Initially constructed by an Arkansas businessman as a gift for his six-year-old daughter, the display became one of the most popular attractions during the park's holiday season.

[9] The business' success allowed him and his wife to eventually purchase a large estate in the middle of town in 1976.

Some of the more prominent features included: The lights were extremely popular in both in Arkansas and around the world, as news crews often visited to film the display.

Since their house was located on one of the busiest streets in Little Rock, it eventually caused severe traffic issues, and many complaints.

Six neighbors filed a lawsuit, saying traffic congestion made trips to the corner store take two hours, and they feared emergency vehicles could not get down the street.

This display remained up for several years, even as the strands of lights went out and the message was barely readable.

Osborne was intrigued by the offer, but initially understood that Disney wanted to put the display on another residential street in Orlando.

The lights were turned on at dusk each night, starting in mid-November and running into the first week of January, and required 800,000 watts of electricity.

For the 2006 edition, the park added over 1500 dimmer relay circuits and control switches to the display to enable the lights to dim on and off electronically.

In 2013, Siemens took over sponsorship, replacing Sylvania, the company's former subsidiary; the brand's owner Osram was spun off into its own company on July 5, 2013[13] In 2014, reserved viewing of the lights was offered for the first time as part of a "Frozen Holiday Premium Package" themed around the movie Frozen.

[16] The final songs the lights danced to were "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Mickey Mouse Club Alma Mater".