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Cinderella retold in Mosaic Murals at the Magic Kingdom

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With the movie Cinderella in theaters, I thought it was a good time to take a look at the beautiful piece of art on display inside Cinderella castle at the Magic Kingdom. The main corridor between Fantasyland and the Plaza is home to an amazing tableau retelling of the classic fairy tale “Cinderella” in five massive mosaic murals.

Designed by Disney Imagineer Dorothea Redmond and assembled by artist Hanns-Joachim Scharff and his team of six craftsmen, each mosaic mural was hand cut and applied. There are over 300,000 pieces of Italian glass in more than 500 colors along with ‘gems’ and bits of gold and silver in the murals.

Some of the murals are as large as fifteen feet high and ten feet wide. The whole project took nearly two years to complete.

There’s also a bit of hidden Disney in the mural. In the scene after the ball where Cinderella is trying on the slipper, the footman was made to resemble Herb Ryman and the Arch Duke looks like John Hench. Both men started as animators and later were key to creating the look and feel of Walt’s prized theme parks.

A gallery with 18 more images and close ups from the murals are below the jump.

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Royal Guest Rooms at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Contain Hidden Magic

Part of the joy of staying on property at Walt Disney World is that you never have to leave that magic envelope. Richly themed hotels, world famous service, and well apportioned rooms keep the Disney experience going 24/7. A few years ago, Disney decided to kick that up a notch higher by bringing the immersive story telling its famous for in the parks into the guest room itself. It started with a few themed covers, some details on the walls, and a color scheme, changes that were well received. Now, with the new Pirate and Royal Guest Rooms at Port Orleans, the level has been raised again.

The Royal Guest Rooms, re-imagined accommodations fit for a prince or princess, opened at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort in March 2012. 512 themed rooms with ornate beds trimmed with dazzling crystals and gold accents, story time elements, and “magical fireworks” swirling about are now welcoming guests.

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Finding Tiny Kline

Friends of ours were visiting Sarasota, FL this week and the Frost family took off a few days to head down to the beach and help entertain them. The beaches of Longboat Key, Lido Key, and Siesta Key (all adjacent to Sarasota) are some of… Read More »Finding Tiny Kline