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Sleeping Beauty Castle

Sleeping Beauty Castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle DLR.jpg
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park.
Disneyland
Area Fantasyland
Coordinates 33°48′46″N 117°55′08″W / 33.81276°N 117.91894°W / 33.81276; -117.91894
Status Operating
Opening date July 17, 1955
Hong Kong Disneyland
Area Fantasyland
Coordinates 22°18′45″N 114°02′28″E / 22.31262°N 114.04113°E / 22.31262; 114.04113
Status Operating
Opening date September 12, 2005
Closing date 2019
General statistics
Attraction type Castle
Theme Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty Castle is a fairy tale castle at the center of Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late-19th century Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany.

Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles. Its primary inspiration was the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. Though it reaches a height of 77 feet (23 m), it was designed by Herbert Ryman to appear taller through a process known as forced perspective; 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 April 29, 1957, visitors were able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty. The voice of Cliff Edwards singing "When You Wish Upon a Star" is piped into the castle. The original dioramas were designed in the style of Eyvind Earle, production designer for Disney's 1959 film 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 in October 2001; popular belief claims the September 11th attacks and the potential danger that ensued played a major factor in the closing.

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 not available in 1957. The walkthrough reopened on November 27, 2008 at 5:00 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 still experience the walkthrough "virtually" in a special room on the Castle's ground floor. This room is lavishly themed, and presents the closed-captioned CGI walkthrough recreation on a high-definition TV. This same virtual recreation is included on the Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD.


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