All the Holiday in the Park lights have been removed

[29yrswithaGApass]

I noticed something interesting at the park today - all the Holiday in the Park light strings have been removed including from all the buildings and trees.  For the first three seasons the bulbs on the buildings would be removed from the light strands and more recently the strands remained with the bulbs in the light strings.  This year all the lights are gone.

 

While ads have already been posted in the park for a 2021 HITP event, I don't think we need to worry about it not returning.  It just may look different this year.

 

 

[GAcoaster]

I wonder if they were having squirrel issues? Squirrels are notorious for chewing on Christmas light wires, and leaving them up for years at a time couldn't have been good for them either with the sun and heat and cold cycles deteriorating the coatings. 

[Medusa42]

The lights probably reached end of life and needed to be replaced.

 

Quote

A good quality Pro or Commercial Series LED Christmas light will hold up on a seasonal basis for 6 or 7 years if properly removed each year and stored during the offseason. If left up to a year-round basis LED light sets will last somewhere between 24 to 30 months. The information below summarizes the life expectancy for the most common three grades of LED Christmas lights.

 

LED Christmas Light Grade	Seasonal Basis	Year-Round Basis
Commercial Grade LED	6 to 7 Years	24 to 30 months
Pro Grade LED	6 to 7 Years	24 to 30 months
Retail Grade LED	2 to 3 Years	6 to 12 months

https://www.christmasdesigners.com/blog/how-long-do-led-christmas-lights-last/#:~:text=A good quality Pro or,between 24 to 30 months.

[29yrswithaGApass]

I think it could be a change in corporate policy.  I saw on a SFOT vlog that they also removed their strands.  

[The Master]

On 4/3/2021 at 12:32 PM, Medusa42 said:

The lights probably reached end of life and needed to be replaced.

 

https://www.christmasdesigners.com/blog/how-long-do-led-christmas-lights-last/#:~:text=A good quality Pro or,between 24 to 30 months.

 

I have had retail LED lights only last a couple of weeks, not even a whole Christmas season before failing. A big problem wilth LED holiday light strings is that the LEDs use steel contacts instead of copper contacts which corrode faster. 

[Daved Thomson]

On 4/3/2021 at 7:15 AM, GAcoaster said:

I wonder if they were having squirrel issues? Squirrels are notorious for chewing on Christmas light wires, and leaving them up for years at a time couldn't have been good for them either with the sun and heat and cold cycles deteriorating the coatings. 

You're not kidding about squirrel's and wires.  My father never puts his car in the garage and he lives in a fairly wooded area in Jersey.  He has twice now had to have the wiring under the hood of his car replaced due to squirrels chewing them apart.  Each time he brought the car to the dealer since the car was still under warranty, he was told that the wires had been chewed through by squirrels.  Obviously, squirrel chewing isn't covered under any auto manufacturer's warranty and it's not cheap to have all of your engine wiring replaced.

[The Master]

On 4/8/2021 at 10:55 PM, Daved Thomson said:

You're not kidding about squirrel's and wires.  My father never puts his car in the garage and he lives in a fairly wooded area in Jersey.  He has twice now had to have the wiring under the hood of his car replaced due to squirrels chewing them apart.  Each time he brought the car to the dealer since the car was still under warranty, he was told that the wires had been chewed through by squirrels.  Obviously, squirrel chewing isn't covered under any auto manufacturer's warranty and it's not cheap to have all of your engine wiring replaced.

 

Compounding the issue is that some manufacturers use wire insulation made from Soy which makes it quite tasty to rodents. Its real big problem with modern cars with their extensive computer controls that require complex wire harnesses.

[GAcoaster]

There's a famous story at Universal of a squirrel who chewed through the wires of the giant Christmas tree. As a tribute/joke they added a squirrel animatronic to the tree who pops out periodically:

 

This past year he became an even bigger celebrity with his own line of merchandise: