It’s an exciting day here at The Most Magical Place on Earth — Walt Disney World! For those who I haven’t met yet, my name is Jason—and I have the incredible honor of leading the team at Magic Kingdom Park, a place I hold very near and dear to my heart.
One of my favorite parts about my job is leading such passionate cast members…and just this morning, we had the opportunity to exclusively share with them the news that our park’s iconic, awe-inspiring centerpiece—Cinderella Castle—is about to get even more magical.
Cinderella first transformed into a princess 70 years ago this week when the animated classic was released—and ever since, her courage and kindness have been inspiring guests and cast members alike. We are excited to share that her story has inspired a bold, shimmering and royal makeover of her namesake castle at the heart of Walt Disney World Resort.
Take a look at this concept image of what the newly-enhanced Cinderella Castle will look like when work is completed:
You may notice this exciting work taking place as these stunning enhancements begin in the coming weeks, continuing through summer. But don’t worry! We’ll still get to catch all of our castle favorites like “Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire” and “Happily Ever After.”
I can’t wait to bring you along on the journey for this royal makeover of our park’s iconic centerpiece. When you visit, be sure to share your excitement with our cast members—they can’t wait to see the shimmering towers shining down on the kingdom each and every morning!
Comments
I was hoping for another birthday cake design (sad face emoji)
You are kidding!!! I already booked my flights for July and can’t change them. Its all of our first time going to Disney World. You have to be kidding me!
❤️❤️❤️
Not a fan of the pink.
That said, I would rather you nix all the stage shows so that my kids can walk through the castle again throughout the day
Is the castle going to be close out like the Disneyland one? What are the date for the changes? I’m planning a trip and I want to take a pic with the new castle
Looks beautiful, but looks similar to the paint job that was recently done at Sleeping Beauty’s castle.
Sorry boys and girls….too flashy….too gold
Looks great! I look forward to seeing it! Now if they’d only bring back the benches like are pictured, I’d be a really happy old geezer! The lack of benches makes it really difficult for us oldies to enjoy the parks anymore.
This is devastating for so many people who have come to view this magic place as our happy place or second home. The castle has always been elegant and this new look is gaudy and cheap looking. So very sad.
The darker blue will be good for the Florida sun, but why so much pink and gold? Are they trying to make it look like the castle at Disneyland? Seems strange if they are trying to honor the anniversary of Cinderella… not sleeping beauty. We just visited Disneyland after they did that paint job and it’s very nice but these colors looks like the exact same paint colors they just used there in CA. 😔
Man, there are a lot of grumps around here. I’m sure it will look great.
Oh my gosh people, life brings changes…we can either move with them and be happy or stay stagnant and miserable. Give the new castle a chance, let the splendor and sparkle reflect in your attitude. You know a picture never does the real thing justice, wait until it’s finished and try to see the magic the way they have in mind for us. I’m excited to see what is coming…..thank you, Jason!
DVC Member for 26 years!
It’s beautiful! Headed out there next week for my daughter’s 5th birthday and so excited to share the magic with her and my husband for the first time (for them both!). Always happy for an excuse to plan another trip, will have to come back in 2021 to see the castle updates! Thank you to the team working on this for your thought, intention, and excitement in keeping Walt’s vision of change and progress alive. Keeping things pristine and updated is part of the immersive experience he was so passionate about creating for guests, and I’m certain the castle’s new look will be stunning!
Beautiful! Much prettier than the current look, as much as I love it as it already is.
Gorgeous! Thanks for bringing some extra magic to Cinderella Castle! ✨ I’m sure the princess would approve! I’ll look forward to a new family photo in front of the shimmering new backdrop!
Love the dark blue and gold, the pink of kind of odd as it looks like sleeping beauty castle. I hope the guests who are visiting this spring and summer will not have the castle view tarnished with scaffolding. What a disappointment that would be.
Oh I am very impressed with the Regal makeover the castle will be receiving!
(I am a tad concerned there will be maybe crews blocking the view of the castle though with partitions and cranes. Will the castle be visible or totally blocked from view?)
It’s such an AWESOME view when you first enter the park in the morning and see the sun beaming onto the castle…I hope on our trip in May we can still see the aura of the castle.
But, for sure we will return in 2021 to see it’s full grandeur.
I don’t recall seeing this going to refurb, so I do feel badly for those going on their first trip to WDW and potentially having the view impeded.
It IS a sight! <3 WDW!
