Magic Made and Lesson Learned – Disneyland Fireflies

Disneyland Fireflies (pirates of the caribbean)

Cost of project – less than $40.00 --Could be cheaper if you already have strippers (the wire kind) Project time - 2.5 hours --Could go faster if you already have strippers (the people kind---to help wire)

For some reason, I have decided to incorporate fireflies into my haunt.   Not scary, I know, but magical…especially for my smaller guests.  So I went to work Googling and found these:

http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Imagineering/Fireflies.html

The guy that designed these has an amazing story and if you get a chance, you need to read about him.

Anyway, I thought this was a great first-timers project.  It would have cost even less but I didn’t own a pair of wire strippers that would handle the tiny blue wire.  Most of the parts were available locally. He even gives the parts number for radio shack and that makes it super easy. If you go around looking for a 12 vdc transformer, you will get confused looks from all the teenagers working at Radio Shack... or Wal-mart...or anywhere else you go... I ordered mine off Fright Ideas...with some other parts, because i actually did not have a scrap one at the house.   The only problem with the tutorial is that there are no pictures, and I’m a visual person, so some of it was a little hard to picture until it started coming together.

He recommends using 8 feet of blue wire per bulb…but if you make 8 fireflies, you will need to buy two rolls of blue wire… so I only made 6. And it worked out to just enough.

Also, i just bought black posterboard because i didnt want to color that much.

It took me about 2 hours to wire all of this.  I have never wired ANYTHING in my life.  I kind of guessed that white had to stay with white etc… apparently that was correct.

So at midnight last night, we ventured into the backyard to test them… outside of the house in the event of fire due to my wiring.  Phil had the fire extinguisher in hand as he plugged in the power cord. It was a little sad that he didnt have much confidence in my abilities, but neither did i really.  It sparked.  But the lights came on!   It worked! All that wiring and it worked!  That’s when it hit me.. Instead of the 12 vdc power cord I had purchased, I had grabbed the wrong one..but what did this power cord go to?  OH NO!... it was the 5 vdc charger for my mini projector.  Now I have to rewire it with the 12 vdc and I ruined my projector charger.

Kids, the lesson here is keep all the parts for your projects together.  Since I have to order most of my parts and I am working on several projects at once (as the parts trickle in) it is easy to get confused as to what part goes where.  From now on, I am going to label boxes with the project name and when the parts come in, I’m going to drop them in the box. 

I still have to put them in my tree and add the fan.  I will try to add a video if it works.

I have included the instructions below for your convenience.  I plan on adding some pictures later.  I would say that even though I had a major fail with my power cord, this project is a success!  Now to figure out how to add fireflies to Halloween.

Parts List

• 12 volt transformer for up to eight fireflies
• Tiny hobby lamps (Radio Shack part: 12-v microlamps 272-1092), commonly called grain of rice light bulbs, the kind used in miniature work that have two wires extending from them.
• Insulated single core wire, the tinier the better (Radio Shack part: blue wrapping wire 278-503). Allow eight feet per firefly displayed
• Thin cardboard, 3" X 1.5" per firefly
• Black felt tip pen
• Black electrical tape
• Speaker wire of necessary length to reach
• 6' or taller ladder
• Electric fans, as many as needed to propel the fireflies

Building Instructions

Always keep bare wires apart from each other so the will not short and always unplug the transformer when connecting wires so you will not short the transformer.

1. Take the transformer and make sure that it is unplugged at both ends
2. If necessary, cut off plug end that would normally go to calculator, etc.
3. Remove 1/2" insulation from the two low voltage ends.
4. Repeat these instructions for each firefly you wish to display:
1. Take eight feet of the single core, tiny insulated wire and loop it in half tying a knot six inches from the two ends.
2. Tie knots every foot or so to keep the wires together until you reach the loop. Alternatively, you may tape the two wires together.
3. Cut the loop, making two wires four feet long and tied together.
4. Remove insulation 1/2" from the four wire ends.
5. Blacken the cardboard card on both sides with felt tip pen
6. Punch a hole in the center of card.
7. Place one bulb wire through hole in card so that there is a wire on each side.
8. Tape down the wire on each side with a small piece of electrical tape.
9. Connect the tiny insulated wire, that you tied together, to the bulb wire, one end per side, by twisting and cover all exposed wire with electrical tape. You can solder these for a stronger connection.
5. Repeat as you imagineer the right amount of fireflies for the scene you are creating:
1. Make sure the transformer is unplugged.
2. Determine the length from where the transformer will be plugged in to the firefly you are installing and cut the speaker wire accordingly.
3. Remove 1/2" insulation from each end.
4. Connect the transformer wires and the one end of the speaker wire together by twisting and covering with electrical tape.
5. Affix the speaker wire above the scene you are creating, using tape or thumbtack, taking care not to short the wires. You can attach to the ceiling, hang the wire from lamps, or tree branches.
6. Cut speaker wire where you decide to hang the firefly. Remove 1/2" insulation from both ends of the speaker wire.
7. Connect speaker wire and firefly wires together.
8. Use the electric tape around the first wire connection, and next around the other wire connection, ending with one black tape wrap and a descending firefly.
9. Turn on or plug in the transformer to see your lit firefly. If the firefly does not light, recheck the wire connections.
6. Sometimes, if an object is too near, they can "flashlight" onto the firefly, spoiling the effect. To adjust the intensity of the fireflies lower the voltage, if there is a switch, or to create a smaller light aperture with electrical tape being applied over a portion of the bulb or pain the bulb or a portion of the bulb.
7. Plug in small electric fan(s) and place them in as hidden an area as possible, point the fan(s) at the fireflies in order to get the right amount of movement.
8. If the air current of the fan is limited, a lighter material can also be used in place of the cardboard.
9. Wait until dark, or make it dark, and you have the best of Disneyland in your own backyard...