Light up Disney Castle # 71040

What light kit can I use for the Disney Castle.

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  • Paul George Great photo-- I love how Emmet and friends have a castle-side view from the double-decker couch!

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  • Hi everyone, Paul George got me thinking about Lazy Susans and turntables, so I ordered the same one he used from Amazon, and it arrived today.  I immediately dismantled it 馃檪 with the goal of seeing if I could fit a slip ring in the middle.  A slip ring allows power to pass through a rotating object by enabling the wires to spin a full 360 degrees without binding.  I've been thinking about this because several people have said they plan to have their Castle on a rotating base, but they want to use USB/wall power to run the lights.  So, how to get the power into the Castle without the wires getting bound when you spin it?

    Have a look at the results of my demolition work today:

       Net-net, the slip ring fits perfectly, and the entire assembly rotates smoothly.  Adding the ring doesn't compromise the turntable's ability to support the full weight of the Castle (the ball bearings take the full load, and the ring is actually not load-bearing).  The only downside is that the man screw in the middle of the turntable needed to be removed to allow the ring to mount, so the top of the turntable just rests on top of the ball bearings.  Not a big deal most of the time, since you'll have your heavy Castle on it, and again, the overall structural integrity/strength of the turntable is in no way compromised.  I'm really happy with the results-- these are the same tiny slip rings we use for our lighting kit for the LEGO Ferris Wheel-- they are custom made for us, and are of the highest quality and durability.

    So, the question is: is this something people would be interested in buying from us?  Obviously the turntables are large and heavy items, so I haven't figured out yet how we'd ship them, but if you want something like this for your Castle, let me know.

    Thanks again Paul for the inspiration!

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  • Rob Klingberg Um, yes!  Though I could see the logistics challenge (and personally, I reckon I'd need to retrofit the existing, but not impossible) -- and way cleaner than my original plan of just dropping a battery pack in a ground floor nook.

    For my money, I guess I'd wonder the complexity of a DIY kit: order the turntable and modify to one's heart's delight.  Not that I expect everyone to have electrical and mechanical engineering skills (heaven knows I don't), but it appears it'd be something a few photos and ~6 steps could capture on an one page instruction sheet.  (It also dodges the logistics of shipping those monsters, and certainly Amazon can foot that bill way better than y'all on a re-ship.)

    I'd just call it an "expansion" accessory and sold separately, as I could see some other applications (beyond the ferris wheel -- Carousel 10257, anyone?... heck, even introducing it into the Fairground Mixer 10244).  There's a host of applications where this could be handy...

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    • Gregory
    • Gregory
    • 7 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I'm not very electronic nor tech savvy and am already afraid of the castle itself.   (This is my Casey Jr. I think I can project)  As long as there are step by step instructions and maybe a video showing how it was done, I wouldn't mind buying the turntable from Amazon. Would you supply the slip ring?  Also...would this  prohibit attaching the large Lego piece to the turntable to then secure the base of the castle?

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  • I would definitely be interested in doing that as long as all of the lighting kit (spotlights, etc.) were able to fit on that lazy susan (looks like they would) and the cost was reasonable.  Next step make it a powered turntable ;)

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  • Rick Prescott If someone can find a powered turntable on Amazon or somewhere similar, I'm happy to order it and see if the slip ring can fit! 馃榾

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  • Gregory Hi Gregory, overall mounting the ring is fairly easy.  The holes can be drilled using a hand drill-- you just need the right set of bits (you need a 6mm, 7mm, and 8mm bit).  And yes we would include the slip ring and power connectors-- once the holes are drilled, mounting the ring is really easy.  And the wires would be thin enough so you could still mount the large pate on top of the turntable.  Look for some step-by step instructions after we dig out from under the castle orders.

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  • Hello Mr. Klingberg and Everyone.....

    Super excited about ordering my kit today.  Just discovered this forum as I have been emailing Mr. Klingberg separately with questions that have already been asked here.  Thank you Mr. Klingberg for graciously replying to my duplicate questions.  I read through all the posts on here just to make sure my next question was not previously answered and I don't see it.  So my question is, with all these lights and wires for both external and internal kits will the instructions that will be included with the kit show/illustrate how to hide all of these wires for the lights?  Or will the castle have many wire strands hanging in the back somewhere?  Sorry this will be my first light kit and I have no experience with lights whatsoever....thank you in advance for answers.

