How much is a night at the Cinderella Castle Suite in the Magic Kingdom worth?
Some might say that you can’t put a price to the experience.
It’s priceless.
Not only because of how unique and rare it is, but because Disney literally does not
allow guests to purchase a night at the suite.
It’s only ever given away as a contest prize or to VIPs as a gift.
It’s often advertised as one of the more rare experiences at the Disney parks specifically
because you can’t just buy your way in.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a value to a night at the suite.
There is one, and it has changed over time.
Today, a night at the suite can be valued at anywhere between $3,500 to $10,000.
The suite was introduced to the public back in 2006 for Disney’s “Year of a Million Dreams" campaign.
It was a marketing effort that tried to increase attendance at the parks by offering over 1.2
million prizes to guests at random throughout the end of 2006 and through all of 2007.
The prizes ranged from large to small.
Three lucky winners were given a free membership to the Disney Vacation Club, and three other
winners received an all-paid trip to all 11 Disney theme parks at the time.
On the smaller and more common end were the nearly half a million special edition pins
and lanyards given out, and the 345,000 fast passes given away.
In the middle, however, was a night at the Cinderella Castle Suite in the Magic Kingdom,
which was to be given away to 307 winners at the parks.
As is common with a sweepstakes in the United States, Disney had to assign an ARV, or Approximate
Retail Value, to the prizes that were going to be given away.
In some states, Florida in particular, it’s especially useful because prizes of a certain
value or higher need to be registered with the state and bonded.
It’s a way of protecting the consumer in the event the company running the sweepstakes
doesn’t fulfill the prize.
In 2006 when the Year of a Million Dreams was announced, the values of all the prizes
were disclosed, and a night at the Cinderella Castle Suite was valued at $587.
For comparison, that same year, a room at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
went for around $400 a night.
So where did that $3,500 to $10k figure come from?
Well the Cinderella Castle Suite saw most of its use during the 2007 and 2008 Year of
a Million Dreams, however the suite is still occasionally gifted and prized to individuals today.
Most recently, the charitable platform Omaze began to run a contest with Disney in which
the prize is a stay at the Cinderella Castle Suite.
However this one isn’t as simple to work out.
You see, the prize includes round-trip flights for four, an additional night at a 4-star
Disney hotel, 8 one-day park hopper tickets, a VIP tour guide for one day, and a dinner
at Narcoossee’s in addition to the night at the suite.
All of that is valued by Omaze at $15,610.
Now unfortunately everything in that package has a dynamic value.
Hotel stays, dinner costs, VIP guides and even tickets to the parks all change in price
depending on a number of variables.
So I went ahead and priced out two version of this prize package.
One in which all of the other elements were as cheap as they’re known to be, and one
in which they’re as pricey and luxurious as they’re known to be.
Economy vs First Class flights.
Peak season vs off season hotel stays.
Apps and desserts vs just an entree.
Even the bare minimum of 7 hours with a VIP guide vs a full 12-hour day.
With the value left over being attributed to the Castle Suite, that left a range of
$3,500 to $10,000 for the single night.
If I had to make a guess I’d put it closer to the $3,500 figure.
That would still set it far higher than even the pricier standard rooms at Disney resorts.
It would end up being 40% more than a night at the Polynesian Village bungalows which
average around $2,500 a night.
And, really, I can’t see Disney and Omaze skimping out on all of the other elements
of that grand prize.
Of course ultimately most of this doesn’t matter.
As the term states, this is just the approximate retail value.
It’s the price that Disney figures they’d charge if they were to charge for it, and
that could very easily change if that were to ever happen.
For all of the fun guessing and estimating, a night at the Cinderella Castle Suite in
the Magic Kingdom is still very much a priceless experience.