Review: LEGO 43222 Disney Castle (2023)

July 18, 2023 | 3

2023 is a huge year for Disney with its 100th Anniversary, and LEGO have not held back at all with their massive range of Disney sets, but chief among them is 43222 Disney Castle, a remake of 71040 Disney Castle,

To celebrate 100 years of Disney, the Disney Castle at Walt Disney World Florida has received a brand new coat of paint, and LEGO have taken the opportunity to refresh the massive LEGO Disney Castle, and deliver a whole suite of upgrades including 4 cornerstone Disney Princesses as minifigures, and their male counterparts.

As the most expensive LEGO Disney set, this US$399.99 / AU$599.99 castle does not come cheap and LEGO have positioned it as the flagship Disney set that is meant to be a standout centerpiece model.

43222 Disney Castle was released on 1 July 2023, and here’s my in-depth look into the set and some considerations on whether you should pick it up if you have the original.

See below for regional pricing and links:

• 43222 Disney Castle [US] – US$399.99
• 43222 Disney Castle [AUS] – AU$599.99
• 43222 Disney Castle [UK] – £344.99
• 43222 Disney Castle [EU] – €399.99
• 43222 Disney Castle [CA] – CAD$519.99

If you’re picking up the LEGO Disney Castle set, please consider using these affiliate links as I may receive a small commission with each purchase that helps support the work I do here on the blog.

Who is this set for? Disney fans who want the ultimate Disney Castle display model, and those wanting to complete their Disney minifigure collection. Especially great for those that don’t own the 2016 Disney Castle, or have the budget and space for an upgrade.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set for this review!

43222 Disney Castle Set Details

Name: Disney Castle
Set Number: 43222
Pieces: 4,837 pieces
Price: US$399.99 | AU$599.99 | £344.99 | €399.99 | CAD$519.99
Exclusive to: LEGO.com / LEGO Stores
Theme: Ideas
Release Date: 1 July 2023 (VIP Early Access)
LEGO Designers: Ryan Van Woerkom

Here’s a look at the sticker sheets. For such a large set, it was interesting to observe that they were quite restrained with the stickers. There is a large reflective sheet with 4 portraits of the Princesses included, which feel really premium and special as you don’t often encounter reflective stickers.

Still, it must be a force of habit because I typically expect LEGO to go all out with stickers, especially for Disney sets like these where they’re typically used as Easter Eggs and references to other Disney properties.

Three individual manuals are included in the set, and yes, that means you can build the set together with up to 2 other people simultaneously, for a Build Together experience.

Booklet 1 builds the base, and the right side of the castle, book 2 takes on the left walls, and book 3 constructs the main towers.

I tagged team this gargantuan build with my wife and I always find it an enjoyable experience to share a build with someone as it not only makes the build quicker, but I find it’s quality time spent that we’re not on our phones together.

Despite only featuring Cinderella, Snow White, Tiana and Rapunzel, the set does include a treasure trove of Easter Eggs to other iconic Disney movies and there’s a handy two-page spread in the manual to help you identify them all.

Also love this Do and Don’t diagram when it comes to lifting your LEGO Disney Castle.

43222 Disney Castle Minifigures

One of the main areas where the 2023 LEGO Disney Castle feels like a substantial upgrade to the original is the minifigure department, with 8 highly sought-after minifigures, compared to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Tinker Bell from 71040 Disney Castle.

The set comes with Prince Charming, Cinderella, Prince Naveen, Tiana, Flynn Rider, Rapunzel, Prince Dorian and Snow White, most of whom (with the exception of Tiana) are making their debut as LEGO minifigures, which makes this a must-have if you aim to collect every single Disney minifigure.

(The Tiana minifigure made her debut in the Disney 100 Minifigures Series)

The character selection is skewed towards some of the most important Disney Princes and Princesses in Disney’s history, from classics such as Snow White to modern day Disney stalwarts like Rapunzel from Tangled.

While Mickey and Minnie are one of the most recognisable names in animation, it’s undeniable that Disney was built on its Princesses – and if you’ve had the opportunity to visit any Disneyland or Disney World, you’d understand just how integral they are to Disney’s legacy.

By far the most exciting duo in the set is Snow White and Prince Florian from 1937’s Snow White – the world’s first feature-length animated film that firmly set the course for the Walt Disney company to be the entertainment juggernaut it’s known as today.

Snow White is wonderful as a minifigure, and has been a long-time coming, especially after only made an appearance as a minidoll. Prince Florian is charming enough, and has simple printing that matches his 1937 movie appearance.

Unfortunately, her neckline is a little faded, as a result of LEGO printing on a darker base which slightly diminishes the overall quality of the minifigure, but her arm printing and expressive face more than makes up for it.

