Sleeping Beauty’s Castle-Disneyland Paris
Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant. Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. A beautiful masterpiece in the center of main street, Disneyland Paris. There are a few things that make this castle even more special than all the rest, and during our trip in June 2022, I was determined to explore every square inch. Since Disneyland Paris is Europe’s top tourist destination, Sleeping Beauty Castle is the most visited castle in Europe! Keep reading to see photos from my trip and to read all the fun facts I have compiled about the beautiful castle and its history.
The castle in Paris is one of three Sleeping Beauty Castles, there is also one in Hong Kong, and one in Anaheim. Construction on this castle started in 1988 and finished for the park opening in 1992. It stands two times taller than the Anaheim castle 50m (141ft) vs 23m. Because castles were so commonplace in Europe, the imagineers had to work hard to come up with a castle that would delight and enchant the European guests.
The towers were built in Italy and shipped over and added to the castle in 1991. There are 16 towers total, and they range from 3m-15m tall. The tallest tower is 16.8 meters (55ft) and weights 15 tons!! It is said that the 16 towers represent Auroras age when she pricked her finger on the spindle of the spinning wheel!
Just like the other castles, it faces North to South, so that no matter what time of day, you will always get the perfect photo and there will be no backlighting (the sun never passes behind the castle). Its landscape was also inspired by Sleeping Beauty. From the green hill that the castle sits on, to the cubic trees, you may even see some of Aurora’s friends from the forest carved into some of the pillars. The colors of the castle are not just beautiful against the Parisian sky, but they are also a nod to Aurora’s dress from the movie (make it pink, make it blue).
While this is one of the taller castles, just like in the other parks, forced perspective is used to make the castle look even taller than it actually is.
The castle has received several overlays throughout the years. The first occurred during the park's first anniversary celebration in 1993, when the castle was dressed up as a cake complete with strawberries, icing and candles. This overlay was removed after the celebration ended. The cake overlay concept was later copied by Walt Disney World's Cinderella Castle in 1996 for the 25th Anniversary of the resort.
During the fifth anniversary of Disneyland Paris in 1997, the castle was decorated in carnival masks, jester hats, frills and bells to promote the animated film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This overlay lasted until the beginning of 1998.
During the tenth anniversary of Disneyland Paris in 2002, the front of the castle was fitted with a golden scroll displaying a large 10. The celebration also saw the opening of Walt Disney Studios next door. The scroll and other anniversary material in the park were removed in 2003.
In 2007, the castle received another overlay, celebrating the park's fifteenth anniversary. It featured golden Disney characters displayed on the turrets and spires, each holding a candle, and Tinkerbell on the highest spire. The candles were illuminated each night during a special 'Candlebration' ceremony which took place on a raised temporary stage at Central Plaza, in front of the Castle. A huge illuminated gold plaque featuring a large '15' was hung on the front of the castle. This echoed the overlay from the tenth anniversary in 2002. The fifteenth anniversary and the 'Candlebration' ceremony ended on March 7, 2009.
The fifteenth anniversary overlay quickly followed on 4 April 2009 by Mickey's Magical Party, a "theme year" celebration held at the park. The castle was again overlaid, this time with a Mickey and Friends plaque over the main window, and the spire heads were changed from being characters to being 3 circles "of ribbon" representing Mickey Mouse. A more permanent Central Plaza stage was built outside the castle to host the "It's dance time... with Mickey and Friends" show.
The castle was repainted in a new colour-scheme, restored and fitted with multicolored LED lighting during 2011. For the Disney Dreams nighttime spectacular show its moat was fitted with water fountains, the upper window was replaced by a door that slides down to reveal a LED lighted star, 2 lasers were also placed in the hills the caste lies in. Central Plaza stage was removed in order to increase the viewing area. 2 projectors were placed on top of shops in mainstreet USA to cover the full caste with projection mapping for Disney Dreams!
-Taken from Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant - Wikipedia
In 2021, a major renovation was completed:
Renovation of the castle took 50,000 hours.
