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Creating a LEGO Amusement Park – Part 1

by on October 13, 2021
in Community Articles

(Written by Mark H. Avery)

Maybe I’ve been watching way too many LEGO City YouTube videos lately. It’s become a bad habit. Apparently, an awful lot of city builders/collectors have amusement parks or fairgrounds of some type. I’ve been planning one in my city for a while as well, and I thought it was time to get it built.

With theBrickBlogger administrator’s indulgence, my occasional posts here have become somewhat of my own non-YouTube channel. I won’t knock videos, but there’s much to be said for the printed word. (I might offer my own critiques of YouTube videos in a future post).

WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING

As everyone knows, in the last few years, LEGO has come out with several large amusement park/fairgrounds sets. And any discussion of building my own amusement park has to start with at least a brief discussion of those sets.

  • I think the #10247 LEGO Creator Ferris Wheel is great. The merry-go-round #10196 LEGO Creator Grand Carousel, and #10244 LEGO Creator Fairground Mixer are almost as great. What can I say about the #10261 LEGO Creator Roller Coaster? Just that it’s probably the most spectacular “city” set of all time. (I know it’s technically not a LEGO City set).
  • The #10273 LEGO Creator Haunted House goes in the same league. But much of the charm (and the ride) is inside. If the house is part of an Amusement Park layout, how do you open it to use the “drop”?
  • The sets are all impressive, and when LEGO fans add electric motors, they are even more spectacular. But…
  • All these sets are, in my book, super-expensive. Yes, I’ve watched or read about price per piece. It doesn’t change the facts about my situation. Shelling out $300 or even $150 at one shot is too much for me, and – I assume – others on a budget. I do admit to having spent over $1,000 on BrickLink in the last two and a half years. Certainly, all was not for my park (I’ve been stockpiling windows), but between coasters, tracks, and minifigures, much of it was.
  • I read/watch other city builders who preach MOCs (My-Own-Creations) all the time. But many use the LEGO Fairgrounds sets off the shelf. To me, that’s a contradiction.
  • There are also those who preach only real genuine LEGO but make exceptions when it comes to their amusement parks. Before LEGO introduced its own Roller Coaster, several AFOLs used coasters by companies like Coaster Dynamix.
  • I like small sets, and I don’t have the patience to build some of those larger intricate sets. (Maybe I’m not old enough yet.) I also don’t have the tablespace. The footprint of the coaster and some of the other sets are expansive.

If one is building just a LEGO amusement park or fairgrounds, then the bigger the better. But if the park is connected to a city there probably needs to be some proportionality between the two, or at least a storyline. For example, maybe there need to be one or two large hotels in or near the amusement park. Or perhaps there should be an explanation of where all the guests park their cars. (Maybe there needs to be a shuttle bus, taking visitors back and forth to what a model railroader would call “staging” or the rest of the not-built world.) Any good-sized amusement park certainly needs restaurants and even bathrooms.

SIZE AND LOCATION

Now for the amusement park, I have finally built. I think I’ve planned this project longer and in more detail than anything else I’ve ever built out of LEGO. I’ve made lists and drawn crude sketches, but it still changes as I continue to work at it, come up with new ideas and move things around.

As always, the question for me and many others is where to put it all. My town, Legoland bills itself as the leisure time capital of the region. It already boasts a race track, hockey arena, and zoo, in addition to a movie theater, beach, a rooftop swimming pool, and a marina. In terms of my storyline, a small amusement park/fairgrounds/ kiddie park seems like the perfect addition, both for residents and visitors.

How big could I make this park? Certainly nowhere near some of the big LEGO layouts I have seen. I found two narrow folding tables, each roughly 50×18 inches. Putting them together and allowing for overlap, gives me an area of 5×4 (10-inch square) baseplates. Then I thought of putting a large flat piece of strong cardboard between the tables. That stretched out my park to 7×5 plates – or a 35 plate rectangle. As I was moving things around and deciding where they went, I decided that another two thick cardboards could stick out on each back corner by 2×1 baseplates. That would give me a nice entrance off the corner. It also makes it easier to keep my entire oval train track inside the park. No real place to put this setup – but I can temporarily set it up in a spare bedroom.

But then, I had a brainstorming session. There are a couple of boxes of storage (unopened LEGO sets if you must know) in the corner of that spare bedroom. If I push the boxes against my tables that would give me an additional area of 2.5×3.5 baseplates. I could potentially build my western frontier section there and spread out both the western area and everything else. Then, I added a three-baseplate strip in still another corner. So we are discussing a park of about 50 baseplates.

