Castle Topping Off Ceremony

Atta83

Well-Known Member
That is Cinderellas Castle right?? I like the touch with Goofy down there with the hard hat helping out.
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Original Poster
According to what I've read this is Sleeping Beauty Castle just like the Original as well as Paris. I guess they figured since they already had Cinderella Castle in Asia (Tokyo is essentially identical to MK @ WDW) they'd give Sleeping Beauty a home in that area as well.
 

Atta83

Well-Known Member
I love the Paris castle of sleeping beauty it gives it that really good fairy tale look, you know what I mean. I dont know why they dont give snow white or belle their castles, i guess the other two are more popular....
 

NemoRocks78

Seized
Here is an Orlando Sentinel article.....

Castle finally gets top at Hong Kong Disneyland
The Associated Press
Posted September 23, 2004, 10:38 AM EDT


HONG KONG -- Workers used a crane to put a mock turret atop the castle at Hong Kong Disneyland on Thursday, giving locals their best look yet at the theme park intended to boost tourism revenues when it opens.

The main structure of Sleeping Beauty's castle was complete once the trademark blue pointed turret was installed at a ceremony attended by invited guests and journalists who were allowed onto the park site for the first time to view the construction.

The castle will be the centerpiece of the Disney park and spokeswoman Esther Wong called the completion of the roof "a significant milestone." The ceremony featured fireworks and confetti and obligatory appearances by Disney characters including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

Wong said Disney was in the process of hiring 500 people who will be trained in the United States for jobs at the park.

Disney broke ground in January 2003 for the theme park that is intended to draw thousands of visitors to Hong Kong, particularly from mainland China. It is set to open in late 2005 or early 2006.

The $3.5 billion project is being financed mostly by Hong Kong taxpayers, and has come under some fire from critics who questioned whether the territory got a good deal.

The Hong Kong government has contended its investment will pay off in the long run by boosting tourism and employment in the former British colony, which has suffered through several years of economic troubles but lately has enjoyed solid growth.
 

jrriddle

Well-Known Member
Atta83 said:
I love the Paris castle of sleeping beauty it gives it that really good fairy tale look, you know what I mean. I dont know why they dont give snow white or belle their castles, i guess the other two are more popular....

I agree Snow or Belle would have been cool and I think DLP does have the best castle.
 

gardabble

New Member
donsullivan said:
Here are a couple of pics from today's Topping Off Ceremony at Tokyo Disneyland. While it's hard to judge the scale, from these pictures it looks just like the original.
I think you mean Hong Kong Disneyland. Tokyo Disneyland doesn't have mountains in the background.
 

rainfully

Well-Known Member
Atta83 said:
I love the Paris castle of sleeping beauty it gives it that really good fairy tale look, you know what I mean. I dont know why they dont give snow white or belle their castles, i guess the other two are more popular....
I always thought that Paris's castle should be Belle's castle... especially considering Beauty and the Beast took place in France... and it would sound really pretty...
Le Château de la Belle et la Bête
 

donsullivan

Premium Member
Original Poster
rainfully said:
I always thought that Paris's castle should be Belle's castle... especially considering Beauty and the Beast took place in France... and it would sound really pretty...
Le Château de la Belle et la Bête

One of the issues that prevented this was the simple timing of opening of DLP and the opening of Beauty & The Beast.

Since B&B came out in 91 and DLP opened in April of 92 , they would have had to committ a design and concept years before the movie was even done which is far too risky. By going with Sleeping Beauty, they were able to go with a sure thing and not risk that Beauty & the Beast might be a flop. We all know now that it wasn't but I suspect that would have been impossible to tell back in 89 when they had to finalize the design planning for the park to start construction.
 

yensidtlaw1969

Well-Known Member
Well, you must remember tht Disneyland opened 2 years before Sleeping Beauty came out. Actually, Walt picked that to be that castle to promote the picture. It wasn't even complete yet :D
 

DarkMeasures

New Member
Wow. 3.5 billions dollars. Tokyo Disneyland costed 4.5....

A billion dollars goes a long way but then again TDL wasn't very spactacular when it opened. Only recently has it become truely awsome.
 

gardabble

New Member
Just a side note. There is a video of the ceremony, if you havent checked out the USA Today link below, (clickthe video link in the article and make sure you've got real video installed):
USA Today link
 

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