19,900 slate tiles were custom designed and installed on the roofs using 19,900 hooks. As a result, 7.8 km (4.8 miles) of slates were cut.
41,200 gold leaves were applied by gilders by hand to gild certain parts of the castle.
Between 170 and 200 tons of scaffolding were required to carry out these massive renovation works.
The fifteen tarps that covered the scaffolds throughout the duration of the works were designed by Walt Disney Imagineering Paris – Design & Show Quality to make it possible for guests to continue to take perfect souvenir photos from Main Street, U.S.A., while being under the impression that they were in front of the real castle.
1,200 liters of paint were required to paint the castle by hand.
Sleeping Beauty Castle’s color scheme is made up of 14 shades of pink.
-Taken from: Disneyland Paris Debuts Stunning Sleeping Beauty Castle Refurbishment | Disney Parks Blog (go.com)
Just like the castle in Anaheim, the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany was a main source of structural inspiration for the castle construction.
Each turret has a unique weathervane. If you look closely, you can see flowers, plants, flags, 2 pennants with Ds for Disney, and you can see a crown that was given to Quasimodo during the festival of fools.
The castle has a ton of European influence. Its shape is reminiscent of Mont St Michel, the windows are inspired by Château de Chaumont and the towers by Château d’Azay-le-Rideau (both in the Loire Valley), and the interior pillars were inspired by the twisted tree-like pillars at the Eglise Saint-Severin in Paris.
The castle is the only one that houses a 79-foot, 2-ton dragon in its dungeon! In 1992, when the park opened, it was the largest animatronic the Imagineers had ever built! If you are facing the castle, go to the left side and you will see signs for the Lair of The Dragon. Once inside, be careful, as the dragon occasionally wakes up!!!
Light fixture inside the dragon’s lair.
In addition to the dragon attraction, there is a walkthrough attraction portion of the castle depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty.
The treetops (branches) actually twinkle.
Not only does this depict the story of Sleeping Beauty, but the gorgeous stained-glass work was actually overseen by Peter Chapman who has also worked on stained glass restoration at Notre Dame Cathedral.
Depending on how you look at this and where you are standing, you may see two doves, or you may see a flower.
Rumor has it that if you take a photo of the Raven with a flash, it’s eyes will be red!!
Listen closely while walking past these guards, you may hear them snoring!!
Occasionally, you may see some magic take over this tapestry.
If you look closely, you will see that this tower is covered in escargot!! They appear to be running upward and away from the kitchen and the chef!!
Out on the balcony of the castle, you can spot Archimedes! He is actually overlooking the sword in the stone that is in the open area below!!
View from the balcony of the backside of the castle.
As you exit the backside of the castle walkthrough.
A stone arch linking the western part of the Castle to La Chaumière des Sept Nains shop, bears the coat of arms of the Disney family. Walt’s ancestors lived in France, in Normandy when it was conquered by English King William I, better known in France as William the Conqueror. The name Disney is derived from the village of Isigny-sur-mer which, by transformation would have become Isigny to be anglicized as “Disney”.
Off to the right side of the castle, there is a well that pays homage to Disney’s first princess, Snow White.
We got a great perch spot for the firework show, and best of all, everyone stayed sitting down so the people all around could enjoy. In the states, there would be people standing with kids on their shoulders. It was so lovely to be able to see everything!
When we visited, it was during the 30th anniversary celebration and there was a drone show, and then the Disney Illuminations fire work show. There were drones, fountain tricks, fireworks, and projections on the castle.
Some of the drones and you can see the fountains in the foreground of the castle.
You can see the fountains going and even the bushes light up in this photo!
Some of the castle projections and the fountains.
The projection looks like a 30 or like a Mickey depending on how you look at it.
So, if you get a chance to visit Disneyland Paris, make sure you spend some time exploring the castle! There is a walkthrough underneath and through the castle, and there is so much to look at and take in even as you walk past it day or night!!
