I got this for Christmas last year, and I wanted to build it before this Christmas. So I did!
It wasn’t a difficult build, but it was very time consuming. Much of the build was the framework to support the track, and it’s very strong, with the white cylindrical pillars reinforced with axle pieces. Breaking this thing down is going to be a significant challenge.
Even in the early stages, it was clear this was going to be a big kit once finished. For some reason the photos on the box didn’t suggest it was overly large, but as you can see here it scaled up quickly!
The coaster is built in two halves, and the above photo shows it at approximately the halfway point. I’d estimate this was about 6 hours of work at this point.
The second half took longer since it also included most of the mechanics and the kiosks such as the ticket booth. By the time I got to the above step, where I had to connect 203 tiny track pieces (for the winch system to lift the car) my fingers were in agony 🙂
The final kit is enormous, and can’t realistically be displayed in this house. After my trip I’ll have to separate it and store it away. But it’s an extraordinary piece of engineering, because it actually works! The coaster includes a hand-wound winch system that raises the car to the top, and when the car is released it traverses the entire track at an unexpected speed!
I’m particularly impressed with the carriage design, since it’s very flexible and also grabs the track like a real car. I imagine a lot of analysis went into working out the friction involved so it could navigate the track.
And of course this is still a LEGO kit, and part of an increasing series of amusement park rides. As such it is minifig scale, and includes a wonderfully designed ticket booth, drink vendor and even post-ride photo station. All of this fills the space at ground level and – for kids – would give this great play level.
I can only imagine if kits like this existed when I was a kid. I would have sent my LEGO spacemen and knight figures around this coaster all day long 🙂