The best dancing Christmas lights ever

... are found on the Streets of America at Disney World's Hollywood Studios. Now you know.

What started as a single family's Christmas light display in Arkansas has been turned into Disney's Christmas lights show to end all Christmas lights shows -- the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. Everything along the Streets of America is literally blanketed in bright, glittering Christmas lights, which twinkle along to a new holiday song every ten minutes and are complimented by fake snow flurries on occasion. We stayed and watched the lights dance for no less than an hour. Christmas light perfection, I tell you.

A video of the lights dancing can be seen here,  but it really does it no justice. It's incredible in person.

Pictures this cute bear repeating.

I loved that they had a nativity, too.

If only we'd gone when Nicole and the Darowskis were with us, we would have had a rather impressive Christmas card picture.

Hollywood Studios

After Animal Kingdom, we hurried over to Hollywood Studios to make sure we covered all four parks before Nicole left the next morning to spend Thanksgiving with Jordan. The entrance to Hollywood Studios looks almost exactly like the new California Adventure entrance, and the park itself mimics the real Hollywood area here in California. 

Except for the giant magic Mickey hat, of course. That's not anywhere in California.

We rode Tower of Terror a few times and then raced over to catch Fantasmic in the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater.

The next morning, we headed back to Hollywood Studios to catch a few things we'd missed -- most importantly, Star Tours and the Jedi Training Academy for my baby brothers. 

Using the force to open the doors on Star Tours.

They took their Jedi Training very seriously and successfully defeated Darth Vadar. It was a definite highlight.

We wandered around fake Hollywood a bit more, touring the Hollywood backlot, checking out real movie props, and stepping into classic movies in the Great Movie Ride.

Jakey made good use of his stroller time and caught up on sleep. Then, since it was Thanksgiving and all, we grabbed a few turkey legs for lunch in between stunt shows.

After few more rounds on Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster plus a photo-op with a green Army man from Toy Story, we were ready for our afternoon break.

A couple hours later, we were back for the most impressive Christmas lights display ever.
Just wait 'till you see it!

Animal Kingdom

I had assumed that Animal Kingdom was a bit of a glorified zoo and therefore thought it would be just a nice little add-on to the trip. Instead, it was one of our favorite parts! It's what every zoo should be, plus great theming, awesome rides, and cute shows. Leave it to Disney.

The Tree of Life is the literal centerpiece of Animal Kingdom. It has more than 300 different animals carved into the trunk and is the most impressive artificial tree I've ever met.

Our first stop was the Kilimanjaro Safari, which takes you through a wildlife preserve in an open-sided truck and provides all sorts of exotic animal sightings. It was neat to see so many different animals in their "natural" habitat. Fun for all ages, I tell you.

This giraffe was my favorite. Probably because its pose reminded me of the giraffe on Madagascar, and anything that prompts Madagascar quotes earns top points in my book.

We saw a few big cats -- a cheetah that slowly stalked toward the safari truck and a lioness who napped on her rock.

The sight of crocodiles always creeps me out. And although hippos look friendly, they're deadly, too. So just don't go swimming in Africa, okay? 

And you should probably stay away from the horned animals, too.

Spotting a family of elephants is always exciting. Baby elephants are adorable. Okay, baby anythings are adorable.

Just ask Jake.

Flamingos are cute, too.

After the safari, we left Africa and headed toward Asia. Not before jamming out on the African drums, though.

The Himalayas are always lovely this time of year. Oh, and the Expedition Everest ride is a keeper. And so are the monkeys. And the tigers. And the Kali River Rapids. Okay, so we liked Asia.

Jakey made sure to get his naps in wherever he could get comfortable.

Dinoland was our next stop. We all loved Dinosaur, which is a better version of an Indiana Jones-type ride. In fact, we loved it so much that I spent $20 on a picture that I look ridiculous in (my teenage self would be mortified). But it's one of my favorite ride photos of all time. Check out that front row! Don't they look so perfectly terrified of the giant tyrannosaurus rex that's about to eat them? And isn't it weird that Nicole is sitting all alone in the back corner? That's the best part of the picture. Because she's not. That Joshie, he knows just what to do when being chased by dinosaurs! And if you look closely, you can catch a glimpse of the orange Joshie ball curled up between Matt and Nicole.

Then we had some time to kill before our next show, so my brothers dug for dino bones, I cuddled Jakey, and then Matt took a burp cloth and turned Jakey into Super Baby. Dads are fun like that.

Finding Nemo: The Musical was the final item on our agenda. It's the top-rated theme park show in America (tough competition, I'm sure), and it didn't disappoint. Very cute. And very worth jumping over concrete walls to sneak into after they cut off the line. My brothers may or may not know this from experience.

And then we couldn't leave without taking a picture with the giant Christmas tree. Everyone should have one of these.