Cindy’s Holiday Magic

I will never get sick of this angle of Cinderella Castle.

The castle (or Cindy, as I like to call it) really doesn’t have a “bad side”. While that means you can really take a picture from almost any direction, each side does have a different vibe. Cindy’s front, of course, is the iconic shot you see on marketing materials and selfies. The East side provides the most fairytale-like shot in my opinion, especially when seen from the Tomorrowland bridge coming from Cosmic Ray’s. That angle gives you the moat and large topiaries you can work into the shot. The back view is also unique in that the windows of Cinderella’s Table are the focal point, with Prince Charming Carousel as an added prop. All that said, it is the view from the West, particularly from the Liberty Square bridge that gives the largest unobstructed view — which really pops at night during themed holiday special events.

The shot above is from this year’s Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, where the lighted projections become the main star and the reflection in the moat the jewelry. I’ve seen other theme park photographers get much better snaps here, some with perfectly still water to mirror Cindy in her lighted glory — but when you aren’t a local and only have one night to get the shot (and you still want to run around and get all the cookies and hot chocolate), I think this measures up pretty well.

This edit was super simple — lightened it up a bit. The rest was all Cindy.