3/01/17. Construction Begins! All the lights, wood and paint was bought prior to construction. Everything is laid out and ready to begin the process of bringing the ride to life.

3/05/17 – The base for the “Arcade game” was laid down. Rising 7″ above the ground, this elevations allows the riders to see over the front wall. The chair was placed to get an idea of the height line for the riders. Soon this base will be walled in.

3/07/17 – The frame surrounding the base has began to take shape.

3/15/17 – A backwards view looking at the frame that will surround the riders. An opening was left on the far left side of this image to allow riders to get in and out of the “arcade game”.

3/20/17 – This is a collection of paint samples for the arcade game. The colors needed to be vibrant and retro. I ultimately decided on the colors Blue and orange. These colors mimic the color scheme used on “Star-Lord’s” ship in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.

4/5/17 – These crazy shapes are designed to look like a computer chip. In the ride’s story the arcade game was constructed using alien technology, so the designs had to appear to be from another planet. The shapes were created using painters tape then were painted orange. Once dried the  tape would be removed to reveal the strange shapes.

4/6/17 – The tape has been removed and the shapes are revealed.

3/8/17 – The same design and color scheme was carried through the entire arcade game structure.

4/10/17.

4/15/17 –  The entire front of the arcade game is completed with the color scheme. More construction will be built upon this structure. This section had to be painted and completed first before more could be added on top of it.

4/20/17 – The inside of the arcade game has began the paint scheme as well. Special effects will soon be installed into this area, yet again everything needed to be painted prior to this.

4/27/17 – Painting continues..

4/30/17

5/02/17 – The arcade game’s base and frame has completed its paint job. The back section is complete. Another layer of construction will begin on the front to add the window that guests will be looking out of while riding.

5/10/17 – The framework for what will become the arcade game’s window has gone vertical. The max height reaches 8′ from the ground up.

5/ 20 /17 – The windows frame is completed and finished with the color scheme. The middle and top sections of the window are not painted. This is because they will have fake medal attached to them to give the structure a more arcade game feel.

5/ 20/ 17 – This window was a challenge during the construction process. The window is 8′ in height and 8′ wide. A piece of wood needed to go across the entire 8′ window to frame in the view.  A piece that large could not fit through the door into this room. Ultimately I cut the sheet in half and re-attached them in the center on the back. This created the illusion of the wood being one solid piece.

6/ 02 / 17 – These strange designs will be surrounding the room. The designs were inspired by 1980s art of outer-space / Sci-Fi concepts. These were constructed out of cardboard and would be painted with a chrome paint to appear to be much heavy and industrial then the material they are made out of.

6/07/17 – A finished piece, hung in place inside the room. There will be five of these total surrounding the space of the ride. The ride takes place in the fictional “Galactic Arcadia”, an arcade from the 1980s. These designs have a retro feel to them, which compliments the world of Guardians of the Galaxy.

6 / 14/ 17 – More of these structures surround the room. All vary in sizes. The largest being 7′ tall and the smallest 3′ tall.

6/20/17 – Glow in the dark stars were added to the arcade game’s window. The glow in the dark stars were chosen for the retro space theme. Although there are better effects at creating stars, these fit the story; an 1980s kids arcade.

6/25/17 – A complete view of the near complete arcade game structure.

7 / 01/ 17 – The front view of the fiber optic lights. Notice how some strands have been cut while others haven’t

7/01/17 – The back view of the fiber optic lights.

7/10/17 – The bench that riders will sit on has been installed and painted to match the color scheme. Also the fan effect has been installed.

7/13/17 – More theming to the arcade! These banners were installed to give the arcade more of a rich theme. Also above the arcade window an image of the guardians has been placed. This image was to feature all the characters and was inspired by art typically found on vintage arcade games.

7 / 25/ 17 – Construction is complete and the ride has began show testing. The screen could be seen through the opening in the window. This image was taken during lighting tests.

7/30/17 – On ride photo.  The top section of stars are projected, the bottom section are the fiber optics. In the show lighting these two elements (projection/fiber optics) blend to create an immersive view of the stars in the cosmos.

7/30/17 – On ride photo. The rides finale. Star-Lord has been reunited with his walkman and the guardians gather to thank the riders for helping rocket raccoon!