Construction began in 2014 but was soon halted by complaints from conservationists and environmentalists, while the company that was responsible for it got burdened with loads of debt and went bankrupt. The pandemic appears to have been the final nail in the project's coffin.

The idea that a "Disney Castle" was abandoned is actually a mix of urban legends and confusion with other projects. No Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty Castle at the major resorts has ever been abandoned; they are the maintained centerpieces of the parks. The rumor often stems from Disney’s River Country, the first water park at Disney World, which was closed in 2001 and left to decay for nearly 20 years before being cleared for a new resort. Another source of the myth is the "Discovery Island" attraction, which was also left abandoned in Bay Lake. Occasionally, people confuse real castles with the "Castles of the World" in the defunct "Splendid China" park in Florida or abandoned "knock-off" Disney parks in China and Turkey (like the Burj Al Babas project). The real Disney castles are meticulously maintained and even underwent major "Royal Makeover" refurbishments in 2020 and 2021 to keep them looking pristine.