Behind the Attraction: Disney Castles
We’ve only got two remaining episodes from season one of Behind the Attraction. Neither of them involves a ride.
In fact, one focuses on architectural marvels at Disney theme parks.
Let’s once again go behind the attraction to learn about Disney Castles.
The First Castle
All discussions must start with the first castle, the only one that Walt Disney lived to see.
Sleeping Beauty Castle may seem quaint now due to its more diminutive stature, but it remains the grand dame of all Disney landmarks.
Fans love it so much that the Disney Visa Card features Sleeping Beauty Castle as one of the most popular designs…and I should know since I have this very card design.
The first part of the episode reveals the story behind the castle’s creation. Walt Disney’s love of fairytales played a huge part, as did his dog’s appetite.
That sweet puppy loved hot dog weenies. So, Uncle Walt knew that he would grab the dog’s attention with them.
The same logic applies at Disney theme parks, where Imagineers call the giant landmarks weenies.
Yes, Spaceship Earth’s a weenie, the Tree of Life’s a weenie, and even the Matterhorn is a weenie.
However, the first weenie was Sleeping Beauty Castle. While traveling around Europe, Disney fell in love with the architecture of some gothic castles.
Obviously, something dark and ominous wouldn’t work, though. So instead, Walt needed a castle that would attract villagers rather than make them run away in fear.
The entrepreneur debated three different intellectual properties for the castle.
He cycled between Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella before settling on Sleeping Beauty.
The remarkable part of this choice was that the movie Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t come out until 1959.
Yes, the castle you’ve gazed upon with awe all your life is one big promotion for a 1959 film!
How to Build a Castle
Disney faced an odd problem in building Sleeping Beauty Castle. Nobody on the West Coast had experience in castle creation. It’s not a job you see a lot on LinkedIn.
Then, the company recognized a second issue that proved even more challenging.
The original blueprints for Disneyland called for a massive castle and moat area. So, why is Sleeping Beauty Castle only 77 feet tall?
Uncle Walt recognized that building the castle they’d drawn would siphon off most of the overall park budget.
So, Imagineers utilized forced perspective instead, thereby making Sleeping Beauty Castle appear bigger than it actually is.
Sixteen years later, Disney got a chance to try again. This time, park officials didn’t skimp on the details, either.
With Walt Disney dead, his brother, Roy, wanted to do something special. So he built a castle worthy of his kid brother’s admiration.
That’s how we got all 189 feet of Cinderella Castle. Of course, you don’t need forced perspective when you make something that’s nearly 14 stories high!
The acreage at Magic Kingdom all but demanded a more enormous castle. Otherwise, the sightlines from other themed lands wouldn’t include views of it.
Even worse, people who drove their cars to the parking lot wouldn’t see the castle. The lagoon in front of Magic Kingdom added too much distance.
That was a non-starter at Disney, where all roads lead to the castle! Imagineers had to build something visible from the parking lot past the lagoon!
Both castles shared one trait. Their open nature and splendid curb appeal drew guests toward them. People WANT to walk through these castles!
The International Castles
Starting in the 1980s, Disney extended its theme park footprint abroad. The first location was Tokyo Disneyland, although Disney wouldn’t operate it.
Instead, to this day, the Oriental Land Company (OLC) owns and operates Tokyo Disneyland. And they wanted a familiar weenie.
Yes, OLC just built a duplicate of Cinderella Castle. Meanwhile, Disney cashed the checks for licensing to OLC and used the money to build Spaceship Earth.
The first new international castle wouldn’t come until the following decade, though. Disneyland Paris wanted to put its own spin on the idea.
As the episode mentions, France is the “castle capital of the world.” There are 45,000 (!) castles in the country.
Remember how nobody on the West Coast could build a castle? That’s an in-demand job in France!
So, Imagineers were competing against people who did this for a living. The Disneyland Paris castle needed to surpass those already high standards.
Otherwise, the new theme park would seem like nothing out of the ordinary in a French landscape.
Disney workers embraced the challenge, eventually creating Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant, aka The Castle of the Beauty in the Sleeping Woods.
We call it Sleeping Beauty Castle even though it’s substantially different from the one at Disneyland.
Some blue-bloods worked on this project, including an expert who had previously worked on Notre-Dame Cathedral!
This decidedly European castle isn’t quite as big as Cinderella Castle, but it’s still 167 feet tall.
Disney Castles in China
During the 21st century, Disney has had a hand in building two other castles. Both reside in China, although one has since received a massive update.
Back in the day, Hong Kong Disneyland wanted something simple for its theme park. Officials desired an exact copy of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Sure, Cinderella Castle may be bigger, but the original Disney theme park castle has remained the blueprint over the years.
Of course, Chinese park designers factored in other considerations such as feng shui for balance and prosperity. That was the trick at first.
Imagineers had to build a Sleeping Beauty Castle that meshed with local beliefs on architectural design.
A few years later, something else happened. Disney signed a deal to construct Shanghai Disneyland.
Shanghai’s management demanded something vastly superior to Hong Kong’s castle. As a result, the first mainland China castle towered above its competitor.
Seriously, the castle at Shanghai Disneyland is 196 feet tall, the largest of all Disney castles to date.
Hong Kong’s Sleeping Beauty Castle measured the same 77 feet tall as the one in Anaheim. This triggered – I kid you not – castle wars in China.
Imagineers built the magnificent architectural feat called the Enchanted Storybook Castle, which opened in 2016.
This structure shamed and infuriated Hong Kong officials, who soon shut down Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Hong Kong Disneyland introduced the Castle of Magical Dreams in November of 2020. While “only” 167 feet tall, it’s also a resplendent castle in its own right.
The one at Shanghai Disneyland has a better backstory, though. It possesses several levels, and the explanation is that Disney Princesses live there.
Disney Princesses are royalty and need extra space! Little things like that define the brilliance of Disney castles, a point this episode drives home perfectly.
Nice story. I have been to all the parks. Best castle is Florida. Tokyo version is mainly ignored and just walked around. Shanghai is big bold and unfriendly..like a bodybuilder gone wild. Hong Kong’s castle and Space mountain both look tiny as the mountain behind dwarfs over them.