Suite in the Castle

[Crossbar]

I'm not sure if I'm posting at the right location. I need to vent. Is anyone else as ticked off as I am? I'm going to copy and paste a timeline together:

The Suite is reserved specially for random guest winners. For example, the 43rd person to go through the turn styles of Star Tours could be the winner. It is very random. That person's family gets to stay in the castle, be in a parade in Magic Kingdom, and have a personal guide take them around the park and treat you like royalty.

I went on the Key of the Kingdom tour last summer and we were taken underground into the tunnel system and we got to see top secret pictures and pieces of furniture and decorations in the suite and it is BEAUTIFUL. On the tour, we were told that Miley Cyrus got to spend a night in the suite because she was doing a performance the next day. Faith Hill and Tim McGraw offered Disney World a free concert for a chance for her family to spend a night in the suite, but Disney turned them down. They said it's not about the money, no amount of money or offer can get you a night in Cinderella's castle.

Sorry to say, unless you are chosen, admiring it from afar is the closest thing we all will get to getting into the suite.

This is from there own form:

The incredible suite at Cinderella Castle is not currently available to be rented. The suite was awarded at random during last year's Year of a Million Dreams celebration. A different family was chosen each day to spend the night in the suite.

I cannot tell you what the future plans are for the castle suite, but at this time, it is not offered as an accommodation option to guests visiting the Walt Disney World resort.

You could book a room at the Contemporary Resort with a Castle view, and I would say that the view from the Contemporary when the fireworks are going off would even make Cinderella a little jealous!

Then I saw this:
Tom Cruise has been pulling out all the stops when it comes to daughter Suri lately. Since his split with wife Katie Holmes six weeks ago, the actor has turned his solo visits with his 6-year-old into fun and exciting excursions — helicopter rides, beach days in the Hamptons, and even a trip to Disney World last week. But the father-daughter duo didn't just take a ride on Space Mountain and spin on the Tea Cups and call it a day. Cruise, 50, also arranged for a once-in-a-lifetime experience for his little princess by booking the ultra-exclusive Cinderella Castle Suite.

According to Tom Bricker, who owns *****************.com and has gotten two tours of the suite since it opened in 2007, "It's typically not open to the general public and it's not available for any nightly rate. It's seldom used." As for how Cruise got in: "It's been implied that the celebrity makes a donation to charity, but it's not really known for sure." This was reportedly not Cruise's first stay and other celebs, including Mariah Carey, have previously been granted permission to take up residence for the night.

I thought what they did before was a good idea, a kid from a low income family had just as much a chance to stay there as a Suri Cruise. I guess with Disney money does really talk. They should just rip it out of there now that it's only availiable to the privileged.

 

[mmtska]

I saw that too, and was miffed, but I don't know....if he's just straight up paying for it, boo hiss....but if he really did donate a huge amount to charity, that's not quite as bad to me. Still miffed, but not as...if that makes sense.

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm not mad. It is Disney's and they can do whatever they want with it. Do you like having people tell you what to do with your things? Not me.

And, the fact that it says a large donation to charity tells me all I need to know. If in fact Tom Cruise wrote a six figure check to make a wish in order to stay there, then that six figure check does alot more for the foundation than just enabling a kid of need to stay in the castle.

I swear, people will get mad over the darndest things.

Be happy. Don't worry.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Personally speaking, I much rather them stay at the Cinderella Castle than one of the resorts as I would feel sorry for people who were staying there at that same time - the security alone would be a nightmare.

 

[vicki_c]

Unless you yourself tried to pay to book the Castle suite and were declined, I don't know why you would care.

 

[iuki]

Doesn't bother me who spends the night in The Castle.

 

[Ilivetogo]

Doesn't bother me who spends the night in The Castle.

.

 

[Crossbar]

Unless you yourself tried to pay to book the Castle suite and were declined, I don't know why you would care.

I did try to book. I was declined. I care. People who donate to charity do it because it's the right thing to do. Not Because you can maneuver yourself in that suite. You either make it magical for anyone to get a chance or you take it out of the castle that is the hub of the Magic Kingdom.

