Cinderella Castle, the icon of the Magic Kingdom. It stands at 183 feet tall and rarely does it go through any transformation.

However, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1996, Imagineers transformed the front of Cinderella Castle into an 18-story “birthday cake” complete with red and pink “icing,” giant candy canes and 26 glowing candles.

The castle served as the centerpiece for the 15-month long birthday celebration.

Designed by Walt Disney Entertainment Florida and later constructed by Imagineers, this was no small project.

Cinderella Castle Dressed as a 25th Birthday Cake By the Numbers

Here’s what it took to cover the castle:

More than 400 gallons of pink paint which was decorated with multicolored sprinkles

26 candles ranging in height from 20–40 feet tall

16 two-foot long candy stars

16 five-foot tall candy bears

12 five-foot gumdrops

4 six-foot stacks of Life Savers

30 three-foot tall lollipops

50 two-foot gumballs

More than 1,000 feet of pink and blue inflatable “icing”

On January 31, 1998, the castle was transformed back to its original state.

The only other time Cindy’s home has been ‘temporarily redecorated” was on November 16th, 2004 to mark the grand opening of Stitch’s Great Escape! The castle was modified to appear as though it had been toilet papered and “Stitch is King” was written in graffiti on a turret. That iteration didn’t last long as the material was removed after the park closed that evening.

The other remodel commemorated the Happiest Celebration on Earth in honor of Disneyland’s 50th anniversary and was formally unveiled on May 5, 2005. The castle’s exterior was adorned with polished gold trim and accents, swags, banners and tapestries. Golden statues of Disney animated characters were added to the exterior along with an enormous “stained-glass” mirror modeled after the magic mirror in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The mirror changed images every 40 seconds to feature each Disney castle and the date its park opened.

(all images property of Norm Robbie)