“How much does a night inside Cinderella Castle Suite cost?” That’s a surprisingly common question from readers who have seen photos from inside Walt Disney World’s most lavish “hotel” room. This answers that, with the sale price a rare 1-night stay in Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle Suite. We’ll cover how this room works and is used, and what additional magical extras the suite stay includes. (Updated December 1, 2024.)
We’ve been inside the Cinderella Castle Suite in Magic Kingdom twice, and it’s incredible–definitely the coolest accommodations (if you can even call it that) at Walt Disney World. Every inch of the opulent accommodations is meticulously detailed and thoughtfully themed. Like its namesake, the Cinderella Castle Suite is fit for royalty, with regal attention to detail and lavish flourishings everywhere you look.
Not only that, but the design is incredibly clever. It showcases Imagineering at the top of its design game. Space in the is suite utilized brilliantly, transforming what’s in reality a pretty small space into something that feels extravagant. For those fans who bemoan who hotel rooms at Walt Disney World are becoming generic and unthemed…this is the exact opposite of that.
Designed to resemble a 17th century French chateau, the ornately-decorated Cinderella Castle Suite features glowing stained glass windows, coffered ceilings, an antique limestone fireplace topped with a ‘magical’ portrait of Cinderella, elaborate mosaics and murals, and luxurious furnishings fit for a princess or prince. Naturally, the Cinderella Castle Suite also features a gilded clock stuck permanently at 11:59 p.m., since Cinderella’s magic spell ended at midnight.
For any fans who complain that Imagineering is incapable of doing hotel rooms and only makes bland and generic designs, this is the best counterpoint. All you have to do is upgrade your accommodations to inside Magic Kingdom’s icon. Shouldn’t cost too much more than a stay at All Star Sports, right?!
For those unfamiliar with it, the Cinderella Castle Suite is a relatively recent addition that’s not nearly as old as the 50+ year old centerpiece of Magic Kingdom. The suite opened in January 2007, and was created to serve as a daily prize for randomly chosen guests during the Year of a Million Dreams.
Prior to that, it was a utilitarian backstage storage space; before that, Walt Disney World phone operators used it as a workspace. (Talk about the ultimate office!) The Cinderella Castle Suite is seldom used these days, save for giveaways or when celebrities like Mariah Carey or Tom Cruise make a special visit.
Honestly, we haven’t heard anything about celebrity stays or giveaways in the Cinderella Castle Suite for the most of the last four years. In today’s era of social media, we’d probably have a pretty good idea if The Rock, Ryan Gosling, Blake Lively, or other Disney-obsessed celebrities (or frequent film stars) recently had the chance to spend the night in Cinderella Castle.
The biggest exception to that was a series of sweepstakes for Cast Members as part of the “Magic Backstage” program a couple of years ago. There have also been auctions and sweepstakes for the general public, mostly of the charitable variety, in the last several years.
As for the cost of a stay in Cinderella Castle Suite, let’s break down the various sweepstakes and their stated values, from which we can reverse engineer the cost or approximate retail value of a stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite from Walt Disney World’s perspective.
In 2024, Disney Vacation Club offered the chance for one lucky winner and four guests to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime Magical Celebration Vacation Package featuring a one-night stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite, as part of its “Stay Magical” sweepstakes.
The approximate retail value of the entire vacation package is $15,488.65. We can take the known approximate costs of everything else in the package, remove those from the equation, and come up with an ballpark “price” for a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite. The total of the other package components is $8,895 to $12,845.
That’s a huge range, but that’s the nature of the beast given differences in airfare and party size. Walt Disney World can’t assign a range to the value, they need a specific price. Nevertheless, from that we can conclude that Walt Disney World considers the approximate retail value of one night in the Cinderella Castle Suite to be between $2,643 and $6,593.
Prior to this, there was a fundraiser for Give Kids the World, which is a tremendous cause that’s more than deserving your support. (A bit of an aside, but we strongly believe in the organization’s mission, and have been moved by our visits to the Village. We’ve asked readers to support Give Kids the World with past fundraising initiatives, and would encourage you to remember the organization on Giving Tuesday.)
For that fundraiser, the approximate retail value of the vacation package was listed as $9,308. Once again, we took the known approximate costs of everything else in the package, removed those, and came up with an ballpark “price” for a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite. In that case, the total of everything else was $2,917 to $5,898.
That puts the approximate retail value of one night in the Cinderella Castle Suite to be around $3,410 to $6,391. Not that far off from the previous giveaway! We’ve actually seen a few other giveaways/sweepstakes/fundraisers for the Cinderella Castle Suite, and most fall in the $4,000 to $6,500 range. If I had to ascribe a specific approximate retail value to the Cinderella Castle Suite based on the aggregate of these, it’d be right around $6,000.
It’s worth pointing out that the approximate retail value is an imperfect measure of the Cinderella Castle Suite’s value or potential cost were it made bookable. Walt Disney World knows the actual value of the other components, as prices are set at market rates based on what guests will pay.
That’s not the case with the Cinderella Castle Suite, since guests cannot simply shell out $X for a stay. So the cost of the Cinderella Castle Suite in those is somewhat arbitrarily set for the sake of the contest and legal compliance. It is all but certain that if the Cinderella Castle Suite were bookable, the free market would set its price at a much, much higher level.
We’re fairly confident of this based on its exclusivity, appeal, and pricing patterns of other suites around Walt Disney World. And also because there was an actual auction a few years back that more or less did exactly this–found the actual value of the Cinderella Castle Suite that people were willing to pay. This happened as part of an auction by ESPN during V Week.
As with the aforementioned giveaways, that auction was not just for a single night in Cinderella Castle Suite. It also included a vacation package for three nights and four days at Walt Disney World, with airfare, ground transfers, standard accommodations, park tickets, a gift card, VIP tour guide, and stay inside the Cinderella Castle Suite.
The most important two things are that the estimated retail value of the vacation package is $10,644.80, which is the estimated value of all of the Walt Disney World vacation package add-ons. This means that we could more or less take the final winning bid and subtract $10,644 to determine the per night fair market value of a night in Cinderella Castle Suite by itself.
With that said, this ultimately a “for fun” exercise to answer the age old question of “how much is a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite worth?” In actuality, it won’t even be able to provide a definitive answer. For one, this goes to charity, so bidders might be more generous than if the sole beneficiary were Disney.
For another thing, there’s the matter of scarcity. To my knowledge, this is the first time since the Cinderella Castle Suite opened that you could buy your way into it. There’s likely a lot of demand and disposable wealth that would evaporate quickly if the Cinderella Castle Suite were available to be booked 365 days per year.
Prior to the auction ending, my prediction was that the winning bid would be $64,499.49.
That’s an obscene amount of money, but there are plenty of incredibly affluent Disney fans willing to blow their money. Of course, if the Lopez brothers and John Stamos caught wind of this, it could’ve resulted in a six-figures bidding war!
In the end, there were 114 bids placed on the Cinderella Castle Suite auction and the winner paid $75,600 (plus $7.75 for shipping…for some reason). Not too far off from our original guess!
We’re guessing that if a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite were auctioned off every single day, the average price would drop considerably below that…but still likely above $10,000. After all, there are suites at the Grand Floridian and Four Seasons Orlando that fetch nearly that nightly rate!
Given that, it’d probably sell for between $15,000 and $20,000 per night. Again, that might seem obscene and unlikely, especially after Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser failed spectacularly at lower prices, but there are a couple things to consider.
First, Starcruiser had more room inventory. Only a few voyages would amount to the entire year of availability for the Cinderella Castle Suite. This alone is a big difference, as limited supply and exclusivity are huge selling points for the suite. (Not to mention it being the only hotel room inside a theme park at Walt Disney World, but that’s part of the exclusivity!)
Second, Starcruiser was much more niche. If you’re a wealthy investment banker or whatever taking their kids for a rite-of-passage Walt Disney World trip, you’re going to be much more interested in the Cinderella Castle Suite than Star Wars cosplaying. The suite has cachet and bragging rights even among non-fans, whereas Starcruiser primarily appealed to weirdos (I say that lovingly, as a weirdo) and not the wealthy.
Obscene as it might seem, I don’t think Walt Disney World would have any difficulty finding 365 superfans or rich people each year willing to shell out $20,000 for a night inside Cinderella Castle. Given the wide appeal of such an experience, the market rate might end up being even higher, who knows!
If you want to see more glimpses of the rooms inside the suite, check out our Cinderella Castle Suite Photo Tour post (that bathroom is beyond belief!).
In that, we cover why it’s not realistic for Walt Disney World to use this on a nightly basis for Make a Wish families or even cash bookings. Nevertheless, it feels almost criminal that it just sits empty most nights.
It’d be cool if there were a more egalitarian approach to Walt Disney World offering nights in the Cinderella Castle Suite on a regular basis, such as the random giveaways like during the Year of a Million Dreams. It was always incredibly exciting to see someone who was randomly selected return from their trip and post about it. You couldn’t help but feel happy for the winners, albeit with just a bit of good-natured jealousy.
With Walt Disney World not really having anything happen in 2025, and Epic Universe opening just down the road, it would be a great opportunity to revive the Year of a Million Dreams or another ambitious marketing campaign that would get people excited about visiting Walt Disney World again. Few prizes are quite as exciting as a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What would YOU pay to spend a night here (assuming no budgetary limitations)? Do you wish that Walt Disney World bring back random, daily giveaways of the Cinderella Castle Suite? Think it could happen for the company’s 100th Anniversary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
