They do work, there is just a little trick to it. With the cable reel: Place the xmas lights on the floor of the tent (not attached to the tent). Then pug in cable reel to lets say generator. With cable reel in hand go the the xmas light on the floor, look at them and you will get the option to attach them. Then character will drop the cable reel and you can now pick up the xmas lights and attach them to the tent. Now switch on the generator and the lights should come on. I have not tried this with a battery but it did work with the cable reel for me. Hope this helps