Christmas is on its way and local residents are putting final preparations on twinkling wonderlands thousands of families will drive through this holiday season.
Holiday sightseeing guides shepherd locals to Lakeland, Brandon and Tampa for elaborate light displays, but Plant City has several hidden gems that are worth a visit this season.
Much like the ghosts of Christmas that guided Ebenezer Scrooge, Plant City’s array is divided into three main sections: lights of Christmas past, lights of Christmas present and lights of Christmas yet to come.
The Masters family has spent the last three years creating an homage to Christmas in their front
yard. Located at 2329 Jim Johnson Road, the Masters Family Christmas Plant City display features more than 55,000 lights that are timed to three unique Christmas songs.
“This year we have two houses for the display,” Meagen Leiby, co-creator of the Masters Family Christmas, said. “We’re really close to our neighbors so this year they decided to join us. It’s easier for the cars now too because they can enter through our driveway and exit through his.”
The Masters family is known throughout Tampa Bay by light fanatics for the giant U.S. flag made out of lights on display at the front of their driveway by Jim Johnson Road. This year the family replaced the 8-foot flag with at 16-foot display, echoing the quick growth they’ve had recently.
Opening on Thanksgiving, Leiby said they have a constant stream of cars every single night until New Years Day. Co-creator Brian Masters spends two weeks arranging the lights in a fresh, new display and getting them to flash in time with his curated playlist. He said they have several thousand cars come through and he’ll often see cars still slowly strolling through early in the morning before the sun comes up.
The Masters Family Christmas is a stroll down memory lane. Timed to “Holiday Flight” and “Carol of the Bells” from “Home Alone” and Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Sarajevo” it’s a display unlike any other that will tug on your sense of nostalgia.
Open all night, the Masters Family Christmas Plant City Facebook page will have any updates on the display and includes sneak previews of the event.
The Christmas Trail, 2837 Frontage Road South is the perfect place to spend time connecting with family and getting the most out of every moment. Zach Glaros, co-owner of the trail, started making waves several years ago when his family created Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail.
Glaros said he always did elaborate displays at his parent's house for both Halloween and Christmas so it only made sense to expand the holiday offerings at the property to include a Christmas event.
Glaros has created a festive night of fun featuring well over 100,000 lights. For 10 select nights in December, families can experience the more than a quarter mile walking trail covered in picturesque lights. There is also a snowball corral for children, a letters to Santa station, face painting and a variety of arts and crafts.
Guests can also enjoy the Santa Claus Experience, which will take families through Santa’s workshop where they’ll meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and the Jack Frost Ice Show.
The event is free, but parking is $5. Included in the free admission is all of the above as well as the Christmas Tree Carolers, a Christmas movie on an outdoor screen and a 25-foot tall Christmas Tree made entirely of lights.
For an additional cost, you can add a game of laser tag to the package. You can also stop in Mrs. Claus' Bake Shop for hot chocolate, cookies, candy canes and other sweet treats. If you purchase marshmallows you can roast them over the two fire pits nearby. Families will often be found laughing over a pit as they point at the “falling snow” and create lifelong memories with the ones they hold dear.
“There’s so many memories just over the last few years that have really meant a lot to me,” Glaros said. “There’s a boy, he’s probably 8 or 9, and I think he has Autism. Anyway, his parents thought he wasn’t going to like it, that it would be too much going on. But he absolutely loved it. It was the first time in his entire life he’d ever wanted to take a picture with Santa. A lot of people are making this a tradition. Hearing these stories, it makes this worthwhile for us.”
The parking lot can only fit so many so guests who wish to attend need to register online for a ticket in advance. The ticket is free, but it will give them a time-slot to come check out the experience to prevent an overflow at the event. Visit www.thechristmastrail.com or The Christmas Trail Facebook page for more information.
One Plant City local is bringing state-of-the-art technology to his Christmas display. Lights of Winter, 3212 Bella Garden Lane, has been wowing locals for six years now.
Created by Nick Rogers, the display has more than two miles of extension cords and 40,000 lights timed to approximately a dozen songs. A second house is part of the festive activities as well.
Part of The Lights of Winter display may look vaguely familiar for attendees. The massive
experience includes lights from the famous Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, which were a staple at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for years. There are approximately a dozen hidden Mickeys throughout the show as well, which many viewers love to scavenge for. Many of those are made from the Osborne lights.
Disney runs through Rogers’ blood. The majority of the garlands used in the show are also from a variety of Disney hotels including the Contemporary and Polynesian as well as the Christmas shop in Magic Kingdom.
Rogers begins decorating in October and the display is open from Thanksgiving to New Years. The lights are controlled via electronics so if there is ever an issue he can control the lights with a tap of a button. He said his inspiration from came from the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights from Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT’s former Lights of Winter.
Using high-tech and innovative design Rogers is able to shepherd hundreds of cars seamlessly though the property. He started a Halloween light show this year as well and is planning to expand to other holidays as well.
“It’s a lot of fun, there’s a lot of lights and I just really love seeing all of the smiling faces whenever they come,” Rogers said. “We just love spreading the Christmas spirit. I work at Disney so I love making people smile and happy. Seeing other people see the lights and seeing the kids’ faces light up, it’s really really cool. There’s nothing really compared to that.”
His display is a mix of traditional lights and pixels, which adds a unique layer to the show.
Rogers said his favorite thing in the world is sitting in the living room with the lights on and gazing at the glow from a brightly lit Christmas tree. That feeling of warmth and joy is what he hopes all those who take in his display walk away with.
When you grab your hot chocolate and dash to your car to check out glittering artwork, stay local this season. Head to Walden Lake for neighborhoods full of lights. Stroll through Christmas Lane and check out the decades worth of decorations. Better yet, just put the car in drive and seek out a hidden gem.