news

Disneyland Paris completes one-year renovation of iconic Sleeping Beauty castle

Just in time to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year, the Sleeping Beauty Castle has reopened to guests at Disneyland Paris following a 12 months renovation period

Disneyland Paris’ iconic Sleeping Beauty castle has undergone an extensive renovation

Disneyland Paris has completed a 12-month renovation of its Sleeping Beauty Castle, with the landmark attraction reopening to guests in time for the park’s 30th-anniversary celebration.

Restored to its former glory, the work marks the first major refurbishment of the castle since its opening in 1992. According to Disney, the castle – which was built in line with the European cultural heritage that inspired Disney movies – has been subject to renovation works of the same calibre as those performed on historical monuments.

“This is the first time we’ve undertaken something so monumental,” said Tracy Eck, art director for Walt Disney Imagineering in Paris.

“Certain effects have even been improved so that the castle’s structure will be even more resilient in the upcoming years,’ she added, noting that the work took nearly a year to complete.

In completing the work, nine French suppliers were hired to carry out elements of the renovation, including carpentry, roofing, painting and ironworking.

“Some of the suppliers with whom we were lucky to collaborate on this project only work on historical monuments,” said Eck. “When they accepted this assignment, we realised that they viewed our castle as a historical monument that's a part of our heritage. It was very touching.”

CREDIT: DISNEYLAND PARIS

Disney has redeveloped a number of its castles in recent times, with the castle at Hong Kong Disneyland - previously its smallest - undergoing a dramatic transformation to celebrate the park’s 15th anniversary and bring it up to par with the rest of Disney’s fantastical centrepieces.

The Cinderella Castle at Disney World also received a facelift for Magic Kingdom’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, with the shades of blue and grey transformed into pastels of bold royal-blue, light-pink, and shimmering-gold, as inspired by Disney Imagineer Mary Blair’s original vision and design for Disney's Cinderella in 1950.

Disney says that the renovated Paris castle’s colour scheme is made up of 14 different shades of pink. Like all of Disney’s castles, it faces north to ensure that the sun never passes behind it. It’s also the only one to feature a dragon, with the 24 metre-long (79 foot) animatronic weighing more than two tons. The castle is also the most visited in Europe, with Disneyland the most visited attraction across the entire continent.