At long last, Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle has shed her construction scrims, revealing a rich new color scheme. For most, the shades of blue and pink, sprinkled with a bit of pixie dust, will seem familiar. Since 1955, Disneyland’s castle has been repainted many times, but generally just a variation on a theme. Visitors of the castle this morning will see one of the most detailed and nuanced updates yet. But guests will have to wait until the 24th before they can walk across the drawbridge and through that classic arch once again.
We were able to tour the castle with project lead, Kim Irvine, whose father helped build the castle. Kim herself has worked on most of the castle refurbishments over the years.
The 2019 update was part of the pre-Galaxy’s Edge Stardusting of the park. With so many new guests and worldwide attention focused on Disneyland, it was only fitting that the central icon of the park got a much-needed update. Years of holiday and anniversary overlays had damaged the roofs and their gilded toppers.
While down for repairs, there was extra time to experiment with a new scheme that plays on the height perception of the castle. The shades progressively lighten as your gaze goes up the silhouette on Walt Disney’s iconic creation. Disney uses forced perspective to make the buildings of Main Street appear taller, here they use color.
The turrets at the top of the towers now match the cobalt blue currently seen in the animated intro played before Disney films. The classic diamond pattern helps to offset the bright colors. Topping the towers are vibrant gold spires, made out of durable metal to withstand the elements. The shingles have been individually painted with weather-resistant coatings and some had an application of luster to accentuate the natural highlights you’d expect to see. The biggest change is the bits of pixie dust painted directly onto the central blue roof.
In addition to all of the color changes, the smaller details received the same amount of care and attention. Some of the accents now wear gold paint to match the spires and castle arch.
A team of custodial Cast Members laboriously polished the brass found atop the roofs and railings. The interior walk-through was also tended to during this update.
This was Imagineer Kim Irvine’s sixth castle refurbishment, and arguably one of the most important. Irvine chose to emphasize richer pinks and deeper blues (make it pink, make it blue) to honor the original designs of Herb Ryman, while also following through with John Hench’s vision of doing something more memorable than ‘everyday’ beige. The shingles are selectively highlighted and the color palate bridges the gap between reality and Fantasyland without being too cartoony.
Sleeping Beauty Castle doesn’t play second-fiddle to anything — not even a new land. Expect to find the old girl looking shiny and new, ready to welcome guests once again on the expected reopening day of May 24th.
We’re curious to know how you feel about the latest iteration on Disney’s most iconic structure.
Discount Disneyland Tickets and Travel:
Did you know you could get discount Disneyland tickets and travel from MiceChat’s approved sponsor? It’s true! You could save a bundle folks:
Discount Disneyland Tickets and travel – HERE
You must be logged in to post a comment.