Nights of Shimmering Lights

Was really looking forward to going to this last year. Made the drive there only to find out it was closed…

We have done this with our family for years now and this year 2015 will be the first year they’re not open. I’m sure it had something to do with last year’s marketing over advertisement of the event on Facebook and other places. This is always been a very charming family event very well-​managed by the family that owns the property and the display lights have gone up consistently without problems. Every year they have fresh made donuts on site they show movies, serve hot cocoa and it’s been a wonderful tradition. I would disregard the other review planing about the way that was not normal and unexpected so unfortunately the very first year they decided to try the event they ran into that over marketing fiasco that happened. In New York and New Jersey,. Drive thru lighted scenes are very «common» and most people bringing a carload to go and look at lights listening to Christmas songs and being able to run out and have cocoa and watch a movie during the Christmas time consider it to be really good night especially when the whole thing is run by volunteers that you know only do this to spread cheer and happiness.

So this was a great event — but just an fyi that this is not happening this year. Just spoke with a representative and they mentioned that the payment went up significantly this year & they couldn’t find an appropriate space… will have to wait to next year !!

I was expecting more than what was actually out here. It’s a cool concept, though. And at $ 20/​car, with our 1 van filled with 7 people and 1 car filled with 4, it’s worth the few dollars.
You drive through a field (bumpy travels) to admire the lights that have been setup. With all the space that there is, I feel the exhibits could be more elaborate instead of simply lined up on the side of the road. They’re also not all Christmas-​themed, so doesn’t necessarily put you into the Christmas spirit.
We wanted to check out the village, hoping for more of a Christmas feel there. A little better, but not by much. My family did enjoy the sled photo opp area, and my niece and nephew got a cute pic with one of those boards that have holes to place your head in. An old school Christmas movie was playing for the kids, which they really enjoyed!
Food is limited: hot dog, burger, pulled pork sandwich. However, all those choices were underwhelming and expensive. The mini donuts were the saving grace! Delicious, soft, served warm. And there was a kettle corn booth that made it to our good list.
So really. If you have young kids (my niece is 5 and cousin is 6), bring them here. They’ll enjoy it, and you’ll enjoy family time. If you have teenagers or older, it’s not impressive.

Welllll… I have 3 kiddos who were somewhat occupied by the lights. My husband was irritated by the time we made it in. The carline and stop and go all through the fairgrounds made me a bit nuts, too. It took us about 40 minutes to finally get in. The entrance is a little scary — car whizzing past and all, but everyone was courteous and patient at least. Someone in front of us even paid for our car fee.
I think if you’re looking to kill time and in the area it’s not too much money to put out. If you’re coming from any distance it may not be worth the drive + time getting through.

Meh. I’ve experienced better sums it up. Not knowing the area or where it was and since the website just said a street address, we came in from Brandon on SR-​60 not knowing it was on the grounds of the Hillsborough County Fair Grounds. That might have been something they could have said on the website. The Eastbound left lane was backed up for over a mile which told us we must be getting close but I passed the line and went another mile to the next U-​turn and we got in the carline on the Westbound side which was much shorter. Unfortunately, the line was off the road along the shoulder and I worried of running over a bottle or something that would pop a tire and in the two westbound lanes, the traffic did not slow or move over at all for the ¼ mile of cars pulled over and several times I thought we were going to be sideswiped or lose a mirror. In the general spirit of Christmas, the line onto Sydney Washer Rd was one car at a time from the Eastbound lane, one from the Westbound but was very slow due to no police assistance and the through traffic doing 55MPH or higher. While waiting for our turn to pull onto Sydney Washer Rd, we witnessed several near misses of crashes and I was amazed that both HCSO (Hillsborough Co. Sheriff’s) or Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) didn’t have off duty guys out directing traffic. As we crept in the entrance to the park, we were directed down one of two lanes we were told were for cash or prepays. While in that line, approximately 15 mins after leaving SR60, we heard ambulances and police sirens respond to a crash. Just like I thought, someone was hit pulling into the show. I hope no one was seriously hurt and I blame HCSO for not having personnel out there seeing as the show was on County property, there should have been deputies out there slowing down and directing traffic. Some of those lighted road signs also would have been nice to slow and divert traffic. By now you’re sayin’ «Okay, this guy is rambling on and hasn’t even brought up the light show yet»… sorry, we Irish tend to ramble. The «show» itself isn’t much of a show. It’s mainly every lighted Christmas yard light you’ve ever seen with a few really large ones spread for about a mile (they say it’s two miles long but I think that was counting your wait getting in. When you pay, the girl gave us a card to give to the ticket collector a little further on, a program and told us to tune to 91.5FM for their radio broadcast. Then a little further on, a old man chain smoking cigarettes takes the ticket from you, blowing nasty smoke in your car and onto your family. I am an ex-​smoker of 24 years and I gagged. From now on folks, put the smokers out directing the traffic, not where they’re stinking up peoples cars because although he was hiding/​holding the cigarette behind his back, it was still coming in our car. The radio reception was good and only faded out a couple times on the route and the music was decent holiday tunes but not synched like many other light shows we’ve been to. Overall, the show was cute but I doubt it will become a Family Tradition like they advertised. Will we go next year? I’d probably say «No» but it’s up for you to decide.

One of the best valued Christmas events in Tampa/​Brandon area. You pay per car and drive through some impressive light displays.
The production was large enough and impressive enough that a $ 20.00 for everyone in our car I found that it was deffinately worth the money.
They also had a small «christmas village» which was maybe 20 vendors selling a large variety of snacks and homemade toys. They also had a screen set up playing old christmas movies like Santa Claus is coming to town.
A pretty fun experience when you are looking for something to get you in the spirit of the holidays without breaking the bank.