I thought I had many extra baseplates – but even the original 35 plates seem a lot. I started looking in my stockpile – found many old road plates of different generations, but not that many baseplates – certainly not close to 35. I also have two 15×15 grey baseplates. Together, that’s equivalent to four and a half 10×10 baseplates. Even on sale, LEGO baseplates seemed expensive. I finally purchased a pack of nine off-brand green baseplates and a pack each of six off-brand blue and beige baseplates on Amazon. Time will tell how good they are.

The biggest criticism of my town layout is that there’s too much there, too many buildings pushed together in a rather small area (about 300 square feet.) I think that I’m already at that point of squeezing in my amusement park.

MY EARLY RIDES

Several years ago, I purchased and built the #41130 LEGO Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster – a $100 set that I probably bought for twenty percent off. But I really had no place to put it in my town so it eventually got broken into several parts for storage. The set came with a drop tower and a small Ferris Wheel as well, so it was really three separate rides. It also has a ticket stand, food cart, and other small builds needed for a proper amusement park. The LEGO Friends colors are always an issue to a townie like me, but in an amusement park, I think the colors are great. That set got me in the groove to create my own park.

Looking at a picture of the #41133 LEGO Friends Amusement Park Bumper Cars from that same era, I decided that it was a fairly easy build from my existing parts collection. So I built that and put it aside as well. (Unfortunately, now I can’t find it. It’s somewhere in my storage closet, probably in a box-top tray.)

As I did my regular LEGO browsing and shopping over the last few years, I started to have park planning on my agenda. For example, about two years ago (2019) I was shopping at a small local toy store that was somewhat overpriced, but also has some older inventory. I was bored and in a spending mood. I purchased some baseplates and a tiny set (#10401 Rainbow Fun) which was the smallest of a short-lived series of general building sets collectively named LEGO Classic Building Bigger Thinking. Among other things, it has parts and instructions for a tiny airplane that I decided to build. When I was done, I thought it was very cute, but certainly not appropriate for my airport. But then I got inspired.

Using spare parts, I stretched out the plane a little and added a chair and joystick for a minifigure. I thought it would make a great little kid’s ride for an amusement park. There were enough pieces in the set to put together much of a second plane. Then I went back to the store and purchased a second little set. Back to my workbench and spare parts hoards and I soon had four planes; two red and two blue. Add an old turntable piece with some round 4×4 bricks and I had a ride circling a few “feet” off the ground. I added a fifth plane, in yellow, on the ground in front as a model/climbing exercise.

MORE RECENT RIDES

More recently, I purchased the #10771 LEGO Toy Story Carnival Thrill Coaster with purple tracks. It’s an age 4+ set, but that certainly won’t stop me from using it. It makes a nice kiddy coaster. (At least one innovative YouTuber, Dr. McBrick, built two in his park, one for small kids, and one with extra track and a raised portion for older kids. If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.) So I bought a second one and more than a couple of extra pieces of track on BrickLink. (Boy, is that track expensive!) I built the raised coaster to circle over half of my park with a couple of up and down bumps along the way and two sets of five cars each. Later, I purchased still more additional curved, straight, and ramp tracks and built a third coaster across the back of my park. This one is not a loop, so riders take it from one corner of the park to another. The #75934 LEGO Dilophosaurus on the Loose set has a flying machine that I turned into still another ride for four.

While looking for things in my storage closet, I found five little three-wheel cycles that LEGO was big on years ago. I raided my town for a few more. A baseplate and a half, heavy fencing, and several monster tires to lay out the course and I have another attraction. Helmets required!

Someone showed a LEGO rotating chair swing on YouTube. I thought it looked cute and took up a rather small footprint. I made my own with whatever parts I had. The big fairgrounds sets came with small buildings, items such as a ticket booth, a water dunk, a “ring the bell” and refreshment carts. I made my own makeshift versions. I picked up the cute #43173 LEGO Friends Royal Carriage. I’m not sure whether it’s a car or wagon, but it’s driving around my park.

Building big flat circles in LEGO is difficult for me. But I took four tan rounded corner plates and 2×6 plates and created a platform on a turnstile. I added 16 brown chairs (some elevated a step), and a central pole holding up a canopy with yellow rays (1×6 plates) coming out of it, topped by a yellow cone. I call it my sun-go-round. It’s a nice quiet ride for parents and grandparents who need to sit for a while!

