Disney World ready to repaint Cinderella Castle

[Disney4me]

Cinderella Castle, the centerpiece structure of Magic Kingdom theme park, will be getting a new look that’s kind of like one of its old-timey looks.

“We are bringing back a classic color scheme to the castle. … The grays, the creams, the rich blues with some touches of gold that really are the heart of this castle,” said Wyatt Winter, executive producer with Walt Disney Imagineering, during a recent Destination D23 session titled “Beyond the Spires: An Insider Look at Disney Castles.”

No time frame was announced for the start or end of the project.

Currently, Cinderella Castle ascends into a pinkish, rose-gold hue. The spires were made a deeper blue than before. This look arrived in 2020. It was augmented with gold swag, ribbons and medallions the next year, marking the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World. After the celebration ended, the accessories were removed, but the paint stayed.

A Disney artist rendering gives an idea of how Cinderella Castle may look in the future. (Courtesy Walt Disney Co.)

The D23 panel covered Disney castles worldwide, each of which has its own color designs, said Katie Gibbs, art director with Imagineering.

“It’s not a ‘one size fits all.’ In fact, every castle is treated completely differently,” Gibbs said.

“A good example of that is the stone on the lower portion of the castle. For instance, here in Florida, we have seven colors on the stone, and when we go to paint it, we actually number each stone so it becomes an actual paint-by-number to get the perfect blend,” she said.

“Another trick we do is we tend to keep the darker colors towards the bottom of the castle, and the colors get lighter as they go up,” Gibbs said. “That creates the illusion that the castle is much taller than it really is.”

Cinderella Castle has had several looks since it debuted at Magic Kingdom in 1971. One notable version, corresponding with the park’s 25th anniversary in 1996, turned the icon into a giant pink birthday cake. That prompted Pepto-Bismol comparisons and outrage from folks who waited years to have their photos taken in front of the classic castle.

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Repainting the 189-foot-tall castle and its 27 towers could be a royal pain. It houses Cinderella’s Royal Table restaurant and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience, serves as a gateway between the park’s Main Street and Fantasyland, and is a backdrop for stage shows.

The job can require cranes and negotiating the moat at its base. And the castle sits squarely in the center of the world’s most visited theme park.

“We want to be part of the magic but not ruin the magic,” senior project manager Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur told the Sentinel during the 50th anniversary refurbishment.

More castle talk is expected in the next episode of “We Call It Imagineering,” which will be available on YouTube on Sept. 8.

“When you step into our park, you see our castle. You want that to be just that great moment,” said Colleen Meyers, WDI executive color design and paint, in a trailer for the episode.

“We’ve updated the color every time we’ve repainted it. We want to make sure that every guest that comes has the opportunity to get a really beautiful picture with it,” she said.

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