The 25th anniversary cake castle .
Stop . What was your reaction to that opening line and the photos on this page ? Was it nostalgic delight or a bit like when the theme to “ it ’ s a small world ” is stuck in your head and you have an overwhelming desire to share your thoughts with the Sherman brothers ?
For guests who visited Walt Disney World in 1996 , it ’ s a divisive topic . Some loved the playfulness of the temporary look while others wrestled with inviting bubbly candy towers into their wedding photos . So we tracked down the guy who had the idea . Conrad told me the entire sweet tale of the 25th anniversary cake castle via an email interview in October of 2021 .
And strangely enough , it started in EPCOT ...
IT WAS ALMOST A SPACESHIP EARTH ICE CREAM PARTY Over 25 years ago , Mike Conrad was looking up at Spaceship Earth , puzzled at the requirements of his assignment . As a freelance designer , he had been hired by Walt Disney Imagineering to sketch ideas for dressing up the iconic geodesic sphere . The problem ? Spaceship Earth was literally untouchable . Conrad couldn ’ t propose a design that required leaning anything against , painting , or attaching anything to Spaceship Earth . Conrad remembered suggesting at that moment , “ Hey , instead of this , why don ’ t we go to the Magic Kingdom and turn the castle into a big birthday cake ? We could make candles out of the spires and stuff like that !”
That ’ s the moment , folks . Bridezillas of 1996 whose dreams were somehow inexplicably dashed by bobbling candy towers in the background , this is the point in the multiverse you ’ ll need to access to reap revenge . But the Imagineering department didn ’ t bite right away , so Conrad actually created a few Spaceship Earth dreams that still live in the ether .
Conrad recalled two Spaceship Earth 25th anniversary designs that never came to be : “ First , using some colored lights , we would make the sphere look like a giant party balloon and surround it with some smaller inflatable balloons and glittering letters spelling out the anniversary message . The second idea was to imagine it as a huge scoop of ice cream , again splashed with colored light , and surrounded by a sculpted ring of what would look like halfmelted stuff starting to overflow the rim of the bowl . And maybe a big spoon .”
Spaceship Earth would instead wait patiently for the 250-ton Sorcerer Mickey arm installed for the Millennium Celebration . After he was reassigned to Cinderella Castle , Conrad created the first sketches of the cake castle , but also other themes , including Fantasia and ice cream sundae motifs .
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD Conrad explained the creative process for the early designs : “ We were not completely sure that Eisner was against the idea of the cake or just unimpressed with its execution . So , in due diligence , Wayne [ Gagne ] sat me down in an office to think up a few alternatives . One showed the towers as upturned multi-scoop ice cream cones since the roofs were already cones ; another had the cones right-side-up and the main tower turned into an extraextra-large sundae .”
There were also a few ideas centered more on Disney characters . Conrad said , “ One featured inflatables of recent characters , like the genie from Aladdin and Simba from The Lion King . Another
ABOVE : Early concepts for the 25th castle were more ice cream sundae inspired before settling on the birthday cake look . PREVIOUS PAGE : Conrad , in front of the finished castle . IMAGES COURTESY OF MIKE CONRAD