"Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland was inspired by the Neuschwanstein Castle in Southern Germany. This European influence was fine for building a castle in Anaheim, but the fact that castles exist just down the road from Disneyland Paris challenged us to think twice about our design." —Tony Baxter, executive designer Walt Disney Imagineering
For this castle, Tony and his team went back to the inspiration for the film: the work of Eyvind Earl, one of the key artists at the Walt Disney Studio that gave Sleeping Beauty one of the most unique looks of any of the original Disney Classics.
Standing at 167ft (50.9 m) Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (French for "The Castle of the Beauty in the Sleeping Wood") is stunning from all sides and worth a trip to the park to bask in its beauty alone.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Disney Castle without a few secrets — and this castle holds the best of any of the Disney Parks.
In the tradition of the original Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, there is a La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant. This walkthrough retells the story Princess Aurora, the three fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather), and of course the Queen of Evil Maleficent through stained glass, tapestries, and story books. It also concludes with some of the best views of the park you could ever dream of.
One of the most unique aspects of this walkthrough (as opposed to the one in Disneyland) is that guests are walking around the upper floor of the castle and able to look down as guests pass through the castle. This provides a great view across to the other side of the castle.
As you continue around the walkway, the story continues with the King ordering all spinning wheels destroyed and the storybook telling of the three fairies taking the baby to the woods to be raised out of the view of Maleficent.
And as the story goes, everything was fine for Briar Rose until that fateful day when she was discovered by Maleficent’s pet crow and tempted with the spinning wheel.
Now, as you walk along, you are on the other side of the opening and given one of my favorite views.
Now that Aurora is sleeping, we come to my favorite tablu of the sleeping knights, that you can hear snoring if you get close enough. In the distance, you see Prince Phillip on his way to battle Maleficent.
Now we have nearly the entire wall dedicated to the epic battle between good and evil.
And as swiftly as Prince Phillip’s Sword of Truth vanquished the dragon, we come to the end of the story.
Even though the story has come to an end, the magic of the castle continues as you step out the back door for those beautiful views of Disneyland Paris I referred to at the start of this.
The walkthrough is not the only secret of the castle because, deep in the dungeon, lies a sleeping (most of the time) dragon.
La Tanière du Dragon (The Dragon's Lair) is home to an 89 ft (27 m) long Audio Animatronic dragon. This figure, when first built, was the longest AA figure. Sculpted originally by puppeteer and former Disney imagineer, it sleeps peacefully but, every few minutes, wakes to chase away anyone who has entered her lair.
We hope you have enjoyed this tour of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Paris.
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