Widmer World

12/29/2022

Widmer-World Status Update, IMPORTANT, 12 29/2022

With much soul searching I have decided to cancel the balance of our season.

We will be closed for the remainder of December 12/29, 12/30 and 12/31.

In our 22 year history we have never closed early but with the current weather forecast and the amount of moisture in our display now I feel this is necessary.

Most of our electronics and lighting can take the rain but our GFI components cannot. We cannot take the chance of going dark with guests in our display. The other main reason for our decision is the wet walkways and lastly our family standing in the weather greeting guests and snowing on them.

We lost considerable days due to wet weather but we in California can use every drop we can get.

We had a great season for the days we were open and thank our many guests that came by to see us. I guess now the only thing to do is start planning 2023.

Happy New Year from Bob Widmer and the entire Widmer/Eicher families.

12/27/2022

Widmer-World Update 12/27/2022

Today has had continuing showers causing our back areas to remain wet and un-safe for access.

Unless things dramatically improve we will REMAIN CLOSED TONIGHT 12/27. We will post other details if conditions improve.

We are always determining safety first in whether to operate our display. We love to show our display but love the water we need to help our drought conditions more.

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Last night 12/26 started with light rain but by 7:00 the rainfall
required us to close for safety in our back display areas due to wet walks
and electrical safety concerns. We full closed our display by 7:15.

12/14/2022

Widmer-World Update through Sunday 12/18/2022

Weather looks promising through the week-end so we will be running each night from 6-9 P.M. Hope to have all our fixes made to the display in next few days.

We look forward to seeing you here at Widmer-World for a fun stroll through our many displays
and to challenge you with the scavenger hunt.

12/13/2022

12/12/2022 Widmer-World Update

OPEN toniight with no rain in sight.
Couple of front decorations still
not up but everything looks like
it is running fine.

12/12/2022

12/11/2022 Widmer-World Update

CLOSED TONIGHT "SUNDAY"

We were working to repair damage from winds of Saturday, light poles
moved in their sleeves, trees pulled staking out of ground, a lot of decorations fell over and garland had a mind of its own.

Monday looks like a better day with only a 10% chance of rain. We would like to be able to run our display before our season is over. Need to remember we need the water!

12/10/2022

12/10/2022 Widmer-World Update

CLOSED TONIGHT

Wow, the forecast was for wind and rain and we certainly are getting both. Hope it is helping with the drought. This is the most we have closed in our 22 year run.

We did have some minor wind damage and the garland decided to redecorate as well.

Once the rain lets up we will start cleaning and
fixing up our outer displays waiting for better weather.

Thanks to all who visited last night as it was a perfect night for a stroll through Widmer-World.

12/10/2022

12/9/2022 Widmer-World Update

We are open and running tonight.

Feel really bad about believing yesterday's forecast and making the decision to close. Not a drop of rain at our place between 6 and 9. I am going back to the process of sticking my hand out to make the decision on open or close.

Hope to see you all at Widmer-World.

12/09/2022

December 8th 2022 Update

Although still dry now we are going to go with the latest weather forecast showing showers and rain by 7:00 PM and CLOSE for tonight.

We will be keeping the entire display dark. We always hate to do this as we so enjoy seeing old and new friends every day of the season.

With our large electrical layout and many walkways we need to always trend to the safe side of operating WW.

Friday looks to be a good day as cloudy but no rain.

12/07/2022

Widmer-World Status 12/6/2022

Fully open tonight but it is a chilly evening. Weather towards weekend may cause problems. We will post status as soon as we can assess weather conditions. You can find a PDF for the scavenger hunt pictures and names under the scavenger tab on the web page. We are working to make this easier to view but not there yet.

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12/05/2022

Widmer-World Status 12/5

Looks like the weather is going to allow us to open tonight. Little overcast, breezy and cool so bundle up and come enjoy a beginning to your Christmas fun at Widmer-World. Open 6-9 PM tonight.

12/04/2022

Widmer-World Status 12/4

Weather looks promising with only a few scattered showers predicted. We will be OPENING tonight from 6-9 PM, hope to see you here.

12/03/2022

Saturday December 3rd 2022, with the current wet conditions in our rear areas and forecast of heavy rain around 6 PM we have decided to remain dark tonight. We are sad to remain closed but safety is our primary objective in operating Widmer-World.

