Special Offers

Posts Tagged ‘christmas lights’

Kansas City Christmas Light Displays – 2009

Posted November 27, 2009 11:06pm by Kiran

Kansas City is chock-full of fantastic lighting ceremonies and light displays.  Many of the big ceremonies took place earlier this week, but there are still some good ones to take in! In addition to the larger ceremonies, you might want to load up the family in the car and head to one of the popular neighborhood displays in and around town.  There’s nothing like a little Christmas music on the radio as you look at lights with your family!  If we missed your favorite, shoot it our way and we’ll add it to the list.  Enjoy!

Christmas Card Lane (through Jan. 1, 2010) north of 151st around Ridgeview and Frontier (Mission Ridge subdivision) in Olathe, KS.

Christmas in the Park (through Dec. 31, 2009.   Sun-Thur 5:30-10pm, Fri-Sat 5:30-11pm) at Longview Lake Campground on Raytown Rd. in Lee’s Summit, MO.  Over 300,000 lights!!!

Northern Lights at Zona Rosa (runs throughout the season) at I-29 & Barry Rd. in Kansas City (816-587-8180).  Zona Rosa also has the lighted crowns, the Fairy Princess and new this year–the Ice Igloo!

The Legends at Village West (runs through Jan. 5) and features a light show, synchronized to concert-quality holiday music.  Runs every 15 minutes, from 5-10pm.  Also- Check out the new “Santa Experience” next to the Nike Factory.  Located at I-70 and I-435 in Kansas.

Downtown Overland Park, Briarcliff Village (KCMO), Old Town Lenexa, Brookside and Downtown Lee’s Summit have light displays.

The Mayor’s Christmas Tree at Crown Center – at 100 feet tall, it’s one of the nation’s largest!

“Christmas Place” in the Terrace Place subdivision, 132nd and Antioch, south Overland Park, KS.

75th Street and Falmouth, Prairie Village, KS.  This is a completely over-the-top decorated home!!  You must see this house!

Last year, a reader alerted us to a display in Blue Springs, MO–called the “Chicago Street Lights” at Hwy 7 and Aldis.  It featured traditional lights and the story of Christmas, and the whole neighborhood participated. Does anyone know if this is still going on??

Paulie’s Penguin Playground–Olathe, KS at Indian Creek Parkway and Mur-Len.  This is a sight to see–more blow-up decorations than you ever knew existed!

Last year, another reader, Keith, joined in on the whole “lights” discussion and pointed us to his own online guide to Johnson County, KS holiday light displays.  This is an incredible resource and so well done–nice work, Keith! He has even included photographs so you can see the various displays before venturing out.  (Although in my family, driving around aimlessly seems to be half the fun!!!)


  • Share/Bookmark

It’s that time of year when Kansas City lights up the night sky with millions of Christmas lights! Obviously, the granddaddy of them all is the Plaza Lighting Ceremony. Sponsored by KCPL, this year (2008) marks the 79th year for the annual tradition. The switch will be “flipped” on at 6:30pm on Thanksgiving night (Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008) by none other than David Cook, American Idol winner and Blue Springs, MO native! The show, which runs from 6-7pm, features several local music acts and fireworks immediately following the flip of the switch.

Did you know that the Plaza lights started with a single string over a doorway in 1925? If you haven’t yet taken your kids to enjoy this Kansas City tradition…this might be a great year to start! For those who like to watch things from the comfort of their own homes…you can tune in to the lighting ceremony live on KCTV Channel 5.

Other 2008 lighting ceremonies around the Kansas City metro include:

Other light displays not to miss:

  • Christmas in the Park, Longview Park, Kansas City, MO – November 26 thru December 31 – over 300,00 lights and almost 200 animated figurines make this Christmas light display an event not to miss!
  • “Christmas Place” in the Terrace Place subdivision, 131st Place and Antioch, Overland Park
  • “Christmas Card Lane” in Olathe, KS, north of 151st St. and west of Ridgeview (Ridgeview and Frontier)
  • Not sure if this one’s still going on…but I remember Mom and Dad driving us every year to a fantastically decorated, completely over-the-top house in Prairie Village, KS. It was located off of 75th Street and Falmouth, just east of Mission Road. You could peer into the attached garage-turned-Santa’s Workshop and also see hundreds of glass ornaments suspended from the ceilings of every room in the house. Readers, who remembers this? Is it still lit up?
  • Another cool place to drive by is located off of 63rd Street, west of State Line Road. This is more of a modern light display–long lines of white lights, zig-zagging from treetop to ground and back up to rooftop.
  • I recently drove by Vince & Associates, at 102nd and Metcalf in Overland Park. I can’t say that I’ve seen this display “turned on” yet, but it looks like it’s going to be bright. There’s not an inch of landscaping that hasn’t been covered by a light. Or lighted penguin, Santa or snowflake. Should be interesting!

If you know of another “don’t miss” neighborhood light display – please share it in the comments below!


Try Angie's List!


  • Share/Bookmark