After almost six months of meticulous work, the bridge leading to Sleeping Beauty Castle is finally reopening! It’s completely refreshed and sports beautiful new decorative elements.

This reopening also marks a special anniversary. Can you believe it? 35 years ago, on October 12, 1991, Sleeping Beauty Castle officially debuted for the public during the “Rendez-Vous au Château” event. Press, Cast Members, and their families were all there to celebrate! Our Castle, the icon of Disneyland Paris, always gets the care it deserves, with regular maintenance, renovations, and enhancements to keep it looking perfect, while also evolving some details over time.

To celebrate this 35th anniversary, let’s take a closer look at the bridge’s renovation and all the gorgeous new details that now enrich this iconic spot in Disneyland Park.

This wasn’t just a quick refresh! This massive renovation deeply restored the bridge that thousands of guests cross every single day. The entire support structure for the decorative elements is brand new. They rebuilt the arches, corbels, and decorative sheaths. Even the wooden handrail posts are new, and the drawbridge now boasts a stunning tropical wood deck.

The bridge’s floor got a complete overhaul. Gone is the old stamped concrete; now, elegant granite paving is in its place. This choice combines beauty with durability, ensuring guests are comfortable as they walk. Imagine this: they had to meticulously lay 2,735 granite pieces, like a giant puzzle, to perfectly match the bridge’s curved shape! The natural stone balusters from Champagny? They’re completely rebuilt and got a special waterproofing treatment to protect them from the splashing fountains in the moat.

To bring back the look of the original stones that make up the bridge’s elevations and arch undersides, they sprayed synthetic stone paste onto a metal structure. Then, skilled artisans hand-sculpted it to create all the intricate reliefs. After that, each piece received a hand-painted finish using five different tones and various light and dark shades. This technique perfectly recreates the natural variations found in Sleeping Beauty Castle’s stones.

Now, a brand-new natural stone compass rose, sparkling with brass inlays, graces the center of the bridge! It beautifully incorporates the colors of the three good fairies who watch over Aurora. You’ll spot the blue branches of Merryweather and the red branches of Flora, pointing in opposite directions. This clever detail harks back to their famous quarrel over the color of Aurora’s dress in that iconic scene where she dances with Prince Phillip.

Between them, a green arc represents Fauna, the mediator, gracefully connecting the two branches. Completing the compass rose is a central medallion featuring Aurora’s crown, encircled by briar roses, and a brass fleur-de-lis pointing North. This subtle detail is a fantastic nod to the four brass cardinal letters that originally marked the points on the bridge when Disneyland Park first opened! Those letters were removed during a 2010 renovation, so it’s wonderful to see this tribute return. The brass elements themselves have three different depth levels, each hand-treated by a specialist artisan to create amazing effects of depth and shine.

To finish this incredible transformation, they also applied patinas, fresh paint, and added beautiful new horticultural arrangements.

Stefano Servi, a Scenography Architect at Walt Disney Imagineering Paris, explained the magic behind this transformation. He shared, “This renovation was made possible by the mobilization of many trades and the richness of their know-how: we called upon experts in historical monument renovation, to take care of Sleeping Beauty Castle, which is, in its own way, a monument of Disneyland Paris. Our goal was to restore the bridge to its full glory, while preserving the details that define its identity, so that it continues to be an integral part of the Castle for many years.”