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

Much has changed in the 55 years since Walt Disney died – not only in the fate of his brand, now one of the world’s most influential companies, but also in the characters it creates and the values ​​it promotes.

So when the company started building a new fairytale castle in Hong Kong Disneyland, it took into account something that would hardly have been included in the discussions when the first resort opened in Anaheim, California in 1955: diversity.

Completed in November and reopened last month after Hong Kong’s Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed, the new Castle of Magical Dreams nods to the wider 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 of which are inspired in part by the 19th-century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany – the design represents not just one heroine, but more than one dozen.

The new structure was built atop the existing Sleeping Beauty Castle, the centerpiece of Hong Kong Disneyland since the resort’s opening in 2005. As such, Princess Aurora still has a special place in the new castle, with a tower dedicated to the “Sleeping Beauty” “. protagonist standing the longest.

But the other 12 towers pay tribute to a variety of different princesses, queens, and heroines, including historical or folk characters 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).

Diversity is also reflected in the eclectic architecture, with rose gold domes mixed with relief turrets and spiers. Disney’s so-called ‘Imagineers’ – the artists, designers and engineers behind the theme parks – incorporated the characters’ storylines into the design of each tower, such as an apple grid pattern in Snow White (‘ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’). “), scalloped details for Ariel’s (” Little Mermaid “) and a water lily motif for Tiana’s (” The Princess and the Frog “). Elsewhere, the structure boasts gold-tipped finials, stained glass windows and columns with hand-carved decorations.

Design challenges

Hong Kong’s original Sleeping Beauty Castle is directly inspired by California’s first Disneyland resort. This castle was conceived in the 1950s by Walt Disney, who envisioned an amusement park for the whole family, complete with a replica of an old-fashioned American high street and distinct ‘dream lands’.

To honor the founder’s vision, Disney decided to preserve Hong Kong’s Sleeping Beauty Castle when it began major expansion in 2016 – rather than demolishing it completely, designers built on top of and around it.

“The original castle is a Disney foundation, 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 versions of many castles – the California original, the 2005 Hong Kong replica and the all-new Castle of Magical Dreams – come together as one. Following the multi-year $ 10.9 billion ($ 1.4 million) expansion, which also welcomed the park with multiple new attractions, the redesigned castle is more than twice the height of the old one.

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

One of the biggest challenges was finding a way to build on top of the existing castle while keeping the park open to visitors. The team came up with a modular construction, in which individual parts of a building, or “modules”, are 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 shipped and hoisted in place for a period of three months.

Together, the towers form a mosaic of cultures through color, symbols and patterns, each with different elements of the worlds of their respective characters. Jasmine’s fuchsia tower is embellished with an Arabian fabric pattern and topped with a turquoise dome. Mulan’s tower is printed with a cherry blossom motif. And the tower of Merida is full of Celtic patterns, a reference to the four clans in the 2012 movie “Brave”.

Each tower culminates in a gold finial unique to each character: a golden seashell for Ariel and an enchanted rose for Belle. Meanwhile, guests will find 13 columns detailing the protagonists’ friends, such as Ariel’s Bot and Sebastian, Merida’s triplets, and Moana’s pet pig Pua and rooster HeiHei.

“We understand different parts of the world, so we can’t focus on one group, or a princess, or a location,” said Pena. “Our stories keep growing, and we’re learning about different cultures around the world. So how do we put that into the buildings and stories we’re trying to tell?”

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

“Rather than portraying them in a very submissive way, we portrayed them (all) as powerful women in a very captivating pose,” said Amanda Chiu, a producer at WDI Asia, pointing to the image of Ariel standing proudly. as she shows her newfound freedom and Jasmine riding solo on the magic carpet.

Local inspiration

In keeping with the characters’ origins, Imagineers drew inspiration from Europe, China and the Pacific Islands. “A European castle has the same style and detailing everywhere,” said Pena. “It has different architectural styles – even the domes are very different in style.”

It is perhaps fitting that such an eclectic castle exists in Hong Kong, one of Asia’s more diverse cities. “Hong Kong is a city of rich cultural fabric and cultural diversity,” said Chiu, who was born and raised in the area.

Disneyland Hong Kong was not only inspired by the whole world, but 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, the ancient practice involves positioning objects or buildings in relation to each other and their environment to encourage happiness and prosperity. For example, in 2005, the angle of the gate at the front of the resort was shifted 12 degrees in the belief that positive energy, or “chi,” would continue to flow through the park. Feng shui also informed the design 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 draw on that harmony and apply it to the castle.’

Wood and soil are symbolized by the castle’s landscaping – a mix of living plants and artificial foliage – blending it into its surroundings; fire will be used in pyrotechnic shows at night; metal can be found in the golden end pieces of the towers; and water is used in the castle’s moat and dancing fountains. “All these elements come together in good harmony,” added Chiu.

While still rooted in some sort of tradition, Hong Kong’s Castle of Magical Dreams nonetheless symbolizes Disney’s efforts to modernize. With an increasingly global customer base and several resorts in Asia, diversity may be not only a matter of values, but also good business.