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

I was browsing the Online LEGO Shop one day back when and came across the small #40264 LEGO Friends Build My Heartlake City Accessory Set at a deep discount. I’m not into LEGO Friends as much, but I figured at that price I’d buy two. It makes a lot of little outdoor accessories. One is a rather large swan, which I built. I found it cute, but then I realized I could put a seat on its back and I have another children’s ride! Most of the needed pieces match up with my parts collection, so I built several more. Exactly how to build a round water tub for the swans I’m not quite sure yet. (1×3 bricks with 1×1 round bricks in between seems to be the most used concept. A ton of translucent light-blue tiles would also be appropriate, but expensive.)

This same accessory set also includes a cute ping pong table with paddles. Except for the paddles, the pieces for a few more tables are easy to come by. Possibly, another addition to my amusement park. Otherwise, one day when I get around to my playground…

A couple of rabbits are another part of the same accessory pack. They are perfect for a small pen either in the amusement park or, more likely, my existing zoo. The BBQ and juice stations – there are lots of places where I am putting multiples copies of these.

The little stage with a microphone and speakers. Again lots of choices, but the hot-pink platform might need to be replaced with a black or grey half-round plate. I’ll draft some minifigures to be singers. A couple of guitars, horns, and microphones from BrickLink helps the scene, as does a small drum set I constructed. The bench – I don’t like the color, I just need to find a plate in a different color. I already have a large gazebo bandstand, built years ago. That also has a place in my park, as does the #3932 LEGO Friends Andrea’s Stage – obviously without Andrea – and in a different corner.

I found videos of several LEGO mini-golf courses, most in action videos, which I find silly, so I decided to build one. I built a nine-hole course spread over one and a half baseplates. There’s a little service shed in the front corner. Maybe eventually I’ll spread it over two baseplates – make some of the putts a little bigger, maybe add a few picnic benches. By coincidence, a real kiddy park a few miles from my home includes a miniature golf course.

I also bought the #41332 LEGO Friends Emma’s Art Stand. I have seen a YouTuber place one in his park, pointing out that amusement parks often have art stands where patrons can have drawings of themselves made. I built another similar van in whatever odd colors I had lying around. That one will sell either food or souvenirs.

SOME BUILDINGS

The #40346 LEGOLAND Park exclusive set has a viewing tower in its center. I purchased twelve ¼ round cylinders on BrickLink, and I too have a rotating viewing tower. Mine actually has doors for minifigures to go in and out, but no real way for them to get to the top!

A recent LEGO Creator set had plans for the “old lady in a shoe”, I decided to build it at twice the size and make it an attraction for really small kids. A different LEGO Creator set had a small castle front. I expanded it and added some minimal sidewalls – another stop for younger fans. The Winter 2021 LEGO Catalog featured the #21170 LEGO Minecraft Pig House. I’m not into Minecraft, but I have a tissue box full of pink bricks. I duplicated the picture and now have a pig house that the smaller kids can climb into.

My amusement park obviously needed a front entrance. I decided that was going to be a MOC. I settled on a simple grey castle-like structure with raised corners (office space?) and a red-sloped roof. There are two road plates (curved and T) in front of the castle and a service truck entrance as well as a ticket window and patron entrance. There‘s a little information booth upfront on one side and a guard station with a crossing arm by the driveway entrance.

As I was pulling out minifigures, I found a couple of old medical personnel. I decided a small first aid station belonged in the layout. A simple 6×8 white building with a red cross and red windows. I also built a little garage/storage shed with alternating red and white 1×5 bricks and a garage door. I took some green and white steep-sloped and 1×2 bricks and made a tent-like 12×10 striped structure. Depending on signage, it will either be a rest area to get out of the sun or a small store.

I also built a small restroom building (pink door for women and blue door for men). The roof serves as the platform for my large elevated coaster ride. As I tried to make the park more realistic, other small service buildings seemed appropriate.

More about my amusement park in an upcoming article. Your comments and ideas are welcome. I look forward to hearing from you.

And you might also like to check out some of my previous posts:

HERE IS A LIST OF POSTS BY MARK

{ 12 comments }

Behind-the-Scenes of Making a LEGO Ad

by on October 12, 2021
in Community Articles

(Written by William)

Over the last year or so, we’ve been introduced to a whole new world of LEGO.  Many sets now come with the label of 18+ to show they are being marketed towards adults.  In order to get the word out, LEGO has launched a substantial campaign to reach the target audience.

