Hong Kong Disneyland’s new ‘Castle of Magic Dreams’ is an architectural vision of diversity

Much has changed in the 55 years since Walt Disney’s death – not just in the fate of his brand, now one of the most influential corporations in the world, but in the characters he creates and the values ​​he promotes.

So when the company started building a new fairytale castle at Disneyland in Hong Kong, it took into account something that would have barely come up for discussion when its first resort opened in Anaheim, California, in 1955: diversity.

The new Castle of Magic Dreams, completed in November and reopened last month after Hong Kong’s Covid-19 restrictions eased, beckons to the widest variety of female characters now featured in Disney films. Unlike the Cinderella Castles in Florida and Tokyo or the Sleeping Beauty Castles in California and Paris – all partly inspired by 19th-century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany – the design represents not just a heroine, but more than a dozen.

The new structure was built on top of Sleeping Beauty Castle, the centerpiece of Hong Kong Disneyland since the resort opened in 2005. As such, Princess Aurora still occupies a special place in the new castle, with a tower dedicated to ” Sleeping Beauty “protagonist standing taller.

But the other 12 towers honor a variety of different princesses, queens and heroines, including historical or folk figures fictionalized by Disney, such as the Chinese warrior Mulan and the Native American figure Pocahontas. (Anna and Elsa from “Frozen” share a tower between them).

The diversity is also reflected in the eclectic architecture, which sees rose gold domes mixed with towers and towers in relief. Disney’s so-called “Imaginators” – the artists, designers and engineers behind the theme parks – incorporated the characters’ stories into the design of each tower, like an apple trellis pattern in Snow White (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs “), details cut out for Ariel (” Little Mermaid “) and a water lily motif for Tiana (” The Princess and the Frog “). Elsewhere, the structure is finished with gold tips, rose windows with stained glass and columns with hand-carved ornaments.

Design challenges

Hong Kong’s Sleeping Beauty Castle was directly inspired by Disneyland’s first resort in California. This castle was designed in the 1950s by Walt Disney, who envisioned an amusement park for the whole family, complete with a replica of an old-fashioned American main street and distinct “dreamland”.

To honor its founder’s vision, Disney decided to preserve Hong Kong’s Sleeping Beauty Castle when it embarked on a major expansion in 2016 – instead of completely demolishing it, designers built on and around it.

“The original castle is the base of Disney, so we wanted to build on that,” said Hilcia Pena, senior architect at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) in a video interview.

The result is a kind of palimpsest, where the versions of many castles – the California original, the 2005 Hong Kong replica and the new Castle of Magic Dreams – come together as one. After Hong Kong’s $ 10.9 billion ($ 1.4 million) multi-year expansion, which also saw the park receive several new attractions, the rethought castle is twice the height of the old one.

According to Pena, this means that the castle is no longer overshadowed by the mountainous landscape of Lantau, the island where Disneyland in Hong Kong is located. Imagineers even used helium-filled balloons to help them visualize the height of the structure in perspective in relation to the backdrop. They then used 3D technology to model how the old castle and the new one would connect.

One of the biggest challenges was finding a way to build on top of the existing castle, keeping the park open to visitors. The team landed on the modular construction, which sees individual parts of a building, or “modules”, built in a factory before being transported to the site. In this case, the castle was built from 15 large parts, each prefabricated, painted and assembled off site. Individual towers and other components were then dispatched and secured in place for a period of three months.

Together, the towers form a mosaic of cultures through colors, symbols and patterns, each offering different elements from the worlds of their respective characters. Jasmine’s fuchsia tower is decorated with an Arabic fabric pattern and crowned with a turquoise dome. Mulan’s tower is engraved with a cherry blossom motif. And the tower of Mérida is full of Celtic patterns, a reference to the four clans in the 2012 film “Brave”.

Each tower culminates in a unique gold-tipped finish for each character: a golden shell for Ariel and an enchanted rose for Belle. Meanwhile, inside, guests will find 13 columns with details dedicated to the protagonists’ friends, such as sole and Sebastian de Ariel, Merida’s triplets and Moana’s pet pig, Pua and the rooster HeiHei.

“We are understanding different parts of the world, so we cannot focus on just one group, or a princess or a local,” said Pena. “Our stories continue to grow and we learn about different cultures around the world. So, how do we put this in the buildings and the stories we try to tell?”

The only direct representations of the 14 heroines are found inside, where the Imagineers designed bronze statues of each. Her evolution – from Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, whose lives depend on a man’s kiss, to safe and powerful characters like Merida and Moana – tells a story about how Disney has repositioned itself over the years. But even the statues of the oldest characters were designed with contemporary values ​​in mind.

“Instead of portraying them in a very submissive way, we portray them (all) as powerful women in a very engaging pose,” said Amanda Chiu, a producer at WDI Asia, pointing to the proud representation of Ariel while exercising her new freedom and Jasmine riding alone on the magic carpet.

Local inspiration

In keeping with the origins of the characters, Imagineers was inspired by Europe, China and the Pacific Islands. “A European castle has a style and the same detail everywhere,” said Pena. “This one has different architectural styles – even the domes have very different styles.”

It is appropriate, perhaps, that such an eclectic castle exists in Hong Kong, one of the most diverse cities in Asia. “Hong Kong is a city with a rich cultural structure and cultural diversity,” said Chiu, who was born and raised in the territory.

In addition to being inspired around the world, Disneyland Hong Kong was also built according to the principles of feng shui, an important aspect of design and architecture in parts of Asia. Based on an ancient Chinese system, ancient practice involves positioning objects or buildings in relation to each other and their surroundings to encourage happiness and good fortune. In 2005, for example, the angle of the resort’s front gate was changed by 12 degrees in the belief that it would keep positive energy, or “chi,” flowing through the park. Feng Shui also informed the project of the new castle.

“Feng shui is about the balance of the five elements,” said Chiu, referring to wood, fire, earth, metal and water. “We want to take advantage of this harmony and apply it to the castle.”

Wood and earth are symbolized by the castle’s landscaping – a mix of live plants and artificial foliage – that helps it blend in with the environment; the fire will be used in pyrotechnic shows at night; the metal can be found in the gold finishes of the towers; and water is used in the castle’s moat and dancing fountains. “All of these elements come together in good harmony,” added Chiu.

Although still rooted in a kind of tradition, Hong Kong’s Castle of Magic Dreams nevertheless symbolizes Disney’s modernization efforts. With an increasingly global customer base and multiple resorts in Asia, diversity can be not only a matter of values, but also good business.