Light Up Middletown — Local services in Middletown

Winding around the weird street layout in western Middletown which is along a river, canal and lots of train tracks, the Ohio TuesDayTrips gang finally came to the LIGHT UP MIDDLETOWN entrance. This is a drive-thru light display asking for a fiver for the donation box.

There were some similar displays to other drive throughs we have been to. However, there were some very unique ones such as a sea serpent and Santa bouncing across the water on a jet ski in the lake we circled. Santa’s Workshop was very large and impressive as was his heading skyward behind the reindeer. A very pretty Nativity was on display about midway. We gawked and took pictures of these for several minutes.

They also had a high-diving penguin and a very fancy Twelve Days of Christmas display. Oh my goodness, all of us old folks had issues remembering what all the different days were! One of us finally Googled it and found some post that was totally incorrect. Probably written by a toddler or at least someone who does not really speak English. Eventually, we got it figured out and were able to continue the journey.

The display was worth our coming and we recommend it, but we probably won’t return except with the...

We went on a Monday the week before Christmas, and arrived at 5:40 p.m. There were maybe 20 cars ahead of us in line. Gates opened at 6, and we got right through. Like others have noted, it took us about 15 minutes to ride through, but you could stretch it out. There is plenty of room in spots to get out of the line of cars. Also, we saw people going straight back through to drive through again when they reached the end.

This is a wonderful gift offered for free (donations welcome). It is set to music, and we enjoyed it as much or more than one we paid to get into last year. We went early in the week and early in the evening on purpose, to try to avoid any long waits... seems to have worked out, as we only waited 20 minutes for the gates to open and went right through.

Since we drove 40 minutes to get there, and it didn’t take long to wait and get through Light Up Middletown, we paired this outing with Christmas at the Hormanns (6656 Devon Drive) before we headed back home. It is about 20 minutes away, and a lovely, fun and entertaining family home display well worth the drive. Both made for a wonderful...

We drove 2 hours roundtrip to take our 3 month old to this attraction since we had heard they were some of the best lights around. She has a heart defect and it's been very hard for us as she is our first child. We wanted to do something fun as a family. While we were there, a driver waved us to go around them. When we moved to go around they sped up and tried to hit the driver front side of our car. With the speeds so low, I was in the passenger front with my 3 month old unbuckled in my lap so she could see the lights better. The male driver then got out and walked paced with our car shouting obscenities and banging on the windows. It was extremely terrifying and ruined our first family outing together. I know this attraction is put on by volunteers for the community, but with the police station so close, my recommendation is to have volunteer officers patrol the area so everyone can have a safe and fun time. The overall attraction was beautiful though. And to the man who terrified my family and made my child cry: I hope you have the Christmas...