theme park. Both Alex and myself being huge fans of the books and previous films, were mind blown when we got experience the world of Harry unlike any other. Trust me, there’s nothing like sipping on a cold butter beer while sitting on a bench in Hogsmeade. The grand opening on June 18th was celebrated with fanfare, the stars from the films were on hand, and like the troopers we are, we had to have our fix as well. Enjoy the video!

Another huge even for us in 2010 was addition to a member of our family, Bella Burke. She is a 3lb bouncing Chihuahua, and loves to play with her ball, snuggle with mommy and daddy on the couch or in bed, and loves to ride around in the car. She’s a wonderful pup, and we’re so blessed to have her as a part of our home and family.

One milestone I have to mention was having my mother and father in Orlando over the Summer. My dad has been to Orlando twice, but mother has never been in Florida. Having them here was almost like a dream come true. For the first time, I got to introduce them to Mickey Mouse, Magic Kingdom and most importantly, the ocean. Neither of them had seen the beach or ocean before, and as my parents waded out into the warm tropical water off Coco Beach, FL, my heart felt so blessed that I was able to show them this awesome experience. My family returned to Orlando 2 more times in 2010, and rounded up their stay over Christmas with us here at our home.

Finally, the momentous event of 2010 was of course my wedding. Never before in my life have I anticipated one event so much, and dreaded to see the day end so fast. My wedding was like a dream, I remember everything I done that day, but it went by so fast, it felt like I lived my life outside of my body. The surreal feeling of marrying your soul mate, partner and best friend is overwhelming, and proudly I married the love of my life on 10-10-10 with a host of friends and family. We were married on the grounds outdoors at the ‘Orlando World Center Marriott Resort’ and our reception was just inside from the wedding location in one of their ballrooms. I don’t like to brag, but our wedding went off without a single glitch. I prayed so hard for nothing to go wrong and everything to work according to plan. I didn’t want one of those candid ‘America’s Funniest Home Video’ moments to ruin the biggest day of our lives. Luckily, nothing bad happened. We had a fairy tale wedding, went on a romantic Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon and now we’re happily married and enjoying every day together.

The wedding of Joe & Alexandra Burke, 10-10-10 ‘Orlando World Center Marriott Resort’

“This is my good friend and faithful BounceRadio.net listener Mike Ippolito and his son Mikie. Mike is wearing a Crossroads new logo t-shirt while waiting in line at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to ride Toy Story Mania.” ~ Joe Burke