Seeing as I am an adult (in most cases), and LEGO plays a significant role in my life, I was asked to participate in this marketing campaign.  The idea is that I would be interviewed and featured in a one-page advertisement in various magazines.  As I’m legally blind means I also have an interesting human interest angle to share.  Plus, it shows just how accessible LEGO sets can be, given the fact I’m enjoying myself despite my impairment.  Below is the end result! (Click on image or click link for full PDF version.)

PREPARATION IS HALF THE PROCESS

Of course, before we got to the slick-looking ad, there was a bit of prep work that went into all of it.  My hat goes off to the coordinator here.  First, they had to get my information so that they could get some paperwork done.  I needed to sign a photo release so that any images of me could even be used.  Next, I was put in touch with the writer of the piece.

Considering the writer was in Denmark and I am in California in the states, there was the whole issue of a nine-hour time difference.  Keep in mind, this was what the coordinator was dealing with as well and all this needed to get done in time for the launch of the campaign.

I was then given a list of questions to prepare me for the interview.  This was so that I had plenty of time to really consider my answers and not give bland uninformative responses.  All of this was to help make a forty-five minute interview productive.

After the interview was done and a draft was written, it was time for some good pictures to be taken.  I did provide them with some rough images. However, considering I’m not a photographer nor do I have the proper equipment, it is safe to say what I initially provided was unusable.  This meant a professional photographer had to be scheduled to come to me.

Let’s just say, a whole lot of effort went into this advertisement.  Of course, I had a blast the entire time, so it really didn’t feel like work.  Now let me talk about the interview process and then the photo-shoot.

THE INTERVIEW

The questions asked were the same as what was provided.  However, they were more or less points for the author to start from.  If something interesting came up in one of my answers, we’d veer off and talk about whatever that tangent was.

I must admit, I wasn’t expecting to get emotional.  But as they dug down and asked me what LEGO means to me, it hit me, LEGO gives me eyes!  When I gave that specific answer, we both kind of choked up.

Each day there are barriers in my life that I work through.  My vision has gotten to the point where I can’t just play any video game anymore.  Reading my mail is a chore.  Heck, I can’t just decide to go for a walk or a run, as I can literally hurt myself, since I might not see some obstacle.

But when it comes to LEGO, those barriers are gone.  I can write articles about the finer points of building.  I can express my artistic side through things I create.  It’s even possible to learn about others through the way we interact with these little plastic parts.

Ultimately, the interview showed me something about myself I hadn’t considered fully.  Playing with LEGO bricks helps me on so many levels.  I think the writer said it best when we talked, “I feel bad that I only have a page.  I could write a book with what you’re telling me”.

THE PHOTO-SHOOT

Don’t worry, the entire process wasn’t all serious, learning deep truths about myself.  We also had to put a face to this story.  And since the face in question is mine, they needed to get a camera over to me.

We scheduled out four hours to get the right shots.  There were a few requirements.  It was absolutely necessary to get two specific images and, if there was time, try for a third.  The two crucial shots involved me being absorbed in the building process and me working on writing up a piece at my desk.  It’s actually super weird talking about getting the second image since I’m currently at my desk writing this piece.  Oh, and the third picture if it was possible, was to see me in my element.  In other words, if I were to open up a set and start building, whatever that would look like.

It brought a smile to my face bringing in the photographer and their two assistants to my LEGO room.  They immediately gravitated towards the sets LEGO wants adults to find interesting.  The LEGO Botanical Collection, the #10292 LEGO Adidas Superstar, and the #21318 LEGO Ideas Tree House were some of their favorites.  As you can tell, the Tree House sort of won out since it’s one of the images in the ad.

Funny story about that picture of me and the Tree House.  I was supposed to be looking like I was absorbed in the model.  To be honest, I was absorbed.  It had been sitting on display for a while and I found the model quite dusty.  So during the entire shoot with the Tree House I was intensely trying to clean it off.  That is why I’m so focused on the model.  I’m not sure how many pictures were taken, but just getting that one image was a two-and-a-half-hour process.

The next image was a bit simpler.  My office at home is not terribly big and it doesn’t have as many distractions as my LEGO room.  In the photo, you can see two screens.  The one on the left is my actual computer and I have assistance software running to change the color of the screen and enlarge what’s on the monitor.  I was actually writing the first draft of my review of the the #21327 LEGO Ideas Typewriter.

