LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – After months of work, Disney's Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is ready for guests.
Local 6 reporter Julie Broughton was given an after hours, behind the scenes look at what it takes to put the high energy holiday display together at Hollywood Studios.
Now in it's 19th year, the holiday display has become a theme park classic.
Guest Services Manager Lance Heal was Broughton's personal guide as she walked the "Streets of America" well after the park was closed to visitors.
A handful of technicians were in the final stages of syncing music and lights, making last minute adjustments before the show debuts for the season.
"They're going to be finishing up some of the programing and checking the cuing," Heal said as he pointed to the lighting director working at a computer console set in the middle of the street. "They're going to make sure, step by step, that the lights match the beat of the music."
It's a surreal scene as lights flash and music pumps on a desolate cityscape.
Heal said it takes over 50 crew members to put it all together, with work starting in August.
"We work, of course, overnight as the park is closed. So we usually start about 9 o'clock at night and we work 10-hour nights. We're usually done at about 7:30 in the morning," he said.
Over 5 million lights, hundreds of miles of cable, 10 miles of rope light and a million zip-ties are just a part of what it takes to build on one of the largest holiday light displays in Central Florida.
It's come a long way since the Osborne family, from Little Rock Arkansas, made headlines in the mid '90s.
After neighbors complained about their then 3 million light display, courts ruled that they had to take it down.
Disney stepped in and offered to move the lights to Central Florida.
Today, the display uses LED lighting, which is much more efficient then what was originally used.
There are, however, many of the original exhibits that once stood in the Osborne front yard.
The giant globe, flying angels and the 70-foot Christmas tree, all original items, now stand side by side next to hidden Mickeys and Disney characters.
"We're ready, we're really excited. We've been waiting for this moment," Heal said. "It's kind of like planning a party. You work really hard to plan that party and when it finally goes off, the excitement, the energy of the guests in the street -- it's the payoff for what we've been working on all this time."
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights runs through Jan. 4.