-In and Around Snow White Castle-
At the center of every Disney castle park is a… well… a castle! Inspired by the classic Disney film Snow White, Pi’s Disneyland features a grand castle.
-The Castle Itself-
The castle itself is inspired by the castle from the film, Snow White, and the castle from Disneyland Paris. It features a raised hill that the castle is built into. The hill is actually a hidden showbuilding allowing the castle to be bigger on the inside. On the Adventureland side (left), the hill gently slopes to ground level. On the tomorrowland side (right), the hill raises into an almost mini mountain that helps hide showbuildings in Tomorrowland from views in Fantasyland/Fantasia Avenue (Main Street). Forced perspective is used with the hills, the castle, and the trees around the area to make the castle appear larger than it truly is.
-The Royal Table: Character Dining Experience-
On the second floor of the castle, this character dining experience features exquisite food and world class atmosphere. Windows overlook Fantasyland on one side and Fantasia Avenue (Main Street) on the other. Princesses wander the dining room greeting guests accompanied by their prince’s (Many of the prince’s can only be seen here). The exact selection of characters changes, but Snow White and her prince are always there. Frozen, Tangled, and Cinderella characters are never present since they all have dedicated meet and greets with the couples elsewhere. This is an expensive experience, but great care is taken to ensure it is worth the money spent with the food, atmosphere, and characters. All diners get to go home with a souvenir cup/goblet of their choosing from the selection available as an extra bonus.
-Crystal Shop-
A shop selling exquisite crystal creations will be housed just to the left of the main path through the castle in between the two entrances to Fairytale Hall. Honestly, this shop will serve almost more like a small walkthrough exhibit with a focus on high end creations most guests would rather look at than buy. A small selection of more reasonably priced merchandise is available, but guests interested in actually purchasing crystal creations would be better off with the shop on Fantasia Avenue. Guests who just want to take a look at the castle recreation and Cinderella’s shoe are the focus here.
-The Castle Banquet Hall Quick Service Restaurant-
In the real life parks, dining inside the castle is a privelage that requires a reservation made well in advance and a lot of money. While the Royal Table is still a somewhat exclusive experience, The Castle Banquet Hall will make dinign inside the castle a realistic option for all park guests! The atmosphere is a bit less exquisite, there are no characters, and it is quick service rather than table service, but it still is a very nice experience housed in a lovely castle dining room. The best analogy I can think of is the the Royal Table is the Grand Floridian Hotel and the Castle Banquet Hall is the All Star Resorts.
The entrance, counters for ordering, and kitchen are housed in the castle itself. The large dining area, unbeknownst to guests, is actually in the show building hidden by the hill to the right. As far as guests know, the whole restaurant is magically within the castle itself.
There are four rooms in the dining area: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Since the dining area is underneath the hill, there can’t be any actual windows. There are large fake windows (Like the ballroom in the Be Our Guest Restaurant) in each dining room. The “windows” look out over Snow White’s kingdom in the season of the dining room the windows are in (The Spring room overlooks a beautiful springtime meadow, the winter room overlooks an enchanting snowy environment, etc.).
-Fairytale Hall-
Housed primarily in the show building hidden by the hill to the left of the castle, the Fairytale Hall is the best place to meet princesses!
No, not meet princesses for dating.
Well, I do have a friend who got Merida’s number at a meet and greet one time. (True Story)
But I mean like meet and greets!
The lobby area for Fairytale Hall will feature ceramic murals depicting different Disney Princesses. The ceramic murals are actually framed and slotted into place rather than attached to the wall. So, the murals are changed out so they always match the princesses meeting guests. From the lobby, guests can enter one of three different queues to meet different pairs of princesses. Rapunzel, Elsa, Anna, Snow White, and Cinderella can not be found in Fairytale Hall as they each have their own meet and greets elsewhere in the park.
-Wishing Well-
The iconic wishing well from Snow White can be found tucked into the side of the castle. A little courtyard houses it with just enough room for a small show!
Storytime at the Wishing Well
Snow White comes out to tell her story with the help of younger guests. This is done in a similar way to the old version of Storytime with Belle (same as the current version but without the animatronic. A short interactive show aimed towards little ones. This will be an enjoyable experience made even better by the setting of the shadow of the castle. After the show, guests of all ages can meet and greet with Snow White.
Nearby in the trees will be a small recreation of the Snow White garden display from Disneyland.
-Rainbow Falls Cavern-
A tunnel needs to be used to connect Fantasyland and the hub on the right side through the hill since the hill extends into the buildings of Tomorrowland. This tunnel will be Rainbow Falls Cavern. A small walkthrough attraction.
Well, technically not an attraction as it is not even listed on the guidemap.
This small walkthrough… thing… is a glowing, magical cave full of light and color! Inspired by the old Rainbow Cavern from the extinct Dinseyland attarction Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland. The new one will use some of the glowy technology and blacklight stuff recently used in Pandora at Animal Kingdom to breath new life into these old ideas. Ultimately just a small way to liven up an empty patch of walkway where there isn’t enough room for a real attraction, but Rainbow Falls Cavern will still be an incredible sight for all to see.
-Sir Mickey’s Gift Shop-
A gift shop right at the entrance to Fantasyland in the shadow of the castle, Sir Mickey’s has a selection general fantasy merchandise with a focus on toys, stuffed animals, and other child focused merchandise.
-Friar’s Nook-
A small food stand with some of the best macaroni and cheese in the kingdom. A good quick way to get a snack as you start your day in Fantasyland.
This is a direct import from Disney World’s Magic Kingdom because the Columbia Harbor House wouldn’t fit my themeing anywhere and Friar’s Nook is a close second to their mac & cheese for my favorite cheesey noodles in the Magic Kingdom.
-Why Snow White?-
One last thing I want to talk about in this update.
The reason there is so much Snow White in this park.
The castle, the wishing well, the cottage, the seven dwarf mine, the Poison Apple Tavern. There’s a large Snow white Presence.
It is not just because of Snow White’s important place in Disney history as the first princess and the first animated movie ever.
It is not just because snow White is perhaps the one property that could smoothly fit in Fantasyland, Enchanted forest, and Dark woods making it an idea transition between the three lands.
It is not because I’m a huge Snow White fan (It’s alright, not the best Disney movie though).
For those of you who don’t know, I used to be a cast member working at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. One day while working as the greeter out front, a young Hispanic woman came up to me holding a map looking distraught. There was a language barrier. I could not gather the whole story exactly right away, but I eventually understood. They were only here for one day and it was a once in a lifetime thing where they would not be back in the parks for a while if ever. She had a kid in a Snow White dress standing to the side with (presumably) her husband.
This woman was desperately trying to find where she could meet Snow White. But there is no where in the Magic Kingdom you can meet Snow White. The little girl was devastated (toddler age). The mom was at the edge of tears. I tried to get my manager involved to see if there was anything we could do.
There wasn’t.
It isn’t the worst issue ever. Not being able to see the character you want, in the grand scheme of things, is a small problem. But at Disney, cast members are given a lot of tools and freedom to help people and to make their day.
This is the one time I wasn’t able to fix the guest’s issue or get them to someone who could. There was nothing I could do to cheer them up or nothing I could offer. I had to watch a young girl in a princess dress walk away crying knowing she may never get the chance to meet her favorite princess like she dreamed of.
I know it’s a small thing, but I was able to help make so many people happy during my time there. It stuck with me as the one time I really wasn’t able to help.
So, all the Snow White in this park is dedicated to the young Hispanic girl in the Snow White dress.
Also, my aunt really loves Snow White, so there’s that too.