 

[amberpi]

What Erin and Tigger said. I've stayed several times in hotels with major celebrities staying there and it is truly a nightmare. The WORST was staying at the same hotel as McCain in Chicago during the 2008 election. It was very inconvenient and I was just there to work, so I had meetings to get to, not pleasant at all for the other guests.

Also, if they pay for it via a donation to charity, I'm all for it. Disney could have just profited the revenue.

In regards to the OP, I thoughts the points you mentioned about being randomly selected where only during Year of a Million Dreams? If not, that's pretty cool and maybe we'll get lucky with our dear nephew in Sept!

 

[wlvsfnz]

Ok, be honest, if any of you had a large amount of money and were to contact Disney to make a large donation to a charity so you could stay in the Castle for a night do you honestly think they would let you? No, and why, because you are not famous. All of you know they are not going to let you do it no matter how much money you donate. It is all because of who they are.

I remember when Faith Hill and Tim McGraw offered to do a free concert for a night stay in the Castle and Disney turned them down. They said it's not about the money, no amount of money or offer can get you a night in Cinderella's castle. Obviously that's not a true statement anymore!

It may not bother some of you, but it sure bothers me to see things like this.

 

[iuki]

I did try to book. I was declined. I care. People who donate to charity do it because it's the right thing to do. Not Because you can maneuver yourself in that suite. You either make it magical for anyone to get a chance or you take it out of the castle that is the hub of the Magic Kingdom.

Although I understand your point of view, charity recipients do not care "why" someone donates a large sum of money to their charity. Many donations are made for "tax benefits" or publicity, or for their own special interest/benefit.

 

[bwang123]

I did try to book. I was declined. I care. People who donate to charity do it because it's the right thing to do. Not Because you can maneuver yourself in that suite. You either make it magical for anyone to get a chance or you take it out of the castle that is the hub of the Magic Kingdom.

to pay them back, you can deny tom cruise a stay in your house even if he promises to donate 1 million dollars to kids with cancer. that will show them.

 

[spritna]

i agree..no special treatment for stars, they get way to many handouts. heres how i see it, if ya want to be a nurse (your gonna see blood), if ya want to be a cop(your going to be abused), if ya want to be a fireman(your going to get burnt) celebrities(youll be bothered by picture taking and what not) we know what our fields are about going into them. i think disney should keep the suite for surprise stays like in the past, or even add it to the keys to the kingdom tour. once they put a price on it, most of us would never even have a hope of staying there.one more thing while on my soap-box,
while talking about careers, if ya want to join the military(theres a better than average chance your going to die a young man/women) these are the people IF ANY, that should be offered the suite...

 

[clanmcculloch]

The Faith Hill/Tim McGraw thing is very different from the Tom Cruise thing. FH/TM made an offer that benefitted Disney and Disney said no. TC made an offer that helped others and did nothing to benefit Disney and Disney said yes.

Frankly, it doesn't affect me one way or the other because I don't have those kinds of millions to either pay or give to charity. I always saw the suite as something unatainable for me regardless of how Disney chooses people to stay there so this is different how? It's still part of a fantasy that I can imagine as possibly being given away via pixie dust even if some ultra-wealthy person was able to convince Disney to allow him use of it in exchange for giving an unbelievable amount of help to a registered charitable organization. Nothing has changed.

It's Disney's to do with as they see fit.

 

[LilyWDW]

Honestly, I don't really care who they do or do not allow to stay in the suite. Disney can allow anyone THEY want for any price THEY want to set to stay there. Doesn't matter to me one bit. I honestly don't get the hate towards celebrities that are allowed to stay there. Is it a touch of jealousy because they got something someone else did not?

 

[dnsmills]

First world problems.

Let's try to keep it in perspective and be happy that you're in a position that you're even able to take a trip to WDW. If you're healthy enough and financially able to go to WDW, you're more fortunate than 95% of the rest of the world. Enjoy it.

 

[Lynne M]

Since there's already a lengthy thread on this topic on the Theme Parks board...

Cinderella Castle Suite - Tom Cruise stayed there

....I'm going to close this thread.