Sleeping Beauty Castle Fun Facts

The architecture of Sleeping Beauty Castle is a composite of French and Bavarian castles from the Middle Ages.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland is actually modeled after "Neuschwanstein", the Bavarian castle built by King Ludwig II from 1869- 1886. It is not a "composite" of french and german architecture as indicated. Check it out, the resemblance is both uncanny and easily identifiable.
UPDATE: Chris 26 DEC 01
The Castle features a real, working drawbridge, though it's only been lowered twice -- Disneyland Park's opening day, July 17, 1955, and again in 1983 to unveil the newly remodeled Fantasyland.
The draw bridge on the castle really does work. It was used twice: once at the opening ceremonies and once more at the re-opening of fantasyland.
CONFIRMED: Letty 15 AUG 01
To make the castle spires sparkle, Walt Disney wanted them plated with 22-karat gold. His brother, Roy, was opposed. So Walt sent him away on a business trip and had it done while he was gone!
One of the spires on the castle was not plated in gold, like the others. I was told that Walt Disney did this to serve as a reminder of his famous quote that Disneyland would never be completed as long as there was imagination left in the world.
REPORTED: Amanda Pettitt 30 JUL 98
If you look at the castle from the front, just left of center there is a spire that is a brownish color. It is easy to identify if you look for the blue roofed tower that is like square-shaped instead of circular.
CONFIRMED: Brian W. 07 APR 00
CONFIRMED: cindy sundes 07 MAR 01
If you look closely, the top of the Disneyland castle is on backwards. Here's the story my cast family member told me: When they were constructing the castle, the workers were messing around, and they took the top off. When they heard that Walt was on his way, they quickly put the top of the castle back, but they accidently put it on backwards. Walt said the castle looked great. To this day, the top of the castle remains backwards.
REPORTED: Andrew Gibbs 16 JUL 01
I have found a different story of why the castle was backwards. Walt was looking thru the designs for it and he found one that he liked, but it looked too real to be put into the park. His soultion was to turn it around andlet everybody see the back side. I have read this in many different books.
UPDATE: Kevin Flynn 20 MAR 02
In one of Walt Disney's early TV shows showing the construction of Disneyland, Walt called the Sleeping Beauty Castle, Snow White's Castle.
REPORTED: Micaela Smith 18 APR 99
There is a second "Time Capsule" at Disneyland other than the official "Time Castle" buried in the Sleeping Beauty Castle Courtyard for the 40^th anniversary. During the first renovation of the Emporium a few years back, a newspaper from 1955 was found inside one of the walls in the stock room for the Emporium. The way it was carefully folded made everyone certain that it was intended to be found years later. When the new Emporium was almost ready to open a ceremony was held to bury a new time capsule in the office areas backstage in the Emporium. It was reported in the "Disneyland Line" a few years ago, I have the issue and will research the date and more details for you later.
Also, as to the "Time Castle" in the forecourt of the castle, the park announced that a "replica" of the time castle would be on display in the Opera House along with copies of the contents buried on July 17, 1995. Well, in fact, the "Time Castle" on display was the actual one used for the ceremony. The container that was actually buried with the contents was a special generic plastic container used to bury hazardous waste material. Let's hope that the Cast Members of the future aren't to scared to open it 40 years from now!
REPORTED: Jim O'Connor 02 JUL 96
CONFIRMED: LESLIE LAWLOR 13 JAN 97
The crest above the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty's Castle is the Disney Family crest.
REPORTED: an150734 02 NOV 95
CONFIRMED: Mr Damien L Correll 21 MAY 96
CONFIRMED: Eric B 22 AUG 96
CONFIRMED: CHAR BERTEAUX IV 05 MAY 97
The castle has windows in the shape of shields and all the shapes on the windows are different because all of them are the last name shield for each Imagineer... and the one in the middle is Disney's shield.
REPORTED: MR DAMIEN L CORRELL 21 MAY 96
This gargoyle is on Sleeping Beauty's castle. Pretty horrible, huh? But a side view shows it's nothing more than a fuzzy-tailed squirrel!
REPORTED: Ed Johnston 19 AUG 96
CONFIRMED: Eric B 22 AUG 96
On the outside of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, there is a gargoyle on the side of the wall. Someone mentioned that the gargoyle looked scary and that they discovered that from a side view, it was actually a bushy-tailed squirrel. While looking at the picture on the website, my friend and I noticed that one way, it looked like a little rabbit holding two eggs. And in a another perspective it just looked like a rabbit face (an interesting one I might add).
UPDATE: Molly 02 FEB 00
In the courtyard, just behind Sleeping Beauty's castle, there is a brass spike driven into the ground. It is not marked. This was the exact geographical center of Disneyland before expansion.
