| NOTE: The Year of a
Million Dreams has segued into "What Will You
Celebrate?" Stays in the Castle suite are no longer
"up for grabs." However, WDW occasionally awards
stays in the suite as part of special promotions. Cinderella
Castle Suite
A
Castle Suite Fit for a Princess
For everyone who has ever dreamed
of becoming fairy-tale royalty and dwelling in an enchanted
castle -- even if only for a night -- the Magic Kingdom Park
at Walt Disney World Resort is about to become a bit more
magical. Those prince and princess dreams will come true --
for one lucky family every night throughout Year of a Million
Dreams. An exquisite fairy-tale suite is being prepared
inside Cinderella Castle at the heart of the Magic Kingdom
Park. What will lucky winners of a night in the castle find
inside? The Insider wanted to find out, so we went to the
source, Imagineer Stephen Silvestri, who has been working
night and day (quite literally!) to help create a suite that's
truly the stuff dreams are made of.
Stephen gave us a quick verbal tour through the suite, which
has been designed as though the Guest were an honored visitor
spending the night as a Guest of Cinderella. Everything
captures the flavor of late 17th-Century French palace life --
this is the period when the original story of Cinderella was
written by Charles Perrault, and also the period in which
Disney's "Cinderella" was set.
"You go through a concierge area off the breezeway, with
tapestries and a French desk. Then you enter the elevator,
which is very 21st Century! But we looked at Cinderella's
carriage from the film, and we thought that this was the
carriage for the Guest to enter the suite. We took some of the
design themes from the carriage -- the crest from the carriage
is on the floor in a mosaic, and some pillowing on the walls.
"That carries you up to the suite, which opens and then
you find yourself in a lobby space. There once again we
captured the time period of the late 1600s. We have all of
these beautiful wooden walls with some nice mosaics or scenes
from the film worked in. On the floor there's a full mosaic
showing Cinderella's carriage. We went for the feeling of a
chateau, more than a Gothic castle. We've got some wonderful
display items there -- Cinderella's glass slipper.
Story
continues below
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"Then it's time to enter the suite! When you open the
door, the first thing you see is the beautiful fireplace and
some of the stained-glass windows, and the parlor in the
distance.
"We extended some of the castle stonework into the
bedchamber, because we still wanted you to feel like you're in
our castle. But not on all of the walls, because stone
everywhere would be a very cold experience. So some of the
walls are paneled with wood, with some mirroring. That helps
extend the space and is very appropriate to the era."
Stephen explains that the goal was to remain true to the feel
of the classic film, and to Cinderella Castle itself, while
creating a luxurious contemporary suite that makes a 21st
Century visitor feel utterly pampered. This took some creative
thinking -- for instance, the suite contains two flatscreen
TVs. To blend in with the décor, these have been made to look
like mirrors when not in use, and one can also display a
portrait of Cinderella herself.
Other spectacular touches include stained-glass windows
overlooking Liberty Square on one side and Fantasyland on the
other. Guests will also be stunned by the beautiful
hand-assembled mosaics throughout the suite.
As one might imagine, putting together this beautiful retreat
is a major undertaking -- teams of artisans, designers, and
specialists are working around the clock in the Castle. And
because the elevator needed to be removed and replaced with a
much larger one, for much of the construction period, all the
people and supplies have had to reach the suite the
old-fashioned way: by climbing eight long flights of stairs.
"We want to make sure the Guest experience is as seamless
as possible -- that when they come to the Park they see what
they came to see," Stephen assures us.
The suite is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of
2007 -- the whole project has come together in only around six
months. "We put this together quite quickly. Fortunately
we had a team that was so well-versed in Disney history and
the Castle's history, and Cinderella!" Stephen explains.
"It's something that has been proposed before but never
came to pass, so we researched what already existed and had
been done."
Stephen adds, "We have an incredible team, and I believe
Guests are going to have quite the experience." We have
no doubt that next year, some lucky Guests are going to have a
Disney experience unlike any before -- one that is truly a
dream come true.
Artist's rendition of
Cinderella Bedchamber
(Above
article and photo copyright Disney. As published in the
December 12, 2006 edition of "Disney Insider"
newsletter)
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