What better way to start a magical evening than admiring Sleeping Beauty Castle in its nighttime attire? Since June, this can’t-miss experience has reached new heights thanks to an all-new lighting setup dreamed up by the “good fairies” from the Walt Disney Imagineering Paris and Design & Delivery teams. When the stars come out, this iconic centerpiece at Disneyland Park looks straight out of a dream!

Creating dreamlike experiences involves paying close attention to detail! Not only does the décor, music and landscaping contribute to immersing guests into their favorite stories, but lighting also plays an instrumental role in bringing an atmosphere to life.

“Over the last few months, we worked closely with the Design & Delivery and Entertainment teams to install all-new LED spotlights around Sleeping Beauty Castle. We wanted to bring an extra touch of magic to this architectural masterpiece that our guests love photographing at night, by illuminating it with spotlights that make its columns and the golden elements adorning its turrets stand out,” said Jérémy Declerck, Lighting Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering Paris.

This elevated experience is the result of a reimagining journey that lasted several months and involved many different stages, including artistic design, coordination with involved teams, nighttime installation, programming, and technical adjustments! When night falls, more than 200 new spotlights work to enhance the  beloved Castle, which also underwent a complete refurbishment in 2021. Needless to say, this serves as the finishing touch in the Sleeping Beauty Castle refurbishment project!

When Walt Disney Imagineering Paris teams developed this all-new 360-degree lighting setup, they not only sought to pay homage to Sleeping Beauty Castle’s original lighting by going through archive images, but they also drew their inspiration from the lighting that adorns the Castle which appears at the beginning of Disney’s feature films.

“After upgrading the outdoor lighting equipment of several attractions such as Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Les Voyages de Pinocchio, Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains, and more recently, La Tanière du Dragon, we have just reached another milestone in the enhancement of Fantasyland’s lighting atmosphere,” added Jérémy Declerck.

Guests who pay attention to small details will also notice that the Castle’s all-new lighting atmosphere gives a subtle nod to the iconic scene in which the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, argue over the color of Princess Aurora’s dress in the classic Walt Disney Animation Studios film Sleeping Beauty, since one of the Castle’s windows changes colors repeatedly. “We’ll make it blue. Oh, no, dear, pink!”