REPORTED: ENTROPYM 09 NOV 95
The brass spike is there but it's no longer the center of Disneyland, not since Toontown was added.
CONFIRMED: Ed Johnston 15 OCT 96
CONFIRMED: Eric B 22 AUG 96
CONFIRMED: Benjamin Rockwell 20 JAN 97
When you walk through the castle toward the carrousel if you look down right as you come out that gold thing in the ground, it's a rail road spike, is actually the very center of the park before ToonTown opened. It's usually overlooked as a pole hole like the ones in Main Street used for the parades.
CONFIRMED: Heather 21 NOV 00
On the Fantasyland side of the main archway of Sleeping Beauty's Castle there is a copper colored stake that has been driven into the ground. This copper stake is the exact center of the Disneyland park.
CONFIRMED: DJ Heinlein 15 FEB 02
this is a popular notion (often perpetuated by cast-members). However, it is neither the center of the park nor is it a spike. It's a survey marker. This particular one designates the centerline of Main Street. As far as the park center is concerned; using the DLRR as a perimeter boundary the 1955 center would have been located nearer to the central plaza, a few meters west of where the 'Partners' stand today.
UPDATE: Ish Kabibble 20 FEB 02
If you walk directly in the to Sleeping Beauty's Castle, look down and you can see a spike. It marks the exact center of Disneyland.
REPORTED: Andrew Lin 06 MAY 02
The Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough exhibit used to require an "A" ticket.
REPORTED: Mark Atkins 31 MAY 02
One is able to walk inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland. Inside the castle, you walk through a series of partialy animitronic displays that show the basic storyline of Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, the entrance to this part of the Castle is a bit difficult to find, and is not always open.
REPORTED: Lydia 01 APR 00
The stairs on the right (as you are walking up to the castle from the Carrousel pointing back towards Main Street) lead directly into and through the castle. It isn't that obvious unless you know what you're looking for. It's a very small opening that has a simple yellow "Sleeping Beauty's Castle" sign over it. You walk along corridors and up, down and around winding stiarcases. All along the way, from beginning to end, the story of Sleeping Beauty is told both in giant books in glass cases and in diorama-style scenes behind glass 'windows' with puppet-type characters from the movie. The exit is on the left when you are facing the same way as above and only has a small yellow "Exit" sign above it. I have known many people who grew up going to Disneyland frequently and never knew the you could go into the castle and had never even noticed the door to the stairs. As an added surprise one day as I walked through with my two little children, there was a pigeon that had somehow gotten into one of the scenes from the outside. It was pretty funny to see what looked like a GIANT pigeon in with all the small figures - Pidgezilla!!! Run for your lives!!!
CONFIRMED: Suz 10 APR 00
CONFIRMED: TR Shaw 06 JUN 00
The scenes inside the castle were donated by Shirely Temple
REPORTED: brian 30 APR 00
After you walk through the castle you see a chandelier right above you if you look close enough you see it is a clock.
REPORTED: Hugo 05 AUG 98
CONFIRMED: Sophia Marie Fleury 02 FEB 00
CONFIRMED: Marie-Claire Fleury 03 FEB 00
Along with the Sleeping Beauty Castle interior walkthrough exhibits in the 1970s was an echo well like the one in the film. It would echo if one shouted into it. I don't know if it's still there. \
REPORTED: Mark Atkins 31 MAY 02
The Sleeping Beauty Castle diorama attraction used to include a series of keyholes that guests could peer through to see the eerily glowing eyes of Maleficent's goons. They removed this feature because it held up traffic on the stairs considerably.
REPORTED: Kellee Richards 03 SEP 00
When working as Brer Bear, my cohort (Brer Fox) Jim Adams and myself would explore the unfinished apartment location for Walt - until we got caught and were very harshly scolded.
REPORTED: PhilChil 08 DEC 95
CONFIRMED: Uncle Remus 09 JUN 97
You are allowed to walk up and inside the castle at Florida but at the California version, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, you are only allowed to walk up and around the castle. There are stairs on the right side of the back of the castle
REPORTED: Luke Provenzano 14 JUL 97
Actually, one is able to walk inside Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland. Inside the castle, you walk through a series of partialy animitronic displays that show the basic storyline of Sleeping Beauty. Unfortunately, the entrance to this part of the Castle is a bit difficult to find, and is not always open.
UPDATE: Lydia 01 APR 00
The Fantastic Four (Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, and Snow White) can all be viewed around 11:00 a.m. in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle for photo/picture opportunities just before storyime in Tinkerbell's Toy Shoppe.
REPORTED: Princess 08 AUG 01

Where to next?

Go on to Dumbo the Flying Elephant Fun Facts,
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