About the 6th Castle

Shanghai Disneyland castle will be the largest and tallest “Story Book Castle” of any Disney park

-Bob Iger

Judging by the very few concept arts massively released last friday, there seem to be two very good reasons why this castle needed to be the largest of any Disney’s Kingdom.

First it is clear that the castle presents several different styled sides, each complete with their own gate and drawbridge.

We can see 3 distinct gateways. Are there 2 or 3 other ones in the back?

Now if the Imagineers designed several standalone elevations/facades for Shanghai’s castle it can only be so that it never shows its “back” or “flank” to any land, but always one of its many “fronts”. Following this logic, those different “fronts” may have been tuned to better match the land they face. The castle would then act as a true centerpiece: wienie to every land.

What lays under the castle?

Not only will it be a super-centerpiece, but looking closer and hypothesizing from this multiple entrance uniqueness, this Castle may also act as a first-of-its-kind Kingdom hub.
The traditional Disneyland hub is not present on any artwork, on the other hand drawbridges and gates all seem to be above ground, which make those sets of gateways unlikely leading to a hub inside the castle. What if the the castle was sitting on that hub ? Imagine a large covered rotunda underneath this elevated castle, which, would act as an indoor hub dressed as a fantasy or cryptic baroque hall where people could rest and shop while picking their next destination.

The 6th Castle being wienie to every land, the 6th Castle being the hub of its Kingdom! These are only 5 Kingdom’s own speculations and shall not be taken for facts, especially knowing that those concept arts may not be definite.
A risky exercise yes, but who could resist speculating on the design of a new Magic Kingdom?

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David

Even though the plans for this Disney park are very well detailed, I feel that they are just trying to compete with themselves. Every castle they have created is a modification of the last one, making the older ones less impressive… It would be great if did more like a Snow White castle since she is the first princess and she still don’t have a castle. They should do it like almost the same as the movie but twisting it a little with the Iconic Disney castle, and also changing the colors to make it distinct from the other the Florida and Tokyo Castles