Cinderella's Castle

[Disney Vacation Planner]

At a height of almost 180 feet tall, Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World in Florida is almost twice the height of the Sleeping Beauty Castle at DisneyLand in Anaheim California. Architecturally it was inspired by French 12th and 13th century buildings.

The castle itself is made from a fibreglass shell over a steel frame. Service tunnels replace the dungeons that exist in most movie castles, and the upper rooms of the castle function as security rooms. High within the castle an appartment was built, which was originally meant for occupation by members of the Disney family, but was apparently never occupied.

Moving through the castle from the Plaza at the end of Main Street USA, and heading towards FantasyLand, the interior of the lower castle walls are adorned by elaborate mosaics which depict the Cinderella story. The mosaics themselves are built up from almost one million glass tiles in over 500 shades, along with some sterling silver and 14 Karat gold leaf.

Nestled towards the side of the castle, and on the path to TomorrowLand, the Cinderella Wishing Well can provide an intimite quiet spot at times. All money thrown into the wishing well is donated to various children's charities.

As dusk falls over the Magic Kingdom, the impressive evening firework display is heralded by Tinkerbell, who appears high in one of the castle's towers, and slides along a steel wire that stretches from the castle over part of Main Street USA, accompanied by a small piece of narration, and the theme tune ":When you wish upon a star".

Note that unlike the castle at Tokyo Disneyland, the earlier Walt Disney World version doesn't house any form of real attraction, other than the shops, whereas the Tokyo Disneyland castle houses a guided "Disney Villians" walkthrough attraction, and the castle at Disneyland Paris has the walkthrough "Sleeping Dragon" attraction.