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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 1)
Cinderella’s castle is the focal point of the Magic Kingdom Park in Disney World in Orlando, Florida and for basically all of Disney World. It stands as one of the most recognizable icons in the world. It is Disney’s symbol of joy, hope, inspiration, magic, and spirit. What most people don’t know is how the castle has changed over the years. -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 3)
But the ones that people may not know about, whether they weren’t there for this event or they never saw pictures of it, include the celebration of Disney’s 25th anniversary, their 50th anniversary, and the time they made the castle look icy for the holidays. These are just a few examples of how the castle has changed and evolved over the years. -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 2)
The castle has changed for multiple reasons. Some of them are very common and probably, in the general public’s eyes, very normal. For instance, they have changed the colors of the castle multiple times, along with adding some towers. -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 4)
Not only is the castle just an icon of Disney World, but an attraction, and a part of many events they have there. During the day, the castle stands as a meeting point for people that get split up, it stands as this dazzling tower. And at night, it becomes this glowing beacon of light, shining with color and shooting off fireworks. -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 6)
This explains the significance of the castle, and not only the evolution of the architecture of the castle, but the popularity of it, and Disney World’s commitment to the guest experience as a whole. They have added rooms in the castle called “Cinderella’s Castle Suite”, that can be bought at a ridiculous price, as well as a breakfast place titled “Cinderella’s Royal Table.” -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 7)
Overall, this castle is the staple of DIsney World and Disney isn’t Disney without this castle, so the way they have evolved it, and continued to lean on it as the backbone of their parks is great and is a great way to honor the castle’s history and longevity. The castle doesn’t seem like it going anywhere, and it shouldn’t be anytime soon. They will continue to come up with new ideas for it, and they will continue to make it one of the biggest attractions, if not the biggest, in the parks. -
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Cinderella's Castle Introduction (pg. 5)
From my experiences there, it has become the creator of the “biggest people jam” ever. I put that in quotes, because I do not really know if that is true, but it sure seems like it. The castle is something that everyone wants in their pictures, and there are lines of people waiting to get their picture in front of it. -
The Construction
This picture is from sometime in the later months of 1970 from DisneyParks Blog. Here, we can see the castle’s construction almost coming to an end. The towers are almost totally built, and the height of the castle has reached its max (at this point). In this picture we can see that what we know now as Magic Kingdom was a construction zone. -
The Construction (cont.)
This marks the beginning of Disney World and is setting up the castle as the focal point of the parks. The castle was made of concrete, steel, cement, plaster, and fiberglass... no bricks at all. The colors of the original castle included grey, blue and gold. Very boring colors compared to the variety of colors that have been used for the castle since. -
The 25th Anniversary
This picture is from 1996, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Disney World! This photo was taken from Walt Disney World. As we can see, they set the castle up here like a birthday cake, with candles, sprinkles and other cake-like features. I think this shows here how creative the architects were, and how much the castle has evolved over time. -
The 25th Anniversary (cont.)
So, Disney marking the castle as the center of attention for everyone there hasn’t changed, and I don’t think that it ever will. -
The 25th Anniversary (cont.)
The castle went from a somewhat bland, and uncolorful structure, to one with candles, sprinkles and icing all over it. It’s also cool to see that Disney World is acknowledging the castle as the focal point of the parks, by changing the theme of it. This is significant because when everyone thinks of Disney World now, most people can immediately think of and picture the castle. -
Holiday Decoration
This picture was from the late 2000s and came from DisneyParks Blog. The castle used thousands of LED lights and was supposed to look as if it was dipped in sugar, says FOX35 Orlando, in their article Disney World History: Cinderella Castle over the last 50 years. This took place during the holiday season and continued to for the following bunch of years, until it ended during COVID. -
Holiday Decoration (cont.)
This decorative look goes away from the normal idea of Cinderella’s castle, whereas the others did not. But this one showed great creativity and was a very festive idea for the holidays. -
Holiday Decoration (cont.)
Personally, I love it when Disney decorates their parks for holidays, for example, Halloween. Since the pandemic in 2020, these lights have noticeably been gone, and people aren’t fans of it. Disney supposedly doesn’t want to spend the money to make it happen again, which doesn’t make sense, considering that the castle is the focal point of the Parks and the decorative part of it intrigues many people. -
CBS Video - link at top of description
CBSVideo This video came from CBS Miami from 5 years ago. This video is talking about the upcoming makeover, at the time that Cinderella’s castle is going to go through in the following summer. The castle had gold accents added all over it. It also got two circular platforms, spiral steps, and blue and pearlescent jeweled embellishments. -
CBS Video - link at top of description
CBSVideo This video does a great job of showing the significance of the castle, and the fact that it can make CBS News shows its popularity. They mention at the end of the video how people will still be able to do all of their normal things there, and that none of that is changing, but just the appearance of the castle will be. -
The 50th Anniversary (cont.)
I think that Disney should continue to do this because as I mentioned in the picture of the castle from the holidays, a lot of people enjoy seeing the castle get decorated for different occasions. This picture does a great job of showing Main Street leading up to the castle and how when you are walking down the most popular road in Disney, the thing that catches your eye is the castle. -
The 50th Anniversary
This picture comes from DisneyParks Blog around the end of 2021. I think that this was a great and clever idea by Disney because of the honor it shows. It shows that Disney World has thrived throughout time and that the castle has always been the focal point. For entertainment purposes, they are making renovations to the stage and the showing area for their shows, says WDWMagic.com in their article "Steps and Platforms return to Cinderella Castle stage at Magic Kingdom." -
Bibliography and Sources
CBS Miami. 2020. “Disney World’s Cinderella Castle Getting a Makeover.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRluJZiyQ4w This source is a YouTube video that shows a clip of CBS Miami from 2020. In this source, they talk about Disney World's makeover that was upcoming in 2021 and do a great job of describing, in brief, the changes that are coming. -
Bibliography and Sources
“Disney World History: Cinderella Castle over the last 50 years.” 2021. FOX 35 Orlando. https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/disney-world-history-cinderella-castle-through-the-years. This source is where I got most of my primary sources. They show numerous pictures of Cinderella's Castle throughout the years, and they give little write-ups about each picture. -
Bibliography and Sources
“The History and Legacy of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom.” 2023. Daps Magic. https://dapsmagic.com/2023/10/the-history-and-legacy-of-cinderella-castle-at-walt-disney-world-resorts-magic-kingdom/. This source helped me in writing my introduction, and gave me a lot of background information in terms of the Castle's history in Magic Kingdom. They talked about the origins of the castle and provided multiple pictures of the castle throughout the years as well. -
Bibliography and Sources
Schreiver, Erin. 2022. “History of Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle History of Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle.” Military Disney Tips. https://www.militarydisneytips.com/blog/magic-kingdom/history-of-walt-disney-worlds-cinderella-castle/. This source talks about the purpose of the castle, and like many other sources, gave me pictures of the castle as it evolved. They did a great job of explaining everything the castle does for Disney throughout a calendar year as well. -
Bibliography and Sources
Staff, WDWMAGIC. 2021. “Steps and Platforms Return to Cinderella Castle Stage at Magic Kingdom.” Wdwmagic.com. WDWMAGIC. October 5, 2021. https://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/cinderella-castle/news/05oct2021-steps-and-platforms-return-to-cinderella-castle-stage-at-magic-kingdom.htm. This source shows multiple pictures of the new Castle specifically and some of the new and more updated features that they now have. They have an even better stage, and even cleaner design on the castle now.