Cinderella's Castle Through the Years
With all the excitement about the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World re-opening, some might have missed a slight change to Cinderella's Castle itself.
That's right. It's being made over. And this isn't the first time.
Let's start with what the castle looked like in early 2020.
This is much the same as the castle looked on Magic Kingdom's opening day. We're going to call this "castle normal". All other makeovers, up until this point, have been temporary makeovers.
The first major (and shocking) change to "castle normal" was the infamous pink castle. This work began in 1994 and was in full swing by 1996. When completed, it stayed until 1998. Oh, the 90's....
Photo from funatcstv.com
Yeah, so that happened. And I don't recall a single adult that was like "oh yes, this is so much better than before".
So WHY did it happen? It was done to commemorate Walt Disney World's 25th anniversary on October 1st, 1996. Get it? It's a cake.
So... moving on! But unfortunately, it doesn't get better yet. It seems Disney had a lot of trouble making decisions about our beloved castle that fans could get behind. The next move that many saw as a blunder at the time, was the removal of several 30-year-old trees in the hub in front of the castle between the years of 2003-2009. This is known as the "Magic Kingdom Tree Massacre".
Before 2003, several large trees stood in the hub, and the hub had many benches and flower gardens. The castle sort of peeked out behind these trees making it look like it was really situated in a Bavarian forest.
The trees had to go, though. The reason Disney stated was that the hub needed more room for people to move around. But it seems they were also making way for the projections they would begin piloting for shows we now love like Happily Ever After.
After a few years of "castle normal" without trees, I'm afraid it continued to get worse. In late 2004, Stitch was all the rage, and Tomorrowland's Alien Encounter ride (which was creepy, but good) was turned into Stitch's Great Escape (which, in our opinion, falls flat). "What does this have to do with the castle?" you might ask. Well, apparently some marketing genius somewhere knew this ride was going to need more hype. Stitch is known for being mischievous so...
That's right. He vandalized the castle.
Things got a little better from there. In 2005, all Disney parks celebrated Disneyland's 50th anniversary. Many fans feared another cake debacle. But it wasn't to be. Instead, the castle was tastefully decked out with gold details on the spires, a magic mirror on the front that showed scenes from other Disney castles around the world, and statues of characters around each spire. It was actually quite beautiful.
Image credit Robert Sullivan/Getty Images
And I'm happy to say it got better from there. In 2007, the new "holiday castle" was unveiled, covered with thousands of white LED lights that made it look glazed over in ice. I was fortunate to see this in person that same year and it was breathtaking.
For the most part, since the lights were added in 2007, the castle has remained mostly in "castle normal" mode, which I appreciate. With something so iconic, I think Disney has learned to be very careful about making drastic changes.
Which brings us to 2020. It is the 70th anniversary of "Cinderella" and since it is her castle, Disney decided to do something special. The work will continue into 2021, but much of the work is already visible and apparent and guests visiting after the park's re-opening are experiencing some of this new look for the first time.
The castle will be painted pink...
NO! No, don't panic. Not hot pink. No frosting, we promise.
It's actually a really nice sort of shimmering rose gold color. We quite like it. But you can decide for yourself. Here is the concept art of what it will look like when finished:
Some major changes:
-The rose gold color is used on upper levels of the castle
-The spires are being painted a richer blue that in some light appears almost purple
-Gold trim is being added
-The bricks around the "moat" are being individually painted a few different shades to stand out more
It's not entirely clear whether this change is permanent or temporary. Disney has simply said that the makeover is inspired by Cinderella's own makeover into a princess. But given it's paint being applied to the castle (rather than decals or facades) we think it looks pretty permanent.
The fans... well, it's a mixed bag. Personally, we think this is beautiful. These colors used to only seem to come out at sunset at the park and we love when the castle seems to glow pink. We're excited to see what sunset will look like now. And we love the gold. It's a castle... it should look regal.
But other guests are not happy. One look at the Disney Parks Blog announcement and you can find guests using the words: "extremely disappointed", "devastated", and "rose gold - Ew".
I'm going to level for a second, though. The castle, while the icon of Walt Disney World itself and therefore emotionally important, is not going to be the centerpiece of any Disney vacation. Most guests experience it only by walking through it. Some guests are lucky enough to dine in it. And then you go on and do other things. So my advice is if you hate it, chin up. After all, based on what we saw in our study today, it could be much worse.
What do you think of the castle makeover? Did you have a favorite makeover or are you "castle normal" fans? Do you hope the new style will stay? Share your thoughts with us over on our Facebook page. And until then, we'll see you...
