Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant

Overview

The magic of the classic European fairytale, La Belle au Bois Dormant, is celebrated throughout this extraordinary piece of fairytale architecture.

Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant at Disneyland Paris stands 148 feet (45 metres) tall (the original Californian castle measures 77 feet (23 metres) tall). The Imagineers exaggerated its height and distance from Main Street USA through the use of forced perspective in its architecture. Central Plaza also lies in a small dip, and the raised moat bridge into Le Château further exaggerates its dominance.
The design of Le Château was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Southern Germany - the same castle which reportedly inspired the original Disneyland California Sleeping Beauty Castle. The central tower of this castle features the same small "side turret" as Le Château's main tower, but, knowing how common fairytale castles are throughout Europe, the Imagineers exaggerated the Castle's whimsy greatly.
From Time to Time, the 360° film from Discoveryland's Le Visionarium attraction (1992-2004) featured a swooping glide over Neuschwanstein Castle as one of its many spectacular scenes, a hidden "thank you" from the Imagineers to the historic inspiration.
The tallest of Le Château's towers weighed 15 tons and measured 55 feet at construction. The towers were made in Italy before being added to the castle base on 2nd August 1991. Imagineering legend tells that, since the pink colour was slightly wrong, the entire castle then had to be repainted in the cold, wet months of Winter.