View attachment 514474
Hong Kong's castle has completed it's transformation and she's a beaut
When two castles love each other very much...
Here's what the castle looks like at night. Notice how the original Sleeping Beauty Castle left-center and central towers are lit in pink, perhaps a wink to the original Hong Kong castle.
I admit this castle is kinda growing on me especially with the details on the princesses/queens' turrets/towers, but I still think this castle is a "seems on great on paper, but so-so on execution" project.
I get why they retained the original castle (poetically it's a bow to the past; more likely, it's due to budget constraints), but as
@Mickeynerd17 points out, it's hard to unsee the old castle from the new. A poignant statement perhaps, to emphasize the growth of the little Disney resort that could. In addition, I suppose the original Imagineering intention of creating yin and yang or balance within the resort (as detailed in The Imagineering Story) extended to the design of this castle, seeing as the color yellow is considered such a representation of yin and yang and is considered to be a prestigious and most beautiful color in Chinese culture. Throw in the blue (teal in this case, but hey, they're in the same family; also, some towers use blue roofs anyway), symbolizing prosperity and harmony, and you'll see Disney's and the Hong Kong Government's intention for the resort: for it to live long and prosper.
Despite that, I still would've preferred they tore down the original castle, save several elements of it as future Easter eggs, and actually gave Hong Kong a brand new, designed from scratch, castle instead. CMD, as I've mentioned, may be a poignant statement of personal growth, but a totally new castle could've relaunched the park better and finally free it from Anaheim's shadow in my opinion.
blogmickey.com
