Behind-the-Scenes Look at Beast’s Castle, Part of the New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World

in Disney, Theme Parks, Walt Disney World

Move over Cinderella. A new castle is being erected in the sky at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast is rising high over the park as part of the New Fantasyland.

This week Disney has provided a backstage look at the construction of this new castle, situated upon a hill:

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Beast's Castle

Beast's Castle

UPDATE: To show the scale of Beast’s castle, below are new photos from Disney and MouseSteps.com offering a good frame of reference in the form of construction workers building the structure. It’s clear that Beast’s castle is considerably smaller than Cinderella Castle, though it appears large due to great use of forced perspective.

Related: Beauty and the Beast Castle at Tokyo Disneyland

Beast's Castle

Beast's Castle

Beast's Castle

Beast's Castle

Be sure to visit MouseSteps.com for a huge photo update and JeffLangeDVD.com for a video from Fantasyland showing all the details of Beast’s castle. (Video also embedded below.)

Related: PHOTOS & VIDEO: Close-Up Look at Beast’s Castle, Belle’s Village at Tokyo Disney

Inside the castle of the Beast will be the “Be Our Guest Restaurant” which will feature a ballroom dining experience, gallery and mysterious “West Wing” of the castle. The restaurant will seat 550 changing from quick service by day to full table service dining by night.

The castle and surrounding area can be seen in the artwork below, which is cropped from the overall New Fantasyland concept art released in January.

Another view can be seen in other concept art, with a comparison construction view from today:

Nearby the castle will be Belle’s Village, where guests will find Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts. Further down the path will be Belle’s cottage and Enchanted Tales with Belle, in which the adventure begins in Maurice’s workshop, where a magical mirror is the doorway to a new kind of storytelling experience. Guests will be transported to the Beast’s library to meet Belle and Lumiere to take part in an interactive, re-telling of the “tale as old as time.”

In the full artwork, the placement of Beast’s castle and the village can be seen relative to the rest of Fantasyland:


(Click to enlarge)

The castle and restaurant are scheduled to open in late 2012, along with the rest of the New Fantasyland in phases that follow.

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