Oh, the Cinderella Castle. It’s been covered in toilet paper, turned into a cake, and used to launch a tiny fairy as she flies through the air. There’s a reason this castle is THE Disney World icon — it’s been through a LOT (and looks good no matter what)!
Look at that glorious castle!
One of our personal favorite Cinderella Castle iterations is the seasonal Castle Dream Light makeover we see around the holidays. As the sun sets, the castle lights up with thousands of tiny, sparkly lights that look as if a light snowfall gently landed on it. It’s spectacular.
The only problem? We haven’t seen the Castle Dream Lights in a LONG time — we’re talking since before the pandemic in 2020!
Cinderella Castle Dream Lights during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
To walk you through a little timeline, Disney’s phased reopening in 2020 resulted in a scaled-back holiday season, which meant no Castle Dream Lights. Then, in 2021, the 50th Anniversary celebration came along, and Cinderella Castle went through a little transformation.
50th Anniversary Cinderella Castle
For the 2021 and 2022 holiday seasons, Disney decided to use festive projection effects on the castle instead of installing all those tiny little lights. Many speculated that the 50th Anniversary decorations prevented the Dream Lights from going up, but Disney never officially commented on its reasoning for replacing the Dream Lights.
Holiday Projections on Cinderella Castle
In the past, we asked our readers what they preferred: the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights or the holiday projections. We received THOUSANDS of votes, but ultimately, 63% of our readers preferred the lights.
We miss these lights!
Now that the 50th Anniversary is over and those castle decorations are being removed, could the Castle Dream Lights FINALLY return? We sure hope so! Disney has proven that it can (and does) listen to guest feedback. The Happily Ever After nighttime fireworks show returned, and the Harmonious barges were removed after the 50th Anniversary, proving that changes made within the past few years are not necessarily set in stone going forward. That could be a good sign for those of you on Team Dream Lights.
Which team are you on?
We’ll have to wait and see what happens this year, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that those beautiful lights come back someday. In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more!
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Which team are you on? Castle Dream Lights or holiday projections? Let us know in the comments!
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Elsa lighting up the castle with “ice” always took my breath away. The projections don’t even come close.
I don’t understand dsrstand why we didn’t get yhem for 2022. Because they were on the cartlebin 2021. When the 50th was in full swing.