July 13, 2007: Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through

[Werner Weiss]

Over the past year, I've received more e-mail about the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through than any other attraction. The usual message is along the lines of, "Why is it missing from Yesterland and when are you going to add it?"

I've finally added it.

Link to Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk-Through at Yesterland.

Please discuss the attraction and the article here.

[GhostHost2]

Thanks. I wish it was still open.

[Club 33]

Excellent article. I remember the walk through; it wasn't particularly well done but it was charming in it's own way. As has been pointed out, the Emporium window displays are thoroughly more impressive.

And as for the other Magic Kingdoms, I think it's important to mention the gigantic anamatronic dragon at Disneyland Paris. While it's not an attraction per se, it is a walk through of sorts that is in the castle.

[SpokkerJones]

I see a lot of similarity in the walk through closing and the gallery closing. Relatively unpopular attractions that won't recieve much support from fans. You don't really notice when one is taken out, but I think it will have a huge impact when all of these little A and B tickets are done away with.

E Tickets don't make a park, it's all in the details, declining by degrees, blah blah blah, etc.

[pineapplewhipaddict]

Thank you so much for adding this I love your updates.

I don't have the means to currently, but there is accessible pieces of artwork that depict the illustrations that were originally in the attraction. I don't know if you have them or not...you can actually buy a print of the sleeping Aurora at the Disney Gallery.

I haven't been to DLP yet, but I've seen a short recording of the AA dragon...it's absolutely amazing!

Oh, and, uh...

The results in 1957 were quite different from the pictures in this Yesterland article. The initial dioramas reflected the style of artist Eyvind Earle, the brilliant Production Designer of Walt Disney’s 1559 feature Sleeping Beauty, who gave the film its distinctive design. He personally painted most of the film’s backgrounds. And Earle was directly involved with the creation of the Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through.

hehe...

[Katella Gate]

Walt Disney’s 1559 feature Sleeping Beauty ...

1559 Werner? Perhaps you meant 1359? After all, (like the Prince says) it was the 14th Century.

Many thanks for bringing back memories of this little corner of the Magic Kingdom. I remember the earlier Earle dioramas as a little boy, and was not too pleased to see they had been replaced in my high school years by the "plump and cuddly" dioramas of the 70's.

It's a Small World suffered from the same Art Direction faux pas when Mary Blair's dry and witty secondary characters (not the famous singing dolls but the frogs etc) were joined by some too-cute-for-their-own-good stuffed animals.

[MasterGracey]

Great update, Werner. I don't recall ever actually experiencing the Walk-through... before my time, I suppose, or maybe we just didn't have time to visit it on our yearly visits to the Magic Kingdom when I was younger. But, I wish I could have seen it. It's a shame that small attractions like this get looked over, closed, and forgotten at Disneyland.

At least it gets to live on in photographs in Yesterland.

I see a lot of similarity in the walk through closing and the gallery closing. Relatively unpopular attractions that won't recieve much support from fans. You don't really notice when one is taken out, but I think it will have a huge impact when all of these little A and B tickets are done away with.

E Tickets don't make a park, it's all in the details, declining by degrees, blah blah blah, etc.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to SpokkerJones again.

[Mr Ness]

Whenever I work the merchandise cart in the castle courtyard, I am asked by a least five or six different groups of people about the Castle Walk-Through. It's definitely missed by more than the Disney obsessed.

[GhostHost2]

I see a lot of similarity in the walk through closing and the gallery closing. Relatively unpopular attractions that won't recieve much support from fans. You don't really notice when one is taken out, but I think it will have a huge impact when all of these little A and B tickets are done away with.

E Tickets don't make a park, it's all in the details, declining by degrees, blah blah blah, etc.

These small attractions can add alot to the overall experience of the parks. Plus, the Sleeping Beauty Walk-through and the Disney Gallery are very historic attractions. Even if the Disney Gallery opens in another location it will never be the same, part of the Gallery's appeal was the fact that it was to be Walt's apartment. If only cheap money hungry executives will realize the travesty in what they do sometimes.

[princedalton]

I've said it multiple times on this forum and I'll say it again. The Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough was my favorite attraction at Disneyland as a child. I distinctly remember arriving at Disneyland and the first thing we did was "Sleeping Beauty's Castle!!"...I can still remember the feeling I got when I walked up the stairs with the music playing in the back ground and the smell...Everything about it was so amazing. Sure, it wasn't the most "high-tech" attraction, if you will, but those memories are of some of the happiest moments of my life. It kills me that it is no longer there. Absolutely kills me.

About a year ago I spoke with a security guard at Snow White's Wishing Well and he told me that the only people who can go up there are the security guards, and that the music and lighting is still going on to this day. All of the dolls and sets are safe in storage. He told me the main reason why it was shut down was because of asbestos. He said the return of it is unlikely but that I should write to Disneyland and tell them how I feel about it.

Let's ALL do it so it can come back!

[GhostHost2]

About a year ago I spoke with a security guard at Snow White's Wishing Well and he told me that the only people who can go up there are the security guards, and that the music and lighting is still going on to this day. All of the dolls and sets are safe in storage. He told me the main reason why it was shut down was because of asbestos. He said the return of it is unlikely but that I should write to Disneyland and tell them how I feel about it.

Let's ALL do it so it can come back!

Why would the music and lighting still be going? That must be very creepy to walk around in there. About the asbestos, is there anything they could do to get rid of it? I am not an expert on stuff like that.

[evainefaye]

Its amazing the things you get to learn about on this site.

I grew up in Southern California and got to visit disneyland every few years as a child.

In my early 20's I was fortunate enough to work in Irvine and used to visit the park nearly every evening for a bit before I got on the freeway to drive back home since traffic was so bad.

In all those times there, I was never even aware that such an attraction even existed. Thanks for sharing

Stephanie

[Mickey'sGirl]

I think of all the memories that I have of Disneyland form my chilhood, the Sleeping Beauty walk through is my most memorable. What 6 year old little girl dosn't dream of being a princess. Since Snow White was so scary, and had little Snow White in it all, I never really liked it that much. Thanks for posting this.

[nojarama]

You also forgot that DLP has a dragon underneath the castle! Brew haaw haaw!

[GrimmGreen]

i got to do the walk through a few times , it was cool , but not amazing , and i remember it being REALLY claustrophobic in those tiny hallways