Buying a Night in Cinderella Castle Suite?

“How much does a night inside Cinderella Castle Suite cost?” That’s a surprisingly common question from readers who have seenĀ  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 19, 2022.)

We’ve visited 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. For those unfamiliar with it, the Cinderella Castle Suite was created by Walt Disney Imagineering a little over a decade ago. Its purpose at that time was 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 about once per year or when celebrities like Mariah Carey or Tom Cruise make a special visit.

December 19, 2022 Update:Ā There have been a couple of recent sweepstakes for stays in the Cinderella Castle Suite, with one for the general public and another for Cast Members as part of the “Magic Backstage” program. However, there has not been a regular general public giveaway program or any auctions last year or in 2022.

OurĀ hopeĀ was that there would be another option for the World’s Most Magical Celebration a la the Year of a Million Dreams. Unfortunately, the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration has been fairly muted by comparison, an underwhelming event given its historical significance. The good news is that the Disney company’s 100th Anniversary festivities kick off on January 27, 2023–so it’s possible more giveaways will occur then. The bad news is that celebration largely seems centered around Disneyland. Either way, we’ll keep you posted.

As for the cost of a stay in Cinderella Castle Suite, a stay was previously auctioned off by ESPN during V Week (although not during the 2022 event, which just concluded on December 11). This is part of the Walt Disney Company’sĀ annual fundraising auction with 100% of the proceeds going to the V Foundation.

V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives by helping to find a cure for cancer by generating broad-based support for cancer research and urgent awareness among all Americans of the importance of the war against cancer. (V Foundation has a 94.69 out of 100 on Charity Navigator.)

However, the 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, including the following:

  • Four round trip coach airfares
  • Ground transfers between Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World
  • Room accommodations consisting of one standard room for two nights at a Walt Disney World resort hotel, selected by Disney in its sole discretion.
  • Four 4-Day Theme Park Tickets with Park Hopper Plus
  • One Disney Gift Card with a value of $2,000.
    One night stay inside the Cinderella Castle Suite in Magic Kingdom with select food and beverage snacks
  • Disney VIP Tour Guide for 8 hours one day

There are a bunch of other disclaimers, rules, and requirements (including the necessity of pre-qualifying to bid) that can be found in the auction listing.

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 can 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 catch wind of this, it could result 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 around $10,000. After all, there are suites at the Grand Floridian and Four Seasons Orlando that fetch nearly that nightly rate!

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 the Walt Disney Company’s 100th Anniversary starting in January 2023 and running through 2024, it seems like a golden (or perhaps diamond is more apt?) opportunity to revive the Year of a Million Dreams type giveaway. The Disney Diamond Dreams Jubilee has a certain ring to it. Perhaps add some flourishes for the occasion, and make a big deal of it. Few prizes at Walt Disney World 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 feedbackā€“even when you disagree with usā€“is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

70 Responses to “Buying a Night in Cinderella Castle Suite?”
  1. Lola Fossett August 4, 2021
  2. J F January 14, 2021
  3. JF January 14, 2021
  4. Brijin Kastberg June 21, 2020
  5. Leslie May 22, 2020
    • Kathy Mennenga RNC May 29, 2020
  6. Carol May 21, 2020
  7. Carrie May 20, 2020
  8. Eileen July 8, 2019
  9. Sean July 8, 2019
  10. TimWarp July 8, 2019
    • Sheila Holland May 29, 2020
  11. Ian July 8, 2019
    • Tom Bricker July 8, 2019
    • Anthony P. July 8, 2019
  12. mlm July 8, 2019
    • mlm July 8, 2019
  13. Anna Hodges July 7, 2019
  14. Hunter July 7, 2019
    • Hunter July 7, 2019
  15. Joanne Waughop July 7, 2019
  16. Mike July 7, 2019
  17. Anthony P. July 6, 2019
    • StephanieV July 8, 2019
  18. Bonnie July 6, 2019
    • Anthony P. July 6, 2019
  19. Tim July 6, 2019

Leave a Reply to Sean Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *