Twelve days after Disneyland Paris showed off the rebuilt Sleeping Beauty Castle bridge for the castle’s 35th birthday, the resort still has not said when guests will be able to walk across it. Disney’s own announcement on October 12 said only that the bridge was “set to reopen to guests,” and no reopening date has been posted since.
That has left Halloween visitors guessing. One guest planning to be in the park on October 29 asked on Reddit this week whether the bridge would be finished in time, saying they had heard it had been walled off since the summer.
Disney’s Disneyland Paris newsroom still carries the same October 12 story about the finished work, with no update on timing. Some outlets wrote on October 12 that the bridge was reopening that day, but others, including Mickey From The UK, noted that the announcement did not include a date. A guest in the park on October 14 wrote on Reddit that the bridge was “definitely not open to guests,” though crews were starting to take some of the themed construction walls down.
What Guests Will See When It Opens
The bridge has been under refurbishment for nearly six months, and the finished work goes well beyond a coat of paint. The old stamped concrete has been replaced with granite paving laid in 2,735 pieces cut to follow the curve of the bridge, and crews rebuilt the structure underneath, including the arches, corbels and spandrels.
The new centerpiece is a compass rose set into the middle of the span. It is made of natural stone with brass inlays, with red, green and blue elements for Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, a brass medallion of Aurora’s crown surrounded by thorns in the center and a brass fleur-de-lis marking north. That fleur-de-lis nods to the four brass letters that marked the directions on the bridge when the park opened in 1992. They were removed in 2010.
The limestone balusters along the sides were rebuilt and waterproofed against spray from the fountains below, the drawbridge got a new tropical timber deck, and the stonework was sculpted and painted by hand in five shades to match the castle.
Why The Timing Matters
The bridge is the main way into the castle from Central Plaza, and it is one of the most photographed spots in the park. Guests visiting during the Disney Halloween Festival have been asking whether they will get to cross it, and the resort’s Christmas season begins November 7, when the castle becomes the backdrop for a whole new set of holiday photos.
Disneyland Paris has not said whether the delay is tied to final inspections, finishing work or something else, and the reveal on October 12 described the refurbishment as complete. Until Disney posts a date, check the Disneyland Paris app on the day of your visit before heading to the castle.
When the bridge does reopen, it will be the first time guests have walked it since the work began in the spring, and the compass rose in the middle of the span will finally be under guests’ feet instead of behind construction walls.
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