The pink isn’t sitting right with me either. The castle is such an icon, making it too flashy is a worry. Oh well, I guess it can be undone in a few years.
I can’t wait to see it gone! But… will construction cover the castle for a while?
Hi, Luciana! While temporary construction equipment may be present while Cinderella Castle receives its royal makeover, it will remain uncovered and we will do our best to ensure guests are still able to capture special photos and memories in this iconic spot.
Cinderella Castle looks regal! Maybe the article should have mentioned that the embellishments were to help celebrate the theme park’s Golden Anniversary in 2021? A very tasteful and fitting transformation of the Magic Kingdom’s icon! She’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Beautiful !!!
It looks like it will be amazing! I can’t wait to get back! It looks like the 50th is going to be unbelievable!
When is the anticipated completion date for the Royal Castle makeover, because we have already planned a trip for this Oct 2020, with our 8 yr old grandson?
Hi, Jan! Our work is expected to begin in the coming weeks and be complete before the end of summer. I hope you have a magical trip!
Have the current Imagineers seen “The Imagineering Story” on Disney+ where it’s explained how the original Imagineers used more muted colors on the higher parts of the castle to add the the forced perspective illusion of height? I’m hoping this it’s only in this rendering that the colors are all the same tone to the top, and muted colors will be used on the actual castle.
Welcome to the blog Mr. Jason!
Thanks, Skip! Excited to be here!
Nooooooo! It is beautiful, majestic, and magical the way it is! 😩
Hey Walt Disney World fans, the company just repainted the Disneyland castle in preparation of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge’s grand opening. The revealed castle looks fantastic. I’m sure Magic Kingdom’s will look beautiful when complete! The construction is definitely worth dealing with. Disney knows what they are doing!!
We are going to be staying in Disney in early May and when we booked we asked if there were going to be any important refurbishments and was told “ no”. Someone from Disney needs to post on here what we can expect to see or not see . Will the castle have obstructed views of it then ? It is the most iconic view to see when there and especially at night with the shows of lights on the castle . Idk why Disney didn’t plan this in January when it is even slower there , but I am hoping someone from Disney will post the extent of the work that we will see or hopefully not see in the beginning of May . Someone from Disney please help us all because so many invest a lot to come to Disney, financially and emotionally look forward to seeing the castle and deserve to know in advance. I even booked this two weeks ago and was told nothing about this when I asked before I chose my dates to book .
If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 67 years, it’s never underestimate the Imagineers! And I do believe that they know and take into account the fact that Cinderella Castle is iconic and that there are many people who will be making that one and only dream trip to WDW to have their picture taken in front of Cinderella Castle. I’m looking forward to seeing the Castle on my next trip.
Hi, Carol! You are absolutely right—the Imagineers do a fantastic job. And while temporary construction equipment may be present while Cinderella Castle receives its royal makeover, it will remain uncovered and we will do our best to ensure guests are still able to capture special photos and memories in this iconic spot.
Will they still be doing the princess breakfast? I have that booked for mid-July.
Dates??? It would be helpful for those planning trips to know when. But seriously though… Can we just get rid of the terrible castle shows and just be able to walk through it again??
We have also made reservations for the Princess breakfast in June. Will this still happen?? This is our first time for anyone in our family and planning has been overwhelming. It would be nice to know before our trip what will happen. Any information is greatly appreciated.
Hi, Stephanie! Throughout the makeover, guests will still be able to enjoy favorites inside the castle such as Cinderella’s Royal Table and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. Have a magical vacation!
Cinderella’s castle has always been magnificent, majestic and glorious in her stunning simplicity! Dressed like this, she has lost her serenity, elegance and grace…she now looks more akin to her gaudy sisters! 😞 Hope it’s not forever and after the birthday celebrations are over, she goes back to her beautiful original splendour!
Not my favorite, I enjoy the castle the way it is. But if they keep it simple, it’ll stay more elegant
The plans look amazing. Will the renovation works have an effect on the firework show and the light projection show? I’m travelling for the first time in April. Thanks
I’m actually extremely annoyed. How’s it normal that Disney makes announcements with such short notice? This is an expensive vacation, to begin with, and for the person that never been in Disney World, I get more and more anxious. I’m going with my daughter for the first time in the 2nd week of March. I already knew about other constructions since this was announced prior. But to announce there will be a renovation of Cinderella castle “coming weeks” is unbelievable. It is such an iconic place. And, by the way, on the pics, it looks much better now!