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  • Crissy Chan Hi Crissy, thanks for posting, and thank you also for your order today!  To answer your question about the wiring, the kits will include full instructions showing how to mount the lights, run the wires, etc.  We worked hard to make sure the wires were as invisible in the installation as possible-- our wires are super thin and can fit under and between LEGO parts, which makes them easy to hide.  We know you don't want to have wires hanging out everywhere, so we've worked hard to get the part/cable/light mix right so things will fit snugly and discretely.

    Thanks again for your support of our efforts!

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  • Can I just say I enjoy how this forum really lights up on the weekends, like the cube-dwelling zombies coming to life after a week at work? 馃槈

    Rick Prescott I'd flirted with motorized, but found they were too expensive, and when we went with a 'scene' placement, abandoned the idea. I was inclined to (then) use the 21-inch and concoct a motor setup similar to the Ferris Wheel, just to both make it more purist-LEGO and tap into that for power for the build as well (and in theory, one switch would both light 'er up and take it for a spin).  Movement in the theme park seemed bad, but I know my audience will want to turn it during play, albeit manually, which is fine for her age bracket.

    Crissy Chan  I confess I've also never done a kit, but have every confidence the instructions will serve you (me, and everyone well).  In my own install, it's very much trial-and-error, but it doesn't take long to go from novice to pro if my experience -- and I'm hardly THAT handy.

    In our "Modularville," I have interior (ground floor only) light strips and street lights.  The strips are SUPER easy to connect and hide -- it's end-to-end, kind of like Christmas tree light wiring -- and can tuck between features or even sandwich into bricks. The only modification I've chosen to do (see photo 2) is putting inverted slopes on the wall when I install the light, just to angle it downward.

    My real challenge has been finding a home for connector boards, particularly when doing from the strips to the pico lights and their smaller plugs.  Early on, I just stuck them wherever (photo 1), like up near a ceiling that didn't open up; in the Assembly Square, I lucked out and hid it under the barista station (removed a 2x4 plate, added 1x2 plates on the ends and left the center 2x2 open for wires. But frankly, it's part of the fun: like hiding Easter eggs -- when the bunny isn't available, you've got to make it hidden enough to not distract from the display/play use, but not so much so that you can't switch it up... say, to install blinking holiday lights.  :)

    Pic 1 - my lazy approach of tucking them up high with some vinyl (electrical) tape:

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  • Paul George  Thank you so much for all the valuable information!  I don't quite understand everything in your post just yet, however I feel like if i reread it at a later point it will ALL make sense.  Not only am I super new to lighting legos but I'm also very new to Lego building.  I never even touched a lego up until 1 month ago when I walked into a Lego store and saw the Disney Castle.  Being a huge Disney fan I knew I had to have it and build it.  Again, knew nothing else about Legos or that they could even be LIT... what?!  In my search on the internet to find other Lego Disney sets I ran into a photo of the castle Lit up and was like i need to do that!  My search for an extraordinary light kit for my castle has now led me here.  I am learning so much on this Forum and I'm glad I found everyone!  I am waiting to build my castle when i get my lights.  So...in the meantime.....I also discovered the Modular buildings!! 馃槺  (Which of course I'm 10 years too late to that party too and I'm finding it difficult to collect all the buildings.)  But I'm building with the kits that I can find and will plan on lighting those too!!  So baby steps for now....I think my light kit for the castle will help me understand a lot...like what a pico light is etc.  :-)  But for now its researching online and talking to awesome AFOLs in this forum that will help me expand my knowledge. 

    Thank you again so much for sharing your advise and the cool photos.

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  • Paul George  My post about the motorized turntable was more in fun as it seems that there is no end to the ways we can dream up to enhance these Lego kits.  I'd love to have the time to build the rest of the Magic Kingdom around my castle but unfortunately I am not that much of an architect nor do I have that kind of time ;)

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  • Crissy Chan I confess I was also late to the modular party -- being cheap, I scoffed at the price for the first 3-4 years, and then my bride gifted me the fire station and... it went from there.  (The castle is also 100% all her -- the first set she ever said I had to buy, then... light.)