The screen on the right has a large minifigure head on it.  This is a different piece of assistive technology.  I can put objects underneath the screen and a camera will enlarge them enabling me to see whatever it is better.  Minifigure faces are one such thing I will examine from time to time.  Though as you might know, there are no minifigures in the LEGO Ideas Typewriter set, so this was more of an artistic choice.  That image took about an hour to get.

This left about a half hour to try for a third image.  My guess is this lack of time prevented us from finding the right set up.  This is also where things got even more artistic.  The angles and setups for these images felt very unreal to me.  Don’t get me wrong, each shot was extremely interesting to look at.  The composition was stunning, the perspectives were unique, the colors on display were engaging, however I think that might be part of the reason why they weren’t used.

The feeling and tone I get from the ad is that everything is approachable and down to earth.  You don’t want to scare off potential fans with something larger than life.  That’s why a guy like me works so well.  I’m nowhere near model pretty, I’m just a guy with a slightly interesting story.

Though I do have another funny story about the possible third image.  Originally my wife and I were going to sit down at our table and just continue building the LEGO Ideas Typewriter that I already started but haven’t finished at that point. The photographer took one look at us and said, “No, that doesn’t work.  It looks too staged”.

What followed next was what I can only describe as odd. We found ourselves in big comfy armchairs a few feet apart from one another.  I think we even had something decorative between us.  Meanwhile the LEGO Ideas Typewriter, which was partially built, was sitting on the floor several feet away from us.  You know, how I normally relax and build LEGO… let’s just say, it took the rest of the day for my wife to get over the interesting tableau we made.

FINALIZING THE PROJECT

While waiting for the images to get sent over to LEGO, it was time for me to see the draft of what was written.  LEGO wanted to make sure I was okay with what was selected from the interview.  It felt sharp and on point, I was even pleasantly surprised that I recalled saying those exact quotes.  It made me excited to see the final product with pictures.

It took maybe a week for these to get selected and added.  There is just one little wrinkle.  I have no idea which magazines this will appear in.  Even the marketing team is not certain where it will run.  Evidently, each region they will reach out to will have a different selection of magazines available.  So, I’m hoping to get your help.

If you happen to run across this ad, I would be interested to hear where you saw it.  I have friends and family ready to frame a magazine or two and put it up on their wall.  Plus, I have to admit it would be neat having one around my house to show off.

DID I GET PAID?

Any time I’ve done anything like this, someone inevitably asks this question.  The short answer is no.  I went in this only wanting to share my love of LEGO sets.  Plus, having my mug in a magazine tickled my fancy as well.  But… we’re talking LEGO!  And as every LEGO fan knows, bricks are better than bucks!

At an early age I was taught that I should value myself and my time.  So even if I don’t plan to get anything for my efforts, it never hurts to ask.  So, I asked!  “I know this doesn’t pay, but this is LEGO!  Do I get paid in LEGO?”  And wouldn’t you know it.  The coordinator sent me an email saying that as a special thank you gift for my time, they were going to send me a LEGO set!

I was given the choice to send in a short list of things I liked.  This would give them an idea of what my tastes were, and if nothing was available, they would at least know what types of things I enjoyed building.  So, when the thank you gift arrived, you can imagine my shock when they nearly sent everything on my list!  I got the #10283 LEGO NASA Space Shuttle Discovery, the new #10279 LEGO Volkswagen T2 Camper Van, and the #10289 LEGO Bird of Paradise from the LEGO Botanical Collection.  This just made a fantastic experience even more awesome!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Up to this point, I can’t say I’ve really worked with LEGO’s marketing branch before.  The scope of the projects they handle usually involve businesses and organizations and not necessarily the individual.  So, this was a very unique experience to connect on a level this personal.  I was thrilled to find out that even these employees are extremely friendly and pleasant to work with.

I have worked with other companies during my writing career where that hasn’t been the case.  Many organizations are about sounding authentic and not actually being authentic.  I feel LEGO is truly authentic.  Nothing I said in my interview was coached in any way.  They kind of just knew I really loved building with LEGO bricks and wanted to share that with the world in the hopes my story can convince others.

If there is anything you feel I didn’t talk about, feel free to ask in the comment section below.  I’ll try to answer all the questions and respond to comments that I’m able to.  And maybe you can answer my question, does this make me a LEGO Maniac?

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

{ 19 comments }
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