Sleeping Beauty Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of Disneyland and formerly in Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late 19th century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany. It appeared in the Walt Disney Pictures logos from 1985 to 2006 before being merged with Cinderella Castle, both familiar symbols of the Walt Disney Company. The version at Disneyland is the only Disney castle whose construction was overseen by Walt Disney. A redesigned and larger version of the castle is used as the symbol of Disneyland Paris.
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Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles. Though it reaches a height of 77 feet (23 m), it was designed by Roland E. Hill to appear taller through the forced perspective technique; design elements are larger at the foundation and smaller at the turrets. The castle initially featured an empty upper level that was never intended to house an attraction, but Walt Disney was not satisfied with what he viewed as wasted space, and challenged his Imagineers to find some use for the space. Beginning on April 29, 1957, the visitors were able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting the story of Disney Animation's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. The voice of Jiminy Cricket from Disney Animation's 1940 film Pinocchio singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" can be heard while entering or exiting Fantasyland through the castle. The original dioramas were designed in the style of Eyvind Earle, production designer for Sleeping Beauty, and were then redone in 1977 to resemble the window displays on Main Street, U.S.A. The walkthrough was closed for unspecified reasons on October 7, 2001; popular belief claims the September 11th attacks and the potential danger that ensued played a major factor in the closing. Disney spokesman John McClintock said that the 9–11 attacks rumors were not true. "I am aware of those rumors," he said. "But in 2001, it really wasn't resonating with guests. In the late 90s, early 2000s, arguably the most popular thing about Sleeping Beauty was that you could always get in because nobody went to it." On July 17, 2008, Disney announced that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough would reopen in the style of the original Earle dioramas, enhanced with new technology. The walkthrough reopened on November 27, 2008 at 5 p.m., drawing long lines going as far back as the hub at the center of the park. Unlike previous incarnations, visitors who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the castle can experience the walkthrough "virtually" in a room on the castle's ground floor. This room is lavishly themed and presents the closed-captioned CGI walkthrough recreation on a high-definition monitor. This same virtual recreation is included on the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD. The castle walkthrough entrance is on the west side of the building inside Fantasyland. Guests first see a large medieval-themed story book open to a page that announces the birth of the princess Aurora. After climbing the stairs inside, a scene depicts Aurora as a baby, being blessed with magic gifts by her fairy godmothers. Behind a glass window, there is an animation of the castle courtyard, and the king and queen watching as a large fire burns all the spinning wheels in the kingdom. At the top of the stairs, as guests reach the center of the castle's top level after passing a window showing Aurora asleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while Maleficent looms over her, another window looks out on the castle's great hall, where everyone in the kingdom is asleep, including servants and the cat and dog. The second half of the walkthrough becomes darker, featuring appearances by Maleficent, her raven, and several gargoyles which fly out of her nearby castle, while passing doors where Maleficent's goons are seen. At the end, the prince fights against Maleficent's incarnation as a dragon, amid a forest of thorny brambles, and then a field of roses appears with doves flying above, as he kisses Aurora and breaks the spell. As guests exit the walkthrough at the bottom of the stairs on the east side of the castle after seeing Maleficent's shadow, another medieval-themed oversized book depicts an image of the prince and princess dancing together, as her dress changes colors from pink to blue and back again.
The Disney family coat of arms hangs above the archway to the castle. It is composed of three lions passant in pale. It is known that the coat of arms was not originally on the castle, but was placed there sometime between June 1965 and July 1965. At the rear of the castle, shaded by the archways and driven into the ground is a gold spike that is widely, but wrongly, believed to mark the geographical center of Disneyland. In reality, the spike is a surveyor's mark that was used to ensure that the castle bridge and entrance lined up with Main Street USA when the park was first constructed. The original geographical center of the Magic Kingdom was in the middle of the round park, where the Partners statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands. The addition of Mickey's Toontown in 1993 moved the actual center of the park a few yards northward, but still on the hub side of the castle drawbridge.
The Happiest Homecoming on Earth (2005) In celebration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, Sleeping Beauty Castle received a makeover. The castle was repainted and five turrets were decorated with stylized crowns, each representing a decade in the park's history:
The creation of Disneyland is represented by a pair of famous "Ears" peeking up over the horizon to see the wonders to come. "A World on the Move", otherwise known as the "New Tomorrowland" of 1967, is represented by rocket ships and accented by opalescent planets. The Blue Fairy represents the debut of the Main Street Electrical Parade (which was running at Disney California Adventure at that time). The Indiana Jones Adventure is represented by the evil Eye of Mara, guarded by snakes. The 50th Anniversary of Disneyland is represented by fireworks and Tinker Bell. The castle and park decor were primarily gold, in a nod to a traditional fiftieth anniversary. Gold accents were added to the castle, including gold railings along the front turrets which doubled as fall protection. This railing was removed during the refurbishment leading to the 60th Anniversary and replaced with a retractable railing.
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