The "new" tree is basically a remodel of the old one. It was indeed originally going to be 7 stories, but budget restraints caused that change to be abandoned. The basic frame is the same, but all the greenery and all the lights are the new LED style, the star is outfitted with them also. To give you an idea of the increase in scope, the old tree operated with about 60 dimmers (the means of powering individual sections of lights), whereas this year there will be over 500 in the tree alone, with the peripheral lighting bringing the total to over 1500 dimmers. A new control system will facilitate the programming and running of the shows.
As you might be able to see from the picture with the red and green, the lights are divided into many more sections, making it much more versatile with programming. There are eight "sides" to the tree (same as before), but now each side is divided into 27 sections (9 layers, 3 sections/layer). The same 5 colors, red, blue, green, yellow, and white are used, along with more strobes, but the rows of candles, sadly, have been dropped. It will indeed be decorated as usual. When you see the tree lit up with different colors in adjoining sections, the vividness of the LED lights creates a very interesting depth perception illusion, for instance, with the white and the blue seen side by side, it appears that the blue are set into the tree compared to the white. It does not appear "flat" at all. I think it will be very cool to watch in operation.
It is my understanding, being reasonably close to the source, that there will be new songs employed, keeping only "The Carol of the Bells." I believe that one will be "Joy To The World," but I'm not sure about the others.
All in all, I think guests will be very pleased with the new look.
