Sleeping Beauty Castle - Definition and Overview

This is an article about a castle at Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. For the castle at the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, see Cinderella Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle is the fairy tale structure at the center of three theme parks owned by The Walt Disney Company.

The first is at the original Disneyland, the only Disney park to be worked on and walked through by Walt Disney. The castle is the smallest - and the oldest - of the Disney castles, but the smallness gives the castle a quaint charm. The castle was completed in 1955. Formerly home to several dioramas depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty, the walk-through attraction was discontinued in 2001. It is widely speculated that this was in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th, but is said to be do to the fact that it cannot accomodate handicapped guests.

The second Sleeping Beauty Castle is at the Disneyland Paris, although the official name is Le chateau de la belle au bois dormant, essentially the original French name from the tale by Charles Perrault about the Sleeping Beauty of legend. The castle was built in a much more fairy tale-inspired style than the first Sleeping Beauty Castle, to appeal to Europeans. It is regarded as the most visually stunning of all the Disney castles. The castle was completed in 1992.

The third Sleeping Beauty Castle is located at the Hong Kong Disneyland park. Its design is much more like that of the original castle. The final turret was put in place on November 18, 2004.

Additionally, the Disneyland castle is the symbol of many parts of The Walt Disney Company. It is the logo for Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group, Buena Vista Music Group and Buena Vista International. It is also heavily featured in advertisements for the Wonderful World of Disney, on ABC and the Disney Channel.

See also

• Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria which served as the inspiration for Walt Disney and his Imagineers in designing the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.
• Château d'Ussé in France, the inspiration of Charles Perrault to write the fairytale Sleeping Beauty. Curiously, however, it served as the inspiration for the design of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disney Resort's Tokyo Disneyland.[1] (http://period8mayer.tripod.com/Usse.html)[2] (http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/Lands/Fantasyland/Attractions/ChateauDeLaBelle.htm)