Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

In 1957, Sleeping Beauty's Castle was opened to the public in the form of a walk-through that allowed guests to trace the story of Sleeping Beauty through two dimensional dioramas, which depicted scenes from the animated movie.  At the time, the film hadn't even been premiered yet--that would not occur until 1959--so this was, in effect, 1950s viral marketing for the movie.

The walk-through grew to become a classic part of Fantasyland, so there was some nostalgic sadness after it closed down in 2001, after the 9/11 attacks.  Fortunately, in 2008, the attraction was reopened, with updated effects but the same charm of those layered 2-D dioramas.  The following photos take a tour through the castle to witness some of these scenes.

The story begins right inside the entrance, as the birth of Princess Aurora is told.

Up a flight of stairs guests go to the next room.

After witnessing Maleficent curse young Aurora, the king and queen burn hundreds of perfectly useful spindles.

Perhaps they could have sold them to a neighboring kingdom and been less wasteful?

Despite the precautions, Aurora grows to age 16, falls under a spell, and pricks her finger on a spindle anyway.

The three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, place the entire kingdom under sleep.

It's fortunate that they had changed Maleficent's death curse to a sleeping curse.

Still, the old witch is pretty proud of herself.

Prince Phillip faces off against Maleficent in dragon form, to fight his one true love.

Everything works out, and with Phillips awakening kiss, the two live happily ever after!