George Simmons Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Add my vote to the "be careful what you wish for" group. We started in 2008 and the traffic was light. Frankly I was a bit surprised and disappointed - I thought there would be more. Traffic jumped considerably each following year. In 2011 a MPLS TV crew came out and the night after that segment aired all hell broke loose. It was almost frightening with all the people and cars. Exhilarating and scary at the same time. Since then, we've been pretty full almost every night and most nights we're reduced to just a handful of sequences in the rotation to keep people moving. I used to like seeing people stay for an hour or even longer because we put a lot of effort into the display. But those days are long gone. Last year, for the first time, we had the street full on opening night waiting for the first song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrant Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I live in a subdivision which is governed by an HOA. The first year I did my lights the neighbors complained to the HOA about me so the next year I got myself elected to the HOA. Now all the complaints come to me, problem solved. I moved to a subdivision with a HOA just before Christmas. Santa Helper and Mega Arch came over and helped me move my display from my old house to the new one. The HOA sent me a gift card for winning their Christmas Light contest! I don't guess they will be complaining if they hold a contest lol Papa This home is in a POA/HOA. I'm on the board so before I did my first year, I made sure I was clear about my plans and that traffic was an unknown for the future. We discussed the issue that there was a way around for people to get through and so on. Last year, being my 3rd year, the traffic was pretty serious at times. I'm concerned about how much there'll be this year. The neighbors all seemed to like the show. This last year, I suggested a Christmas Light Decoration Contest which of course I cannot participate in since it was my suggestion and I was on the board. More so in that I also became one of the Judges. This year, they've asked me to do the decorating at the community entrance/waterfalls too, so at this time, they are still on-board with me. They even voted to add more money to the Christmas decorations/contest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 This home is in a POA/HOA. I'm on the board so before I did my first year, I made sure I was clear about my plans and that traffic was an unknown for the future. We discussed the issue that there was a way around for people to get through and so on. Last year, being my 3rd year, the traffic was pretty serious at times. I'm concerned about how much there'll be this year. The neighbors all seemed to like the show. This last year, I suggested a Christmas Light Decoration Contest which of course I cannot participate in since it was my suggestion and I was on the board. More so in that I also became one of the Judges. This year, they've asked me to do the decorating at the community entrance/waterfalls too, so at this time, they are still on-board with me. They even voted to add more money to the Christmas decorations/contest! Man, I wish more people in our city had that type of approach. I've not had trouble with the city since 2009, nor have I had any serious issues with neighbors - to the best of my knowledge anyway. What frustrates me is different. We're a community of only 1500 people and to hear them talk, our city's current leaders have been looking high and low for things to boost the community economy. For over a month I bring hundreds of people here every night - probably over a thousand on busy nights. Seems to me there should be some economic opportunities to be found there. If only more people could see the potential. I can't even seem to convince any local community/youth organizations that they could make some serious jingle bells simply selling hot chocolate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilmoney Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 My first year was ok, better than I expected, couple of cars per show. Facebook likes =300ish after year one. Year two I did a haunted house and shared the facebook page on a well known facebook page in town, facebook likes jumped from 300 to 1200+. 6 tour buses arrived one night. Christmas eve there was 60 cars in front of my place plus some random dude dressed as santa giving away candy canes, traffic stopped in both directions as far as the eye could see. The donations collected doubled from year 1 to 2 as result. The community has really gotten behind me thus far, no problems, no theft, no vandalism. We put 178 people through the haunted house the first year, I'd like to double that this year but I'm happy with the amount of traffic the xmas show gets. Here's the haunted house vid if anyone cares to see it...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B9B4KVMsCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Ezimnow, yes. I have typically 6-7 insanely busy nights every year. 3K is not unusual on those nights, within a 4.5 hour timeframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Zman...I can't Imagine!...Has to be a "rush" but that says something about the quality of your display...awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Nice Job on the Haunted House ...oilmoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmienLightFan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I am not sure what to expect. There are very very few animated displays in the country. I have never seen one in person.One down the road was featured on TV (National TV) and that is nothing special. I don't live on a good road for traffic, so I don't want too many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 3,000 cars in one night.... that must be a real night mare.. I live on the side of a mountain....on a private gated road....no drive by visitors at all.. Just 2 neighbors can actually see my display but if someone down in the valley or across the valley knows where to look... with a telescope or binoculars they can see it.. Some say why do i do it... for me my neighbor, only one which happens to have a couple kids, and my family which comes over.. for myself and my wife cause we like the blinky and sparkly lights...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Mark, my wife and I just sat and watched the 2014 Woodinville Wonderland Day/Night Walk thru.....Beautiful!