Two Lost Boys Blog

LEGO Disney Castle Review

Hello everyone,

Today I am going to review the brand new Disney Castle from LEGO.

The set number is 71040, and contains 4080 pieces, including five minifigures. The set retails for $349.99, plus any applicable taxes. You can purchase your set directly from the LEGO Store online, here.

Despite Disney Castle being its official LEGO set name, it is in reality a recreation of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom (at least from the outside).

Let's start in my usual fashion, by taking a look around the outside of the box.





The set came divided up into many, many bags, within which there were fourteen construction stages.


The instruction book was almost certainly the biggest instruction book I have ever seen for a LEGO set (even bigger than the one for the Death Star, from my recollection). They included a lot of nice details inside it, including some Disney character signatures, which as a character fan, I thought was neat.





So, with that, it was time to start putting it all together! As I always do with my LEGO reviews, I'll break down the construction process, so that you can see the progress.

I have to point out that the following progress pictures might not be how I usually take them, but the set was so big I had to use the dining room table to lay it out! The close-up and detailed photos afterwards though are all taken in the light box, like always.

Ok, so after step one, we had the base of the castle.


After step two we found ourselves with Mickey Mouse and some supporting pillars.


Then for step three we added the main front door of the castle.


Step four added the next floor and Merida's archery area, and a lot more details to the the lower floor.


Steps five and six gave us Minnie Mouse, and added the castle walls.



Step seven added the front balcony, and some grounding for the turrets.


Step eight brought Donald Duck into the world, and continued building upon the turrets.



Step nine capped off the turrets. The castle is really starting to take shape now!


Step ten took a different pace, and started to put together some of the upper floors, but separately from the main bulk we just built. Step ten also gave us Daisy Duck.


Steps eleven and twelve continued the structure we started in step ten, adding more floors above it.





Step thirteen started yet another structure - this time the final and highest tower on the castle. It also gave us Tinker Bell.



Step fourteen was the last step and finished that tower off. Nearly there!





Finally it was time to piece all of these separate buildings together! Awesome!


So, let us now take a look around some of the castle, and then I can share with you my thoughts and some close-up photos of all the details and rooms.




These are fireworks - and you can actually launch them, too! Pretty neat, huh?



The clock is about to strike midnight! It is Cinderella Castle, after all...





I would give this set five out of five. As you can see already from just those few photos, it really is an awesome looking set (and at over $350 including tax, and over 4000 pieces, I expected nothing less!). I do have two small complaints about the design though. For some reason, the castle walls at the side are prone to a little movement, as they are not really fixed down well. There is only really one piece that keep each wall in place, and they tend to sway a little, which is a shame. The other thing is that the entire top section that was constructed separately, rests solely on about eight studs on the brown floor on the bottom half. When I went to move the castle after construction, despite my absolute best efforts to be careful, it toppled over. I think for me, that is probably the most frustrating part, especially for the money and the time investment - and as a fan being so excited about this set only then to have something like this happen. I think LEGO could have easily rectified these issues. However, with those complaints aside, the entire thing looks amazing, and I just love all the details they included, which I'll go into below, shortly.

Before we get to those close-ups, let's take a look at all five minifigures, back and front.

Minnie Mouse


Daisy Duck


Mickey Mouse


Tinker Bell


Donald Duck


The backs of all five.


I really like these minifigures, and think they chose well for which ones to include. Having Tinker Bell is a nice nod to the fact that she flies from the castle during the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. A little later in this review I am going to make a comparison between these minifigures and the ones that were released back in April, so you can see the difference.

Now let's take a fun look at all those rooms and details! As I mentioned above, there was a previous range of blind bag Disney minifigures that included some awesome characters. I decided to use them in the photos I took to add some fun and to set the scene. (I should add that the Princess Aurora minifigure seen below is actually from the LEGO Disney Princess range, and not the Disney minifigure blind bag range).

Let's start at the front of the castle where Donald Duck is practising some archery on the terrace!



Nearby, the Little Green Man is once again having problems with the "claw", and Buzz Lightyear has to come to his rescue!


Down below, Mr Incredible battles Syndrome! Hopefully with their battling they don't make the top half of the castle topple over again...


Around the terrace from Donald Duck we find another duel in progress - this time between Peter Pan and Captain Hook!


Sitting on some lily pads down below are Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen. Stitch decided to drop by and share in the spirit of Ohana with them.



There is a neat hidden compartment on the lower roof area of the castle. Hidden inside are a box containing Cinderella's glass slipper and a really cute little storybook.





Inside the main entrance hall we find Mickey Mouse being as dashing and gentlemanly as ever, offering to help Minnie Mouse with a little shoe problem...



Somewhere on an upper floor, Daisy Duck finds the forbidden west wing, and takes a leaf out of Belle's book by reading a tale as old as time.



In the castle kitchen, Alice finds some potions on a shelf, whilst being spied upon by the ever mysterious Cheshire Cat. Can you spot him?



Back downstairs in the entrance hall, Aladdin and Genie find some familiar artifacts on a nearby wall.



Somewhere high up in the castle tower, Maleficent curses the spinning wheel that poor Princess Aurora was always destined to touch.



Oh no! No escape for Princess Aurora this time, sadly. Maleficent watches over her in the bedroom.



Ariel has heard that Rapunzel keeps some neat thingamabobs in the castle, so swam up to check them out!



Ursula has taken over the magic mirror from the Queen, and is determined to become the fairest one of all the sea!



Mickey Mouse is a curious fellow and found a magical hat and book, alongside some mops and buckets. Who knows what might happen next!



As you can see, I had a LOT of fun with the minifigures and the castle. It's such a great set and can be played with in so many different ways.

Finally, I want to show you the comparison between the previously released blind bag minifigures and the new ones in this set. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Daisy Duck had all come out previously, and much to my surprise, LEGO really improved upon three of them in the four months that they have been released. I like the new Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck a whole lot more. Unfortunately, as far as I could tell, Donald Duck is identical in both incarnations.

On the left in each photo is the new one, and on the right the older one. (I know it looks as though one of the Donald Duck minifigures is huge, but it's just the angle - I couldn't get them to sit flat enough to take a better shot!)





That's everything for this review! I hope you enjoyed the tour of the castle - I sure did!

Have a great day everyone,

Dan.