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Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant

Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant
Sleeping Beauty Castle, Disneyland, Paris.jpg
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Area Fantasyland
Coordinates 48°52′23.34″N 2°46′33.68″E / 48.8731500°N 2.7760222°E / 48.8731500; 2.7760222Coordinates: 48°52′23.34″N 2°46′33.68″E / 48.8731500°N 2.7760222°E / 48.8731500; 2.7760222
Status Operating
Opening date April 12, 1992
General statistics
Attraction type Walkthrough
Designer Walt Disney Imagineering
Theme Sleeping Beauty
Height 167 ft (51 m)
Audio-Animatronics 1
Handicapped/disabled access Wheelchair accessible

Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (English: The Castle of The Sleeping Beauty) is the fairy tale castle at the centre of Disneyland Paris and is a continuation of Sleeping Beauty Castle first seen at Disneyland in California.

The Castle features two parts, a dungeon type area in the base featuring an Audio-Animatronic dragon, and above, a concrete balcony walkthrough area with Sleeping Beauty stained glass windows and tapestries. There are also several shops selling glass figures, ornaments and gifts.

Since Europe is home to the castles that inspired the structures at Disney's first three parks, Imagineers reconsidered what kind of edifice would stand at the hub of its first European theme park. Many different concepts were then created and considered, ranging from slightly modified versions of Disney's existing castles to radically new structures to stand instead in the Castle's place (for example a Discoveryland-like tower).

The team eventually settled on Imagineer Tom Morris' approach to the established Disney castle. Inspirations cited by Imagineering include illustrations from the book of hours Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry and the Mont Saint-Michel monastery in Normandy. As Charles Perrault had not detailed the castle in his 1697 fairy tale, Imagineering had few restrictions regarding its physical appearance. However, Walt Disney's own 1959 film Sleeping Beauty provided the inspiration for, among other things, the Castle's surrounding square trees.

The realisation of the stained glass windows in London, which are visible in Sleeping Beauty's Gallery, was overseen by Peter Chapman, who had previously worked on the restoration of Notre Dame de Paris.


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