Another Castle

For starters, it’s not called “Cinderella’s Castle.” If you think about it, you’ll realize the castle didn’t belong to the lady with the glass slipper. If anything, it should be “Prince Charming’s Castle” or maybe “Henri’s Castle,” as a few more recent films actually took the trouble to name Cinderella’s dance partner. If you want to avoid annoying cast members, you’ll call it “The Cinderella Castle” without an apostrophe or an S. It’s easily the tallest structure in the Magic Kingdom, but it looks even bigger because of the use of forced perspective; each level is a bit smaller than the one below it. Designers drew inspiration from several European castles, most notably Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. If a cast member ever asks you how many bricks were used in the construction, here’s a tip: it’s a trick question. It has a concrete foundation, a plaster and fiberglass body and a steel beam skeleton. But no bricks.