I really wanted to add this building to our theme park and thanks to my mom giving this to me for Christmas, I can!

2194 pieces are waiting to be built, so lets do this!

Right out of the gate we get to build this fancy limo. Our guests will be riding in style in this one!

I love the base for this one. Notice the stars on the sidewalk, just like in Hollywood!

We begin with the lobby.

The walls are rising! Love the front doors and the lights on the walls inside.

Now we begin to build the second level which houses the theater itself. Yes, those seats recline!

Lego quiz. What can you make out of these pieces?

Answer: A projector!

And it looks great in the room.

Now the screen goes up. Two Lego people test out the equipment while we continue to build.

Here we are with the first and second floor built. Now all we need to do is put a roof and some outdoor décor on the building.

As this building was inspired by Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, the roof has to be special. And here is what we will use to build it.

This section was a lot of fun to build.

Pretty cool design I would say. It always amazes me how Lego designers can take aimless bricks and design things like this.

The roof is now in place.

Now we begin to build our marquee.

And yet another ingenious build from Lego. Using these white and light-blue bricks we begin to create a sign that says Palace.

Hmmmm.....well it was supposed to say Palace. Let's rebuild the bottom again.

That's better! Let's hoist it up and finish off the build.

And there she is in all her glory!

This is one of my favorite builds so far and I can't wait to start placing everything onto the model's base. Now it's back to cleaning the garage!



















It all begins so small. Just a tiny wheel that becomes a bigger wheel.....

And a bigger wheel.....

And bigger.....

Until you finally have something pretty darned big! Now things are getting exciting!

And here it is, attached to the supports and ready for the construction of the gondolas. This took a while!

Gondola construction underway!

And finally ready for the wheel. Now let's start putting them on!

It's exciting to see everything fitting right into place.

And here it is....ready for opening day! This is one of my favorite Lego sets and, at times, was quite the challenge to build. I dropped and broke the wheel a few times and ended up caving in the models foot plate and had to remove the wheel and rebuild the base. But the process really was fun. And with the motor hooked up to it, it's fun to watch it operate! 









The Big Wheel !

 

This is the piece we wanted the most! The Lego Creator series Ferris Wheel. We were so excited to build this. So let's do it!

 

 

This is what 2464 bagged pieces looks like. Lots of fun right around the corner for sure!

 

 

 

Completing the main base gives us a hint at just how big this project is going to be.

 

 

 

Here's a mysterious little build. This is the first "mechanical" piece you will put together. Wonder what it's for?

 

 

 

Actually, it becomes part of this little apparatus. After some twisting and turning and a bit of finesse, we finally got it to fit in. Once finished, it will help to raise and lower the floor, allowing little Lego folks to get in and out of the buckets.

 

 

Here we begin to see the operator's control room take shape.

 

 

For the most part, the base is ready to go. Complete with the finished control room, guard railings and even an ice cream stand. Things are beginning to look great. Next up, we start the actual wheel itself.

New Signage

 

Now that we have selected a theme, all we need is a name for our new theme park. As you know, we had already given it a name and even a logo, "Mystic Mountain." But now with the change to Lego, we are working on a new name.

 

Once we have it, this retired piece, bought for us by my wife Susan, will not only be a perfect way to announce the coming park, but by switching artwork inside the "picture frame", it can also be used for new ride construction areas and holidays! Awesome!

 

 

Susan also bought us this expired piece which is actually a name plate and business card holder. But put them together and they also can be used as an interchangeable sign! Cool stuff. Thanks Susan!



It Had To Be Fate !!!!!!

There it sits. A quiet little building in Kent, Washington that used to house a store for furnaces or something like that. Never really took notice. But then one day it seemed to turn into a thrift shop. And then, a bit later a sign that said "We Buy Lego" appeared. And not long after that we noticed a Lego sign in the window. Just what was this mysterious place?

It took us a long time to get curious enough to check it out. Driving around back to their parking lot we found ourselves in a little gathering of houses, making it seem even more strange. But there was no turning back now.

We stepped up onto a porch filled with empty crates, some tables and chairs. Putting my hand on the door I had no idea what to expect when I opened it.

 



Welcome to Lego heaven!!!! This place is just amazing. Wall to wall Lego, some in the box, some already built, and some in big bunches to choose from.

 

Not only is this place great for finding discontinued Lego sets, but we found new sets as well. It was like a Lego museum, store and hobby shop all tied into one.

 

 

Lego isn't just for building Temples and theme parks. Believe it or not, these murals are all made from Lego brick. Pretty amazing. And take a look at the mini-figures. They are all over the store!

 

 

Another thing we love about this store is the staff. Super friendly and ready to help. They are there because they love the hobby and it shows. I've had many great conversations with them already and have gotten some super ideas.

 

 

This store is one of those little treasures that you find while on a long out-of-state road trip. You know the kind, you walk in and find yourself saying "why don't we have one of these shops where we live?"

 

Lucky for us, it is practically in our backyard!

 

 

Next time you are in the Kent, Washington area come check them out at 12135 Kent-Kangley Rd, Kent, WA 98030. Or give them a call at the number above. You can also get more information (such as their Facebook info) by going to www.bricksandwheels.com. We love this place!









It's a Family Affair

This summer, my mom was visiting from my home state of California and so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get her, my wife, my daughter and myself into building mode. We all went down and got a Lego set that could work in the park and off to work we went.

 

Mom was a bit reluctant at first, not being a Lego builder, but she did great and she is now a Lego fan!

 

 

She choose to build us a news crew! Gotta have a news crew to cover the opening of the park and all the fun to come in the future. Thanks mom!

 

 

My daughter, Autumn, chose to build a rock stage from the Friends series. Autumn is a great Lego builder and has created some pretty cool stuff.......without instructions! A future Master Builder!

 

 

The stage turned out amazing and got me to dreaming about the fun we are going to have with lighting all of this up. I love that part.

 

 

Autumn also built this magician act. Little known fact about Autumn and I.......we are building a real life magic act and will begin performing in 2016! For me, it will be a return to magic, but for Autumn, it's a fresh start. She's already doing great! So we had to throw in a magic show.

 



 

My wife, Susan, had fun building an audio studio. This can be used as a section of our stage or could even be used as a Karaoke booth.

 

 





Lots of cool possibilities with this scene.

 

I like the spooky side of life, so I choose to build a section of our spooky side of the park with the Ghost Busters car and team. This is a pretty cool set and will be perfect in our park!

 

So next time you decide to build some Legos, get something for everyone to build. It's a good time!