Disney announced a new color palette for Cinderella Castle during their “Beyond the Spires: An Insider Look at Disney Castles” D23 panel on Aug. 31, 2025. The 189-foot castle, described as “a staple of Magic Kingdom,” was built in 1971 and has been repainted numerous times, adorned with a range of colors.
The Cinderella version of the company’s iconic castles inspired by their princesses’ lives in Orlando, Florida. Other princess-inspired castles around the world include another version of the Cinderella castle in Tokyo and an Aurora castle in Paris and California.
For Disney World’s 25th anniversary in 1996, Disney debuted the Cinderella Castle Cake design featuring a new bright, pastel-pink paint mimicking frosting with an assortment of oversized candies like gumdrops, lifesavers and lollipops scattered throughout. Along with the candy cane towers, birthday candles and icing drip effects, the 25th anniversary marked a remarkable moment in Cinderella Castle’s history.
In 2021, the castle received an “EARidescent” makeover for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary. In the makeover, the typical blue and gray colors of Cinderella Castle were swapped for “bold royal-blue, light-pink, and shimmering-gold accent pieces inspired by Mary Blair’s original vision and design for Disney’s ‘Cinderella’ (1950).”
With the most recent announcement, Disney is turning back the clock on Cinderella Castle’s design.
Imagineers, or Disney engineers, shared a rendering for the new, “classic and original” design. It will feature “grays, creams, blues, and touches of gold aiming to enhance the castle’s architecture.” The classic colors were chosen to “reflect the Florida sunshine in a way that makes the castle shimmer from every angle,” according to the Disney Parks Blog.
Disney has already begun working on the castle’s transformation. On March 2, early park visitors reported seeing construction crews above the castle in “boom lifts, carefully repainting decorative elements along the tallest tower.”
The most noticeable change as of early March is the replacement of the long-standing gold trim with gray paint. In addition, Disney has “drained portions of the castle moat” to make room for more construction vehicles, signaling the kickstart of more extensive construction work to come.
While an exact end date hasn’t been announced for the repainting of the castle, it’s estimated to be finished in late 2026.
As one of the tallest structures in Disney’s Magic Kingdom and an iconic staple for visitors, Imagineers are tasked with restoring the original look of the castle while keeping its magic alive for guests currently visiting.
