Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

[Sherwin]

Has anyone been to the new and reopened Walkthrough? Particularly anyone who's been through the old one (and even better, the older one) who can give a comparison? I hear it's quite marvelous.

Sleeping Beauty was my favorite (until Cinderella came into the picture ), but that won't stop me from paying a visit up into the castle.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I went through the new one in Jan. I also went through the old one but that was so long ago it is hard to remember. But from what I can remember of it, this one seems better. The scenes are more interesting. Sleeping Beauty was always my favorite Disney fairytale. Anyway, I liked it.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

We just went through it on Tuesday and I thought it was really neat. Like the PP, I don't remember the old one much either...so I can't really compare it.

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

We went through it a while ago - it had just reopened.. Were not impressed... It was just OK = nothing special. Would rather ride any ride than do it again

 

[lulubelle]

We thought it was really cute and well done - for what it is. I mean, it is a walk thru, not a ride that wows you. The thing that makes it really special is the three fairy god mothers who go from scene to scene. Their wands send off pixie dust that matches the color of their dress and it's like an electric light show coming out. On a small scale. And some special effects with scenes that fade in and out. It's hard to explain without seeing it yourself. But if you like the Sleeping Beauty Story, you will like it. Read the scrolls along the way and then look at the pic that accompanies it. As I said, we liked it a lot.

 

[Itinkso]

My DD loves the walkthrough and waited patiently for it to reopen. We went yesterday and the effects were quite good. To think that they could add that level of technology to every scene was impressive. Everything is brighter and the bursts of magic fairy dust adds to the scenes.

 

[Disneylvrforever]

I hardly remember the old one, but what I DO remember are the characters being dolls. That really scared me!
The new one is cute and is animated, so no scary dolls. There were times when I wanted to take pics, but they mostly turned out lousy. Some of the windows have cool effects, so be sure to look out for that.

 

[BeaniesMom]

Do they still have the dragon in there? I remember that from when I was a kid and it scared the life out of me

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

The new dioramas are a nice upgrade to the original ones. The scenes are more animated, and there are some nice special effects in there. There is a dragon at the end, and it's blowing fire, but I don't think it's especially scary.

 

[LOVEDISNEYLAND]

Has anyone been to the new and reopened Walkthrough? Particularly anyone who's been through the old one (and even better, the older one) who can give a comparison? I hear it's quite marvelous.

Sleeping Beauty was my favorite (until Cinderella came into the picture ), but that won't stop me from paying a visit up into the castle.

I'm here right now and we went through it tonight and it was cute. Don't have anything to compare it too because I've only been through this one.

 

[PrincessKell]

ooh I really want to see it. I am glad people are liking it so much. My dd can't wait.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Funny, but my one of my favorite parts was seeing a shadow move along the wall around a corner.

 

[WannabeAriel]

OK... please forgive my DL ignorance!!! But do you actually go IN the castle? At WDW there is only that arch with murals to walk through (unless eating at CRT or going to BBB).

Is this totally different? Like walking room to room type of thing?

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Yes, you actually go in the castle. You walk up the stairs and around the inside. It's really neat!

 

[Sherwin]

OK... please forgive my DL ignorance!!! But do you actually go IN the castle? At WDW there is only that arch with murals to walk through (unless eating at CRT or going to BBB).

Is this totally different? Like walking room to room type of thing?

There is only a walkthrough attraction at Sleeping Beauty Castle in DL. Originally, the castle was empty so Walt challenged his Imagineers to build something up there. The walkthrough has been refurbished a few times now and most recently opened after closing sometime at the end of 2001. Cinderella Castle already has the restaurant and the suite, so nothing of the same sort can be built there.

 

[RallyMonkey]

We went through the walk through yesterday for the first time. I have 7 and 9 year old girls. We really enjoyed it! I think it was very well done. There was one part where there is a door with a knocker ring thing on the front and my 7 year old pulled it. This triggered a big noise and the door seemed to have actually popped out at her, oh my gosh, her face, it was priceless! I want to go through again when there are less people so I can linger at the windows longer and check that door again.
I don't have much memory from the old walk through, but I seem to remember the stairways being much more narrow, and of course I remember the dolls in the diaramas.

 

[Disneylvrforever]

Cinderella Castle already has the restaurant and the suite, so nothing of the same sort can be built there.

Sleeping Beauty's castle is too small to have a restaurant and such, but it would be cool if it did. I guess you could sneak in some food and pretend that you're having a meal in the castle.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

The newly reopened walkthrough is nothing like the one that closed in 2001. When the walkthrough orginally opened in 1957, it used concept art for the film Sleeping Beauty by the film's designer Eyvind Earle and featured the pioneering use of visual effects that would later become legendary in attractions such as POTC and Haunted Mansion. Because it was opened before the film was released, it did not follow the storyline very well.

In the late 1970s, they decided to radically redo the walkthrough and replaced the artwork and cool visual effects with dolls along the lines of the window displays you see in The Emporium on Main Street. This version remained and crowds dwindled until October 2001 when it was closed, seemingly forever.

As part of the work for the 50th Anniversary DVD/blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty, Disney Home Entertainment asked Imagineering if there was anything in the parks connected to the film. Tony Baxter told them about the original castle walkthrough(the castle was named such before opening day in 1955 to promote the upcoming(1959) film. In working on recreating the walkthrough for the DVD, Tony Baxter showed it to Disneyland executives, and they asked if it could reopened.

So, for the 50th anniversary of the film, Tony Baxter went to work on recreating(albeit with some updates due to technology, trying to follow the story of the film better, and avoiding guest backup in the corridors) the original castle walkthrough. They've even added some effects back into the walkthrough that were taken out shortly after it originally opened.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I was thinking I remembered the old one being narrower.