Kevin Ambrose Way How would you like to see it lit up?  We have a light below it on the balcony, but not on the clock itself.

Tara Osborne Ward Thank you for your kind words.  More photos coming next week after we return to the office from the Bricks Cascade show in Portland!

Kevin Ambrose Way Thanks for sharing the photo.  I agree, the clock looks good.  If you had a choice of lighting up the balcony (where Mickey and Minnie are standing in the photo) or the clock, which would it be?  Maybe the option of lighting either with a single LED (meaning you could position it either on the balcony or behind the clock)?

Erik Peterson I'm trying to get some good video of the outside lighting effects.  Much more difficult than I imagined, due to the size of the set and some other factors (good ones) that I hope to be able to overcome soon this week.

Hi everyone, thanks as always for all the great and positive comments and suggestions you continue to send us about this kit.  Here's a fairly big news update!

After several months of programming and experimenting, and also after more than a few attempts that fell short of the mark, we're happy to share the first video of the fireworks effect that will be available as part of our light kits for the LEGO Disney Castle.

The video is too large to post here, but you can watch it by clicking on this link:

https://youtu.be/aLOUFpgVQS0

The video quality isn't that great, but we wanted to show everyone what we've been working on.  Some of you may have seen that there are some other lighting kits showing up on eBay, etc. for the Disney Castle, all of which follow pretty much the same design pattern: white lights inside, plus randomly-cycling color-changing lights on the outside.  The LEDs used in these kits are widely available, and they are the same ones we use in our color-changing light strings.  While they do produce a changing color effect, you have no control over the colors or the timing.  We wanted something more subtle, something you could actually control.

The result is a custom 14-LED array of synchronized color-changing LEDs that are managed from one central controller.  Why a central controller?  Because we wanted to create something you won't find in any other light kit: a true fireworks simulation.  As you can see in the video, the sequence starts with bright white lights flashing across the front of the castle.  This is the "launch sequence," like with real fireworks.  Our goal was to try and reproduce the opening sequence from Disney movies where the fireworks launch across the castle in big arcs.

After the launch sequence, there is a pause, followed by the simulated bursts of the fireworks.  These are implemented in the control program in two ways: first, by eight color-changing LEDs mounted facing up onto the castle, and second, by three "burst cones" made of LEGO bricks and fiber optic sprays.  Each burst cone has two color-changing LEDs inside, and the bursts, colors, and fade settings are randomly selected by the controller with each launch.  This is a fancy way of saying we think you're going to love the effects, and it's something you won't find in any other kit.

Based on your feedback on this thread, we also implemented a color-cycling mode, where the eight color-changing LEDs can be set to cycle through the full color spectrum at a speed you select.  This is important-- ours will be the only light kit where the color cycling speed can be selected by YOU via a dial on the controller board, and ours is also the only kit where all LEDs are synchronized to the same color.  This is how real light shows work, so again, we think you're going to love it.

You will also have the ability to "freeze" the color cycling at any color of your choosing.  This will allow you to bathe the castle in one color of light-- maybe orange for Fall, yellow for Summer, and Cool White for Winter.  It's totally up to you.  The color you pick will be saved even when the castle power is turned off, so the next time you turn on your castle, the light will be set to the same color as before.

We're really excited about the color-cycling and fireworks effects-- we've put more time into making and testing them than any other effect we've ever created.  We hope you like them too, and we hope you agree they will make your castle unique and a true showpiece.

Let us know what you think!

One more update: we have decided to begin accepting pre-orders for the castle lighting kit the first week in April.  We will be finalizing pricing this week and will update this thread with details.

Kits will begin shipping the first week in May.  We expect a large demand, so we will be releasing pre-orders in batches, beginning with those who have requested to be added to our notification list.  Once we start making kits, we're going to keep making 'em, so everyone who wants one will be able to get one.

Thank you again for your patience as we worked to make the best lighting kit possible.

Roger Gallagher Good questions!  The sprays are a physical thing with lights attached.  Each assembly sits inside a 4x4 LEGO assembly, so you can quickly mount them on the castle (when you want fireworks) or remove them for daytime use.  Also, the eight color-changing LEDs can operate in the fireworks effect mode without the sprays as well.

For the pre-orders, we're going to try and make as many kits as possible during April, to meet as much initial demand as possible.  I have been keeping the list of people who have been interested in the kit, and I will be reaching out to those folks (in order) early in the process to make sure they can get a kit if they are still interested.

Daniel Metcalf Alison Narehood Adam if you send us an e-mail through the contact form on our main website ( www.brickstuff.com ) we'll be able to add you to the notification list. Thanks!