Here’s a look at the back printing, and alternate faces for both Snow White and Prince Florian. Same as the front, Snow White’s dress print which extends to her torso is equally muddled and doesn’t match the skirt piece, which is annoying for fans obsessed with every little detail.

Up next we have Prince Charming and Cinderella – Cinderella has been a mainstay for the Disney Princess theme, appearing many times as minidolls, but this is her first outing as a minifigure and she looks absolutely dazzling.

Her light blue dress doesn’t suffer from the same colour inconsistencies as a Snow White, as the flesh-coloured print is a much closer match, and and she even comes with a brand new hairpiece which is a much closer take on her hairstyle.

Prince Charming is equally good as well, and I especially like his confident grin.

Here’s a look at their back printing and alternate faces.

Next we have Prince Naveen and Tiana from the modern Disney era film Princess and the Frog. Prince Naveen is the minifigure of note here, as Tiana is identical to the one in the Disney 100 Minifigures series.

Prince Naveen is great, coming with epaulettes and a yellow cape, and a great expression. It’s a great pairing that will delight Princess and the Frog fans, but it’ll be a shame if this is his only appearance in minifigure form.

And last but not least, we have Flynn Rider and Rapunzel from Tangled, which at the time, used a groundbreaking mix of CGI and traditional animation techniques and kicked off Disney’s foray into its CGI Princess era.

The set marks Flynn Rider and Rapunzel’s first outing as LEGO minifigures, and because of Tangled’s popularity and recency, makes this the most sought-after minifigure duo from this set.

Both minifigures are fantastic, with really high quality printing across Rapunzel’s dress, including arm printing.

Here’s a look at their alternate faces and back printing – it’s a shame that Rapunzel’s printing didn’t extend down to her dress, which would’ve made this an absolutely perfect minifigure.

Flynn Rider’s face is spot-on, but I think Rapunzel’s face looks a little weird because of the minifigure eyes, which don’t quite capture Rapunzel’s large expressive eyes in the movies – something that I think the minidoll versions do a much better job of.

She also comes with the new Rapunzel hairpiece, which was introduced this year and looks great, with a whole lot more volume in her braids, and has the benefit of being made of hard plastic instead of the usual rubbery material.

As a whole, this is a stellar lineup of minifigures with heavy hitters spanning Disney’s history. The pairings make a lot of sense, and also tie-in nicely with the Disney World/Disney Land performer experience.

Despite some slight colour issues, LEGO have done a great job translating these iconic characters to minifigures, and these minifigures alone are a huge drawcard to get the set, even if you have the original Disney Castle.

The Completed Model & Build Experience

The build was quite engaging throughout, with just a splash of repetition for the walled section. As you build it, you begin with the base where it really dawns on you just how large the footprint of the LEGO Disney Castle will be.

Unless you’ve built the previous Disney Castle, this is a fantastic and novel experience, which you can only get from large structures at this scale. There is plenty of traditional brick-building, and you’ll really appreciate the little golden accents which introduce a sense of texture and architectural flourish to the build.

For fans of geometric LEGO builds, there are plenty of satisfying cross-sections like these hidden within the turrets.

Here’s the completed model which is absolutely enormous, and breath-taking.

The new 2023 LEGO Disney Castle has a few new tricks up its sleeve, and I especially like the sand blue walls, and light nougat walls, which blend very nicely together.

The sand blue walls are by far my favourite feature, and fans of this rare colour will be delighted at the inclusion of all these lovely sand blue elements.

The golden accents are nice, when they’re against the blue spires, but I think in this case, there’s just a bit too much gold for my tastes. The new additions of the Fireworks are also a nice touch that add to the dynamism of the model.

It’s a really large model, which stands at 80cm (31″) tall, so you’ll need plenty of space for it as it also has a large footprint, but it’s one of those massive models that are a sight to behold.

Here’s a look at the back, which has an open doll-house design allowing easy access to many of the chambers and rooms, which are filled with Disney scenes and references.

In the middle on the ground floor, just past the main doors is a turntable that you can swivel with your hands to make the Princess and Prince dance. It’s very simple, but an appropriate play function here.

Flanking the dance floor are these large arched panels with the large holographic stickers of the princesses doing princess things.

43222 Disney Castle Easter Eggs and References

Next, let’s take a look at the interior rooms. Here’s the Beauty and the Beast’s kitchen, which has a Mrs. Potts teapot, and Chip the cup resting on the shelf, as well as the recognisable black and white tiles.

On the ground floor is this lovely nod to Phantasia.

And a Stone in the Sword reference too!

There’s the Dinglehopper (fork) from The Little Mermaid.

And a dragon print and sword from Mulan.

Above the kitchen and dining table lies a bunch of references to Moana, with a poster of Maui and his oar. There’s also the Genie’s lamp and the Flying Carpet from Aladdin, as well as the rose from Beauty & the Beast and some bookshelves.

