I took a few photos, none of which do any sort of justice to how incredibly fantastic this light fantasy actually is.
My tour assistant took video of the drive by of the actual Fantasy of Lights, which does give one a good idea of how spectacular this Holiday extravaganza is, and what a HUGE crowd of light fantasy viewers show up for the show. You can view that video, eventually, below.
Above we are driving by one of the four long Polar Express trams carrying light seekers from Fantasy of Lights central, on the MSU campus, riding through the area I refer to as the Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls.
The Polar Express trams were running at full capacity. All four of them. The above photo shows only the last two cars of one of the long trams. I would estimate there were at least 200 people aboard. When my tour group passed the area where one gets a ticket to ride the Polar Express we saw a line of at least another couple hundred waiting their turn.
Last night I also saw a large group of bikers, lit up, and rolling through the light fantasy. That looked fun. I also saw one of the horse drawn carriages clip clopping along soon after I saw the throng of bikers.
Below are the best I came up with, photo-wise of the lights in the Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls.
The streets of the Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls are lined with big trees. And the streets have sidewalks. Which last night hosted a lot of walkers. The tree trunks are wired with light, but that is not what we are looking at above. Above is one home's light fantasy.
The above is showing only a small part of this HUGE installation of lights and animations. This display is in front of one of the mansions on Hamilton Boulevard, across the boulevard from Hamilton Park. The mansion next to this one had the most impressive display of light animation seen last night.
My favorite of the Beverly Hills of Wichita Falls mansions is the one with the bright trees you see above. I wondered what this house would do for lighting. And last night I had my answer. The ultra modern style house was dark, surrounded by trees covered with so much lighting it sort of looked like giant illuminated caterpillar infestation tents.
Below is the aforementioned video drive by of the MSU Fantasy of Lights, followed by more commentary.
Prior to experiencing what Wichita Falls does Holiday Season lighting-wise, the most impressive such thing my eyes had ever witnessed was Interlochen in Arlington. Drivers drive from all over the D/FW Metroplex to join the slow traffic jam that drives through Interlochen.
I do not know why Arlington and Interlochen have not thought of the Wichita Falls tram type solution to that annual traffic jam mess which make the Interlochen experience a bit unpleasant.
The Wichita Falls Holiday Season lighting operation is a lot more coordinated effort than the Arlington Interlochen effort. Just the way all the trees along the streets are all lit up with matching lighting is one example.
It is not Interlochen's fault that the roads in that neighborhood sort of constrict easy traffic flow, with only two ways in and out.
One of the many positive attributes of the HUGE Wichita Falls lit up area is the multiple streets with multiple in and out points, thus making for zero traffic flow woes. That and those four long trams helps. Plus Wichita Falls having that sprawling Fantasy of Lights installation at the heart of it all, with lots of easy parking, so people can choose to get out and walk among the lights, or take the stay in your vehicle Santa drive-by option.
Bottom line, good job Wichita Falls. This town does so many things quite excellently. Which is sort of significant, because I ain't all that easy to impress...
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