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zman Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Sarge, I don't get 3K cars in a night. Remember families etc..... It is probably close to 800-900 cars, but I have parking up and down the street. I live in a very rural area. Off the beaten path. Most lots around me are 5-10-20 acres. Again, those are only my busiest nights. I get Key Club and Honor Society volunteers from the High School. This has served well. EZ thank you for the kind words. Last year when that was taken, it was a rough year. Some may have seen me on TV. I was the national poster boy for ladder safety at the Holidays. An article was being written about me/display when I fell getting off the roof stepping onto a ladder, and spent 4.5 days in the hospital over Thanksgiving. The author spun the accident. The display would not have happened if not for the kindness and generosity of 26 individuals to come finish, maintain, and teardown my display. When the local CBS affiliate read the article, they interviewed me and that story went national. Links are on my webpage. Hence, if anyone of you are going to Christmas Expo, we have added a ladder safety course, taught by my good friend and the long time PNW electrical guru, Pete Peters. We taught it at our local gathering, C.L.A.P. and had fun with it. Pete was the first volunteer to show up the day I came home from the hospital too. Again, thank you, because last year almost did not happen for my community, and that video would have had to wait till 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizywk Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I fear the day if/when we get loads of visitors because that appears to be the biggest reason why these displays end. We do it for the family memories as a family project, and to enhance the holiday spirit for our neighbors. Our first year we had between 3 and 5 cars out front at any given time, and one time the fire department was heading back from a run and stopped for a few minutes to watch the show. We saw first hand how word of mouth worked when, after a repair, I had forgotten to turn the Tune To sign back on for 2 days. I hadn't noticed because there wasn't any change in traffic. Turns out, visitors were helping each other, telling each other what channel to turn to. Last year, our second year, we showed up on the 11 Must See displays list and soon, and we're still finding where people put us on their facebook pages and YouTube. We had a tour bus show up at one point. We're still in good shape. We draw enough people that we get a kick out of making people happy, and still haven't pushed the neighbors buttons. We are also starting to see an increase in static displays in the neighborhood too which is a great sign.Only time will tell what crowds our 3rd year will bring, or how much longer it will be before we're pressured to stop because its too much for the neighbors to bear. After all, the neighbors holiday spirit was central to our motivation to doing this to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcroc Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Being on a corner lot, with a busy road on one side, and the main road through the development on the other, as much as I would like to see some, I also worry about traffic. Crossed my mind that it is very distracting on the busy road, and there could end up being an accident when someone is watching my lights instead of the road. Not sure where the law falls on that one. Then, there really isn't much room to park. Any more than 3 or 4 cars, and you are out of luck for stopping in front of the house. I already have 4 car owners living in my house with a 1 car driveway, so I am starting off with cars parked in front of the house. Haven't figured out what to do about that yet. Actually has me wanting to sell my house and buy another to better suit my hobby. I know that nobody is THAT into it, but all kidding aside, when I do buy my next house.....fixing all of this will be a large part of what I'm looking for in a new home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I am planning on moving to TEXAS in a couple years...( After the wife retires from her job ). One of the things we will be looking at thinking about when we make the trip to decide where we want to move to is... OUR LIGHT DISPLAY.. being retired military and wife also being a vet... we are thinking central Texas area because of our military benefits, base shopping, medical care etc.... so maybe in the Ft. Hood to San Antonio area.. Our light Display and traffic areas etc. will for sure have a impact on where we decide to go. We plan on talking to the police in the different areas we go to and see how they feel about Light Displays and traffic problems etc. as we want to start out with a good idea as to what to expect where when it comes to possible traffic problems etc. I figure by then our display will have grown from 80 channels to who knows how many more and to how many more thousands of lights to go with the more channels. hahaha may have to find a house across the street from a school or place with a big parking lot...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstorms Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I cater my light display to the neighbors that live close by. No one ever complains about the lights. Everyone hates traffic even neighborhoods with light contests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orville Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 may not do one this year for 2015, won't be a big deal as since I've been doing this I haven't advertised, word of mouth or anything else, so traffic is only the neighbors coming and going, occasionally a stray visitor wonders in, but where I am in the back of the manufactured home park, I'm very difficult to find, and the light display isn't really all that great either unless you get out of the vehicle and walk through it. Where we currently are the location royally sucks for viewing from a vehicle. So traffic is no issue and neither are neighbor complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilM0nkey Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Last yer was my first big traffic year. I had about 100 cars a night on week nights and 500ish a night on weekends + limos and buses. I didn't have any issues. I saw quite a few people get out in the street and dance to the music. I thought it was all awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasmadrive Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Last yer was my first big traffic year. I had about 100 cars a night on week nights and 500ish a night on weekends + limos and buses. I didn't have any issues. I saw quite a few people get out in the street and dance to the music. I thought it was all awesome!Obviously you don't live on a cul de sac with a narrow country road.... like some of us do.. damn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanZ Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I never worried about it. I did it for my own enjoyment. My wife wanted to advertise last year and traffic went up quite a bit. This year? Who knows. I'd be perfectly content if it were simply word of mouth and nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilM0nkey Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Obviously you don't live on a cul de sac with a narrow country road.... like some of us do.. damn! Somehow it just worked out. I'm on a nice wide street this year so hopefully it's even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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