Within 1 month there were so many changes (FP, dining, refurbs), to me, it’s becoming the most stressful place on earth 🙁
Looks nice. I’ve always wanted to visit WDW and my favorite princess’ castle. Hoping to next year. I love the look that castle had and how elegant and the way the blue and grayish/stone colors looks together. Keep moving forward as he said!! I’m wondering though, are the castles supposed to look similar? DLR sleeping beauty’s castle just got an amazing glow up as well so now it seems like all the parks me castle will have that pink and blue look to them. Is that what the theme for the castle are? Is that what you’re going for?
So, to be clear, there will be construction equipment, but the castle will not be covered up, is that correct?
I’m coming this summer for the first time, thinking i was realising my dream 😔 will the castle be clear? Will it be possible to see something inside? So sad ti read this post 😔
Hi! I like the change!… What months Summer include for Disney?
I’m 35 years old, I have being wishing to go for more than 20 years and I’ll be going in September for the first time =).
So I’m wondering if the infamous crane will be ever present throughout the whole update? It would be so nice if the hours for the crane extension visibility to be evening hours…just a suggestion.
I’m sure it will be beautiful, just like the cast members’ smiles in the pictures you’ve included. Nothing like making the most magical place on earth sparkle even more!
Counting down to our December trip when I can see it in person!
Nooo! Love it the way it is. Hopefully they will change it back after the 50yr celebration. Not a fan of the pink and gold. The castle is so pretty the way it is now.
Do we have dates? “the coming weeks” isnt really good enough…
We have scrimped and saved for over 2 years to come and we are due to arrive in 3 weeks and if the castle will be surrounded by Cranes this will be extremely upsetting!! Without any warning either? How utterly ridiculous.
We have saved a lot for this trip and my 2 little girls want to see the castle and take pictures, there is very little time in advance with which they announced their work, I hope they can do something about it because we made many sacrifices to make this holiday.
I know that change is a constant, but am really hoping our first pictures with our new grandson aren’t going to have a bunch of equipment blocking the already beautiful view. It will be especially sad if it’s there the night we’ve already booked for the Fireworks Dessert Party. I’m hoping “next few weeks” works out to be at least 19 days away.
Hi! I will go to Magic Kingdom this summer and I’m sad of hearing this new 😔 I would to like to know if on 1st September the works will be finished to enjoy the new castle. Thanks!!
Hi Jason , please be specific , is the castle going to have a wall at the base surrounding the castle during work? Will we still be able to walk through (under) the castle? I hope no wall up for all us Disney vacation dreamers wanting to have the magic of seeing the castle touch our hearts. I’ve read they are draining parts of the moats, is this true, if so are the side walkways around the castle ( moats ) closed off too. Hopefully the painting will be done mostly overnight and the worst we will see is a crane or two up during the day . Perhaps Tinker Bell work some of her magic and this renovation will very little alter the views of the park that we all dream to see !!!
Dear Mr Kirk, Your proposed work looks great but your last minute announcement has come as a major blow. I cannot begin to describe to you how disappointed we are to hear that 2 weeks before we depart from Scotland for our long awaited/special 10th anniversary celebration/first time visit/family trip to WDW, we discover that the main attraction is going to be under construction! We have been saving and planning for this visit for years and our children have been dreaming and talking about seeing Cinderella’s castle every time they watch one of your movies. This timeline is very vague and extremely disappointing, especially given that there is already so much other work going on across the parks in WDW at the moment. We understand that you need to make changes and updates but we have already been disappointed to learn of the closure of a number of other attractions and this could potentially really spoil our visit. Please can you release your dates for work to commence and also commit to working through the evening hours to avoid having a negative impact on so many WDW customer’s expectations & experience. Thank you in advance for anything you can do to limit our disappointment!
We’ve had our trip booked since September last year and this is a once in a lifetime trip for us coming from Australia. Will construction halt for the 4th July weekend so it doesn’t obstruct the fireworks show? We’re really disappointed. 3 July is our ten year wedding anniversary and I’ve been dreaming of my photo in front of the castle for ages.
This is exciting news and I can’t wait to see it completed! To those that are upset, try to think about the positive. Weather the castle is in the middle of a makeover or not, you’re going to be in the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World!🎉 You can still have the most magical time! Your photos of the castle will be more unique than others. You may even have the famous “Disney Crane” in your photos. Not everyone gets to see that. Not everyone gets to see the progress of how the imagineers do things, and what they do is AMAZING! Try and stay positive, and if you do that, I promise, you’ll have the most magical experiences. °o° ✨
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