    Picos are the teeny-tiny lights that you can put darn near anywhere; the only other real variety (save some specialty lights) are the 6-dot-long strips with two LEDs on them.  In my book, the latter are WAY easier to work with for lighting larger areas -- and of course, we'll see some new introductions with this set based on what we've seen Rob and the team demo for us here.  :)

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  • Paul George Crissy Chan Rick Prescott Thank you all for your comments-- it's so great to see a real community forming here online.  Thanks Paul for posting the photos showing your approach to lighting as well-- very informative!  I know many new customers, and people new to lighting, are apprehensive about "how do I do it" and "will it be easy?" so again, this info is great to have.

    One tip for mounting the adapter boards-- we just started selling our sticky squares in packs of 32-- these are great for mounting an adapter board to the underside of a floor, etc.

    Also, Crissy Chan , you may have already found it, but www.bricklink.com is the place to go to buy older sets (like the modulars). The prices are often better than you'll find on Amazon or eBay. The user interface is a little quirky at first, but you can find any set (or any part) ever made on this site. Now the prices, well that's another matter. :-)

    Thanks again everyone for keeping the conversation going!

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  • Ok, so I have my mega-kit ordered with the second-level color changing kit, I have my "monorail" (high-speed passenger train) circling my castle with its lights on, I have my awesome ferris wheel all lit up. Are there any plans to create a kit for the Fairground Mixer? It glows in the dark and all, but won't compare with my AMAZING Disney Castle and Ferris Wheel... 馃槈

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  • Lisa Sullivan Hi Lisa!  Thanks for your post.  We have looked at lighting up the Fairground Mixer.  There are several challenges, so I made a topic dedicated to discussion about this set-- you can view and contribute to the discussion here.

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  • Rob Klingberg Cool thanks!

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  • Rob Klingberg , sorry for the noobie question, it's just something I thought about. If I ordered an extra controller, do I need a second power supply? I know this is probably a dumb question, this is just my first ever build. Thanks again for everything!

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  • Daniel Metcalf not a bad question at all!  Nope, no additional power supply needed for the 2nd controller.  Everything is designed to operate from the single power source.

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  • First of all... NOT complaining!  I know it is a big task getting all your kits together.  But, I was just wondering if you had any update on a potential start of shipping kits for those of us that have already pre-ordered.


    Again, I am not upset at all over the slippage in estimated dates.  Looking forward to everything!

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  • That's probably the $64 question, but I think there's been a hesitation to declare a formal date (whether it be in pencil or Sharpie) given the hiccups discovered during the documentation and QA validation of the install steps (i.e. the one wire a wee too short that's now being lengthened), and most recently the addition of some gold rings that are still awaiting their arrival to the good folks in Minnesota to mount.

    My sense is -- beyond knowing if you're in the first, second or third group (first, baby!) and using the chart they've shared, when it's all green bars, the lights are headed to the mailbox to ship.

    http://www.brickstuff.com/castlestatus.html

    (Much as the original goal of mid-May became late May, and now perhaps soon in early June... but if them 200 gold rings due in this week get caught up in Customs, all bets are off.)

    But I'm 110% right there with you -- I've got a castle and a turntable that are sitting in a dark corner after sunset.  Poor Minnie! 馃檪

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  • I'm with you in that first group!  I completely forgot about those rings that were mentioned before.  I am certain everything will be worth the wait.  I have been impressed with everything they have been doing, and I completely understand a little hesitation.  From reading this blog from time to time, I am sure most (if not all) of the people here are understanding and support the efforts going on!

    Even if it continues to slip a little more... nothing to worry about!

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  • Timothy Spann Paul George Thank you both for your continued understanding and support.  Good news today-- photos for the documentation are complete!  Almost 150 photos-- now I get to whittle them all down into what will become the final documentation.  Lots of progress already this week.

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  • Rob Klingberg  Hello!  Glad to hear that things are coming along for the Disney Castle Light kit.  YAY!  I must have missed something....I just saw the castle status link that Paul George posted (thank you!!!).  How do you determine which Order Group you are a part of?  I'm in the June 15 batch of orders but not sure which Order Group # that would be?  Thank you.

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  • Crissy Chan Did you get the e-mail newsletter last week?  Just wanted to make sure you are receiving them.  You're in the June 15 batch, which maps to Order Group 3.  I expect we'll be making good progress on your batch once we get the first batch out soon!

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