The crown
jewel and centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom.
Your Gateway to the Magic Kingdom! The symbol of Walt Disney World, Cinderella's
Castle is probably the most photogenic object of all the parks.
Cinderella's castle is directly tied into
Fantasyland,
giving Fantasyland the look of a festive medieval tourney. Most of its ride
entrances are like tents against the Castle's walls.
Photos:
Wallpaper:
Facts:
Cinderella Castle is 189 feet tall & is made out of fiberglass.
Construction of the castle began in late 1969.
Herbert Ryman began with a charcoal sketch, which he developed into a
painting. He used several French castles for his inspiration, among them
Chambord, Usse, and Chenonceau. Inspiration also came from the classic Walt
Disney animated feature Cinderella.
It took 18 months to build the castle.
Six hundred tons of steel were used in the framework.
Imagineers sculpted exterior and interior walls to resemble solid granite.
There are 10 towering spires on the castle.
Contrary to myth, the castle cannot be, nor has it ever been, dismantled in
the event of a hurricane.
Inside Cinderella Castle, space for an apartment for the Disney family was
designed & built inside the castle's upper floors, but it has never been
completed or used.
Finishing touches to the castle included Cinderella's mice friends carved
into decorative columns and the Disney family crest in stone above the
breezeways.
What's inside the castle? A shop selling glass & crystal ornaments, & a
restaurant Cinderella's Royal Table (formerly King Stefan's Banquet Hall).
A series of mosaic tile murals adorn the walls in the entry corridor. The
murals, designed by imagineer Dorothea Redmond and executed by mosaicist
Hanns-Joachim Scharff, tell the story of Cinderella in five 15-by-10-foot
panels.
"The bricks [not real] in Cinderella castle get smaller at the top section
to make the castle look bigger"
Construction:
Cinderella Castle was completed in July 1971, after about 18 months of
construction, and reaches to a height of 189 feet (57.6 m) tall -- more than
twice the size of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland in Anaheim,
California. An optical trick known as forced perspective makes Cinderella
Castle appear even larger than it actually is. As it becomes taller, its
proportions get smaller. For example, using this method, the top spire of
the Castle is actually close to half of the size it "appears." Major
elements of the Castle were scaled and angled to give the illusion of
distance and height, a method frequently used in Disney theme parks around
the world.
Cinderella Castle appears to be made of white and grey stone with royal blue
roofs on their turrets; the tops of several towers and two of the tallest
spires are made with real gold and gold leaf. Despite appearances, no bricks
were used in its construction; the inner structure is constructed of
six-hundred tons of steel braced frame construction, and a ten inch thick
reinforced concrete wall encircles the structure to the full height of the
outermost "stone" walls. All of the steel and concrete works are supported
on a concrete drilled caisson foundation. In spite of the fact that this is
not a genuine fortress, it is the next best thing structurally speaking.
Much less fiberglass is used than is popularly supposed. Rather, most of the
exterior is a thick, very hard fiber-reinforced gypsum plaster that is
supported by light gauge metal studs. Most fiberglass work is reserved for
the exterior walls of more ornate upper towers. The roofs are not
fiberglass, either. They are shingled in the same type of plastic that
computer monitor shells are made from, attached to a cone of light gauge
steel sheeting over the steel sub-frame. These towers were lifted by crane,
then welded and bolted permanently to the main structure. Contrary to a
popular legend, the Castle cannot be taken apart in the event of a
hurricane. It would take months to disassemble, it would be too dangerous to
operate the 300 foot (91.4 m) crane required in windy conditions, and there
would have to be a safer building to keep it in; it was simpler to design it
to handle a hurricane. It can easily withstand the 110 mph (175 km/h) design
wind speeds in Central Florida with a great deal of strength in reserve.