12/03/2022

Widmer-World will be open tonight from 6 to 9 PM. We are closely watching weather for Saturday and Sunday.

12/02/2022

Widmer-World Season Opening

Hoping we would have a better day on December 1st for our opening but we really need the rain so we will take what we can.

The back yard is a mess from the winds last night and this morning, mainly leaves everywhere and garland blown around.

Too much to clean and get ready for tonight so the back areas will be CLOSED tonight. We will have the front yard light show running.

11/05/2022

Widmer-World Fall Up-date November 2022

Only a few more weeks until our Christmas season begins.

We have been working on new attractions and prepping other fun scenes.

Craig has been working hard on our new layout for front yard with all upgraded trees to full spectrum RGB with new programming.

Kim, Kris and Susan have been actively working on our rear displays and they should look really great for this year. Micaela, Will and Keven have been great help in moving out our displays from storage and helping to decorate.

This week-end we will have our lift arriving and will be installing our large 27 foot tree and other high elevation items with our heavy lifting crew.

We plan to open on our normal date of December 1 and run through December 31 from 6PM until 9PM nightly

We welcome those visitors who prefer to wear a mask for your protection. We WILL NOT be requiring facemasks to enter Widmer-World.

As always Widmer-World is free to visit but we do accept donations to help keep the lights on.

Posted by Bob W

05/08/2022

Come join the fun Downtown today! We are celebrating summer with backyard games, family friendly activities and so much more! The and City of Pleasanton will have ballon bug bracelets, a live critter show and great info on summer programs. Come see us under the arch from Noon-4pm. ☀️

Thank you to our amazing sponsor ❤️

04/15/2022

Working on Christmas items. Currently working on this medium size sleigh. Replacing incandescent mini's with 375 LED's. This will reduce power by almost 6 times. 153 watts, 1.40 amps incandescent to 24 watts .2 amps LED. Used about 500 zip ties for securing lights and hoping these old hands will last to get all the other pieces I have scheduled to do. Starting deer next to pull one of the smaller sleighs.

12/30/2021

Widmer-World News
Posting at 3:30 PM 12/30/2021...

Looks like the weather is going to take a rain break and we will be running both Thursday and Friday to finish out our rain shortened season.

12/30/2021

Widmer-World News Posting at 5:30 12/29/2021...

With rain today and forecasted again tonight we will NOT BE OPEN to visitors to our display. Back yard areas are too wet for safe viewing.

We are truly sorry for all of the closures we have experienced this year but we need to think of the safety of our hosts and guests

Bob Widmer of Widmer-World

12/28/2021

It looks like good weather this evening will allow us to have our display open 6-9

12/27/2021

With rain today and forecasted again tonight we will NOT BE OPEN to visitors to our display. This is the first time in our 20 year run (excluding last year) we have been closed over Christmas. Our hosts and I thank all of you for your support and are hoping for a little dry weather to finish out our run. Lets at least hope some of those reservoirs are filling up.

12/25/2021

Posting at 3:44 PM 12/25/2021....

Well the rains have been great for our states drought condition but not as great for our display. We will NOT BE OPEN TONIGHT!

Hope you had a great Christmas Holiday from us a Widmer-World

12/24/2021

Widmer-World News - Posted at 2:20 PM 12/24/2021

We (Craig) have resolved our rear yard network issues and WILL BE OPEN TONIGHT. We are starting to see some high wind but if all goes well we will be running from 6:00 to 9:00 PM tonight.

Merry Christmas to all from Widmer-World

12/24/2021

We have had a network failure in our rear display and having trouble diagnosing the problem. We suspect moisture from the rains but uncertain at this time. We will not be open for the rest of the evening and unsure whether problems will be resolved before our show of the 24th. We will post as soon as we have a handle on the problem. I apologize to all that came tonight and were not able to access the display. We know everyone is in the spirit of Christmas and we are sorry we could not add some cheer. Bob Widmer of Widmer-World

12/18/2021

Widmer-World trivia - I was asked how big our display was and I responded it was about 3/4 of an acre. They asked what an acre was and after checking my old math book I calculated our 3/4 acre to be about 3630 sq. yards. In perspective if you walked front to back you would be covering 706 feet or 235 yards. Hope that helps energize you with your morning coffee.

Widmer-World will open tonight and Sunday with gusty winds and checking weather anxiously for next week.

