I recently experienced the Once Upon a Painting activity at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, and there truly has never been a more fitting activity for a Magic Kingdom area resort. It doesn’t get much better than painting a castle, with a view of a castle!

Reservations are encouraged, and anyone wishing to sign up should call the Bay Lake Tower Community Hall at to make a reservation. They will add you to the list for your preferred day, but this is really just to hold your spot and so they can get your table ready for you before you arrive. Your reservation will not show up in My Disney Experience, and you do not need to submit a credit card in advance (payment will be handled at check-in). I called and made a reservation to participate on a Monday afternoon. Walk-up spots are available, based on limited availability. Since this is a rather time-consuming activity, guests must arrive no later than 1:00PM to participate. Anyone is allowed to participate in this activity - you do not need to be a Contemporary guest, or even a Walt Disney World guest. It’s available to everyone!

We started our morning with a late breakfast at ‘Ohana, and then rode the monorail around to Contemporary when it was time for our painting session to begin. Guests also have the option of driving and parking at the Contemporary - just let the security guard know that you’re here to check in for your Once Upon a Painting reservation and they’ll allow you to enter and park.

Once inside, take the escalator or elevator to the 2nd floor of the Contemporary, and you’ll find the California Grill check-in desk there at the top of the escalator. You’ll see the desk set up with a “Check-In Here” sign and a sample ceramic castle so you can take a look at what you’ll be painting before you pay. A Cast Member with the Recreation Team will meet you there. Since we already had a reservation, she easily found us on her list and checked us in. The castles cost $30 each, and we were welcome to share one or each buy our own. No discounts are offered. They’re able to accept MagicBand, MagicMobile, Key to the World, Disney Gift Card, Disney Visa Reward Cards, or credit cards as payment. After we paid, we were directed over to the elevators and up to California Grill on the 15th Floor.

When we stepped into California Grill, we were greeted by a pretty, iridescent 50th Anniversary sign and several friendly Cast Members. They welcomed us and led us straight to our table, and we were thrilled to see that we had a prime table by a window, with a gorgeous, sunny view of Cinderella Castle. Since we had an advance reservation, our table was already all set up for us with paint brushes, our ceramic castles, a water jar for rinsing brushes, trays to help us contain the mess, paper towels, and a chart showing every available paint color. It turned out we were the only participants that day, so we had the restaurant to ourselves! Although they did mention that the low attendance was unusual and the activity often sells out, so making a reservation in advance is still a great idea.

A Cast Member came over and explained that these were actually lighted ceramic castle lamps, and when they were finished, they would be packed up with a light bulb and electrical cord to take home. She gave us a blank sticker and asked us to write our name and contact information on the sticker and stick it on the bottom of our castle. She then asked us to select six colors from the paint chart that we would like to start with, and mark those on the provided paper paint list. We chose our colors, turned over our lists to her, and she brought us back paper plates with our starting colors. We were welcome to ask for more of any color when needed, or request as many additional colors as we wanted. Then, we began painting!

I did feel like 2 hours was a little too short to do this activity justice, since the castle piece has a lot of surface area to cover and it just wasn’t possible to spend much time on details. The time flew by, but it was such a lovely, relaxing way to spend the afternoon. California Grill’s dining room was so bright and comfortable, there was soft jazz music playing, the Cast Members were top-notch and all so cheerful, and the unique view of Magic Kingdom was so magical.

When our time was nearly up, we hurried to cover any blank space left on our castles, but the Cast Members noticed us rushing and kindly gave us an extra ten minutes to finish. Then, they took our finished pieces and said they would keep them overnight so they can spray them with gloss, and we would be able to pick them up the following day in the Bay Lake Tower Community Hall any time after 10AM. They also offered some extra paint and paint brushes for us to take home, so we could keep adding details to our castles later. If you still have a lot of painting left to do, or aren’t able to return to Contemporary the next day to pick it up, you also have the option of taking your castle with you right then and skipping the gloss altogether.

Before we left, the Cast Members said we could go outside and see the view of Magic Kingdom from the California Grill rooftop. So we headed outside and took in the view! This is the same area that California Grill guests go to watch the Enchantment fireworks in the evening, so the opportunity to get some daytime photos out there with no one else around was very cool.

The next day, we stopped by the Contemporary again and told the Security Guard that we were there to pick up our ceramic castles, and they let us right through the gate. We popped into the Bay Lake Tower Community Hall, gave them our names, and they handed us our castles. They were packed up in a cardboard box, with the electrical cord and light bulb included so we could use them as lamps. Everything was bubble wrapped well and arranged compactly in the box, making it as simple to travel with as possible. They put the box in a paper bag for us too, which made it easier to carry around that day until you got back to your hotel room. If needed, you can also arrange for shipping and have it sent directly to your house.

The castle made it home safely in my luggage, and the electrical cord and lightbulb just took a second to install and easily snapped right into the bottom of the lamp. It turned out very shiny from the gloss and looks great! I’m so glad we took the time to do this activity, and I would absolutely recommend Once Upon a Painting to anyone looking for an afternoon craft and a relaxing break!

Once Upon a Painting | Mondays and Fridays from 12:30-2:30PM | Contemporary Resort | California Grill

*Activity dates and times listed here were accurate at the time this review was published. Resort activities and activity schedules may change month-to-month, so be sure to check the current Contemporary Resort Recreation Calendar for updated times/dates when making plans to participate.