Cinderella Castle is also surrounded by a moat, which contains approximately
3.37 million gallons (12.76 megaliters) of water; however, unlike the
drawbridge at Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, Cinderella Castle can
not raise its drawbridge. There are a total of 27 towers on the castle, each
numbered 1-29-- tower numbers 13 and 17 were deleted before construction
when it was realized that they could not really be seen from anywhere in the
park, due mainly to the other Fantasyland buildings. The tower with the
clock in front is 10, the tallest is 20. 23 is the other golden-roofed
tower.
Originally, a suite was built for Walt Disney and his family, but since
Disney died before the park opened, it was turned into an office. There are
three elevators inside the castle. One is for guest use and goes between the
lobby of Cinderella's Royal table, and the second floor where the restaurant
is. The second is for restaurant staff use, and is located in tower 2 to the
left of the drawbridge. It has landings in the Utilidors, the mezzanine
level in a break room, and on the second floor in the kitchen. The third
elevator is in tower 20, and services the Utilidors, the breezeway, the
kitchen of Cinderella's Royal Table, and the Cinderella Castle Suite. The
suite is about 30 feet below the level where the cable is attached to tower
20. Access to the cable is by ladder. Since January 2007 the suite has been
used as a prize for the Disney Dreams Giveaway at the Walt Disney World
Resort during the Year Of A Million Dreams Celebration.
Guests have an opportunity to spend a night in the castle if they win the
Giveaway. Guests could be approached by a Disney cast member at any time in
one of the four theme parks and informed that they have won a prize. The
chance to stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite is just one of the many
prizes.
Since the Year of a Million Dreams Celebration ended on the 31st December
2008 there has been a rumour circulating that the castle suite would be used
by a children's charity for terminally ill children to have a chance to stay
in the castle suite. This has not been confirmed by Disney, at this stage.
Cinderella Castle was designed so that it was tall enough that it could be
seen from the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom, where many
guests took ferries from the parking lot to the gates of the park. In theme
park jargon, Cinderella Castle was conceived as the primary visual magnet
(known in Disney parlance as a 'weenie') that draws new entering guests
through Main Street, U.S.A. towards the central hub, from where all other
areas can be reached.
The castle was repainted in the Fall of 2006, and now is a slightly off
white, brown and pinkish color, and the turrets are a much darker blue.
When
the sun sets, the castle is illuminated in 16.7 million colors, thanks to
Vari-Lite intelligent lighting fixtures placed on different Castle levels
and surrounding the castle. The castle itself plays a role in the Magic
Kingdom's fireworks show, Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, in
which it changes color in synchronization with the dramatic music of the
display. The same color changing and effects occurs for the other fireworks
shows: HalloWishes (in Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party), Magic, Music
and Mayhem (during Disney's Pirate and Princess Party) and the Christmas
fireworks show Holiday Wishes during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.
At the park's closing, the nightly 'Kiss Goodnight' is performed, in which
Roy O. Disney's dedication speech for the Magic Kingdom is played all over
the park alongside classic Disney music which changes with the vivid colors
of the castle. When the park closes before 11pm, the show is performed again
at 11pm providing entertainment for guests of Disney resort hotels bordering
the Seven Seas Lagoon.
Beginning November 2007, for the first time, the "Castle Dream Lights", with
over 200,000 LED Christmas lights, covered Cinderella Castle and was lit
nightly during a new stage show in front of the castle. The castle would
look like ice and was very popular among guests during the Holiday Seasons.
Search TalkDisney for more information on Cinderellas Castle:
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Cinderella's
Castle
Cinderella Castle is 189 feet tall & is made out of fiberglass. 
Videos of Cinderella's Castle
When
the sun sets, the castle is illuminated in 16.7 million colors, thanks to
Vari-Lite intelligent lighting fixtures placed on different Castle levels
and surrounding the castle. The castle itself plays a role in the Magic
Kingdom's fireworks show, Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, in
which it changes color in synchronization with the dramatic music of the
display. The same color changing and effects occurs for the other fireworks
shows: HalloWishes (in Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party), Magic, Music
and Mayhem (during Disney's Pirate and Princess Party) and the Christmas
fireworks show Holiday Wishes during Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.