She’s not included in the set, but there’s the Magic Mirror from Snow White, which is the perfect place for the Evil Queen.

There’s also Cinderella’s pumpkin.

And Rapunzel’s painting of the lanterns.

Cinderella’s glass slipper is obviously here.

Out the front, there’s a swirl of leaves which is a Pocahontas reference, as well as a green frog which is a nod to Princess and the Frog!

This one’s a strange one – the diagram says its Sleeping Beauty’s bed, but the purple bedsheets feel a bit more like Rapunze’s bed, according to my daughter, the resident Disney Princess expert.

There’s also Sleeping Beauty’s Spindle, which is on a rotating pedestal that can spin around to show off some of Maleficent’s spooky green magic.

And last but not least, there’s a nice nod to the Disney World Castle, where there’s a tiara on display in the upper levels.

There’s also Snow White’s poison apple, which is hidden somewhere that’s difficult to access after building – a bit of an odd choice.

But my favourite Easter Egg is this cache of Walt Disney references, hidden inside one of the tower roofs.

There’s an old style film camera, silver star wand (that’s used across Disney 100 promotional material), and a printed tile of the classic animated Mickey Mouse.

What I liked:

• Incredible scale and design allows for unmatched display presence
• Excellent cast of long-awaited Disney Princesses and Princes in minifigure form
• Filled with Easter Eggs and nods to other Disney Classics
• Expensive but doesn’t feel overpriced

What I didn’t like: 

• Could use one more pair of minifigures
• More printed elements or stickers would’ve been nice
• We already have 2 Cinderella Castles.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

2023 is a massive year for Disney, and 43222 Disney Castle is commensurate and fitting LEGO build to celebrate 100 years of Disney.

Size-wise, the 2023 LEGO Disney Castle is astonishing, blending a very aesthetically-pleasing colour scheme with awe-inspiring proportions that make this the new ultimate LEGO Disney centerpiece.

This scale and pricepoint allows LEGO to go large, which all but ensures pleasing build techniques, generous element usage, plenty of sand blue, and an interior filled with nods to so many Disney characters and films that didn’t make it as minifigures.

In a world without 71040 Disney Castle, this would be an instant classic, and a really easy recommendation for Disney fans with deep pockets, looking for the ultimate expression of their love of Disney in LEGO form.

Unfortunately, the 2016 does exist, and because this is essentially a minor refresh, most noticeably with a new colour scheme, the novelty does wear off, especially if you own the original, weakening the case to upgrade your Disney Castle unless you have the money, and space, or are a helpless completionist.

Where the newer one is a big upgrade over the original is in the minifigure department. Eight minifigures, 4 iconic Princesses and their male counterparts are a much more exciting inclusion, making this feel like a proper celebration of Disney through the ages.

I actually think this set is great value. Adjusted for inflation, the 2016 Disney Castle could cost US$440 today, so 43222 Disney Castle at US$400 actually represents even better value as it contains almost 800 more pieces, and a stronger minifigure lineup.

If you don’t own the original Disney Castle, this is clearly the definitive Disney Castle to get as o think it’s a big upgrade to the 2016 version, in most areas except for colour scheme, which is a more subjective preference.

Personally, I like this colour scheme a bit better as I love the nougat, blue and sand blue combination and generous gold accents.

Think of Disney Castles as the LEGO Disney equivalent of the UCS Millennium Falcon, an evergreen staple of a beloved theme that now appears to be something that LEGO and Disney want to remain on the shelves.

That said, I do think it’s also a shame that we didn’t get a fresh new castle – a Sleeping Beauty Castle would’ve been fantastic and give Disney fans who own the original more of a push to upgrade, and offer a brand new experience, but for the 100th Anniversary, I can see why Disney would opt for a reissue of the Cinderella Castle.

Reviewing 43222 Disney Castle as a standalone set, this is an easy recommendation to make, and one worth making space and saving for, especially if you time it to get a really substantial Gift with Purchase or Double VIP Points.

A magical LEGO celebration of Disney 100.

Rating and score: 4/5 ★★★★✰

Build [4] – Grand build techniques made possible at this scale
Real Value [4] – Despite its expensive pricetag, LEGO have packed it with value especially when you get plenty of large and useful elements
Innovation [2] – Not the most innovative set as it’s essentially the same design, but there are some things that keep it fresh
Coolness [4] – Great minifigures and awe-inspiring display presence make this a standout set to proudly display
Keepability [4] – Works great as a centerpiece of a LEGO Disney collection.

Thanks so much for reading my review of 43222 Disney Castle

43222 Disney Castle is available now from LEGO.com or your local LEGO store.

Special thanks to LEGO for sending this set over for this review!

What do you think of the 2023 LEGO Disney Castle, and how does it stack up against the original?

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