12/14/2021

Widmer-World News

Tuesday December 14, 2021 Widmer-World will be open from 6:00 until 9:00 PM this evening.

The rain and winds have subsided and we are cleaning up to get ready for our show.

Widmer-World opened on December 1st and is beginning our run through December 31st. Rain and wind has caused us to close for a couple of days but hoping for weather to improve. Keep reviewing our web side or FB for our latest information on opening status.

Remember Covid is still with us so please wear a mask and perform safe practices while entering our rear display.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us at Widmer-World and we hope to see you all this season.

Bob, Sue, Craig, Kim, Kris & Micaela and Rochelle the family of Widmer-World

12/13/2021

Holiday lights 2021: 17 best and brightest Bay Area displays

Holiday lights 2021: 17 best and brightest Bay Area displays

Beloved holiday lights displays, canceled or scaled back last year due to COVID-19, are back for the 2021 season, more wonderfully over-the-top than ever.

12/13/2021

Widmer-World will be CLOSED tonight Monday 12/13 due to weather. We are not able to open our rear displays.

12/13/2021

Alert for Christmas show viewers. Widmer-World will be CLOSED TONIGHT due to weather. Too wet to open rear displays. Sorry to those planning a visit.

12/07/2021

Widmer-World News

Widmer-World opened on December 1st and is beginning our run through December 31st. We had a great first weekend, thanks to all our first time guests and old friends too. Hope to see YOU soon for a magical walk through of our display!

Remember Covid is still with us so please wear a mask and perform safe practices while entering our rear display.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us at Widmer-World and we hope to see you all this season.

Bob, Sue, Craig, Kim, Kris & Micaela and Rochelle the family of Widmer-World

12/07/2021

abc7news.com

Link to "ABC 7 News with J R Stone" on December 3rd at Widmer-World. (contains ad's)

"https://abc7news.com/video/embed/?pid=11296151"

11/30/2021

Widmer-World is opening for visitors December 1st. We will be doing a shake out of all our animation and lighting in our first days, but everything looks good now. Hope to see you soon for a magical walk through of our display! Remember covid is still with us so please practice safe practices while visiting.

Here is a couple of photos of your hosts with the neighborhood turkey in the big red chair.

07/17/2021

Sue and Kim have completed painting of Ferris Wheel characters, next to final assembly for one of our new displays

06/29/2021

Widmer-World News July 2021

We have survived a trying year with thanks to all of your diligence in getting vaccinated or following health guidelines. Hopefully you and your family are safe and healthy.

Widmer-World is looking forward to a great HOLIDAY SEASON for 2021. We are working on our display and created new scenes, lighting and added mobiles to our county fair.

We will keep the web-sites up to date as we approach the holidays.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us at Widmer-World and we hope to see you all this season.

Bob, Sue, Craig, Kim, Kris & Micaela, the family of Widmer-World

(Jill is off to college and Joe is a 1st Lt. in the U.S. Army after graduating Cal Davis)

We have added a few pictures of our new and reworked mobiles for our county fair. (the riders are still in the paint shop)

09/23/2020

Widmer-World News

It is with much regret that we have decided to cancel our Christmas show this year.

This would have been our 20th year of having our full yard decorated both front and back. We just don’t have the family staff to handle our large crowds and meet the corona virus mandates.

There will be no front yard light shows or back yard entry for 2020.

My wife Susan and I have continued to work on our rear displays with the hope that something would change but with Alameda County where it is today we just don’t feel in a position to open.

I wish all of you a happy holiday season and hope you and yours stay safe. We look forward to seeing all of our friends for a super 2021 production.

Bob Widmer
www.widmer-world.com

03/28/2020

We as a world society are experiencing challenging times and hope our many friends and visitors of Widmer-World are keeping safe and thinking about and helping others. With an effort from all of us we will get through this crisis. Please support our local health care workers, public servants and businesses during this difficult period.

Sincerely the creators of WW.

02/08/2020

Release of Widmer-World 2019 Video

01/03/2020

Widmer-World Update 1/3/2019
Our display will be open through January 5th this year. You still have a few days to enjoy our Christmas fantasy. Thanks to all the people that have made Widmer-World a successful 2019 season. Have a great new year and we hope to see you all again. Best wishes in 2020 from the Widmer and Eicher families.