Subsonic Radio

I've never been to DL, but i've been 5 minutes away from WDW all my life. From what i've seen in pictures, isn't the castle at WDW skinnier and taller than the one in DL? The one in DL looks short and chubby. Anyone have any ideas?

The DL Sleeping Beauty Castle is shorter and much less grand than Cinderella's at WDW. But for what it lacks in grandeur it makes up in charm.

From what I remember, everything at DL is built on a smaller forced perspective scale. They simply didn't have the room at DL to build everything larger. We all know this isn't the case at WDW.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland is much smaller than Cinderella's Castle at WDW...

One of the reasons, reportedly, is that upon touring Europe (especially France) looking at old castles to design SBC for the opening of DL, Walt was told that lords built their castles large and tall so they would strike fear into the populace and make potential opponents think twice before taking on the power that lives there.

Walt, of course, decided this simply wouldn't do. So SBC is smaller, "cuter," more about charm than imposition and meant to be a welcoming sight, not an imposing one.

CC at WDW is meant to be seen... if only barely... from across the Seven Seas Lagoon. Therefore it is much, much larger.

I like them both, but Sleeping Beauty's Castle is Walt's castle.

spaulo wrote:Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland is much smaller than Cinderella's Castle at WDW...

One of the reasons, reportedly, is that upon touring Europe (especially France) looking at old castles to design SBC for the opening of DL, Walt was told that lords built their castles large and tall so they would strike fear into the populace and make potential opponents think twice before taking on the power that lives there.

Walt, of course, decided this simply wouldn't do. So SBC is smaller, "cuter," more about charm than imposition and meant to be a welcoming sight, not an imposing one.

CC at WDW is meant to be seen... if only barely... from across the Seven Seas Lagoon. Therefore it is much, much larger.

I like them both, but Sleeping Beauty's Castle is Walt's castle.

Beautifully said. I concur.

i do think that dl castle is much more quaint (as is the whole park) than wdw's. what's amazing is the difference in the feeling between the 2 parks. i have spent most of my life going to wdw so i am used to the grandure of the mk in florida. what's strange is when you go to dl, at first, main street feels kind of dizzying. it looks right, but because it's smaller it throws the senses off. but i love both castle's evenly! i am really impressed on how the 2 parks each handled the 50th anniversary decoration. i hope that the characters stay up on the castle in orlando. i have never been a fan of characters infiltrating things in the parks that traditionally didn't have characters (such as EPCOT) but it really works in florida.

I can definatly say I agree about not being a fan with characters infiltrating things in Epcot.

last time i was there, in may, i was a little taken back by the characters coming out to greet us before opening and the music stricktly being of a character nature. then we had to follow the charactrer to our pavillion of choice. i guess the old jack wagner speech about walt's vision for epcot is gone, just like walt's vision for epcot is gone. oh well, i have faith that the new management will get things going back to the way they once were. i do understand though that this will take some time.

Are the castles in DLP and DLT larger or are they on the same scale with WDW MK CC? It seems from the picture I've seen that everything at DLT is built on a grander scale.

from what i understand the dlt and wdw castles were built from the exact blueprints. infact i thought the park when first opened shared layout and many of the same facades as florida. did anybody else hear this or i making this up?

The Disneyland castle is only like 70 ft tall I believe and WDW's in 185 ft I recall. Though smaller and much different both are grand in their unique ways. DL's castle for the longest time housed the Sleeping Beauty walk through attraction which was my favorite ride until I was 4 years old. (What can I say... I thoguht she was pretty) 8)

spaulo wrote:Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland is much smaller than Cinderella's Castle at WDW...

One of the reasons, reportedly, is that upon touring Europe (especially France) looking at old castles to design SBC for the opening of DL, Walt was told that lords built their castles large and tall so they would strike fear into the populace and make potential opponents think twice before taking on the power that lives there.

Walt, of course, decided this simply wouldn't do. So SBC is smaller, "cuter," more about charm than imposition and meant to be a welcoming sight, not an imposing one.

CC at WDW is meant to be seen... if only barely... from across the Seven Seas Lagoon. Therefore it is much, much larger.

I like them both, but Sleeping Beauty's Castle is Walt's castle.

Great way to summarize. Even though I've never been to DL, I have to agree totally that SBC is "Walt's castle." That alone adds character and nostalgia knowing it was literally part of his dream turned reality.

Growing up on WDW though, seeing Sleeping Beauty's Castle (sort of) at the end of mainstreet in DL seems so odd. I guess DL goers would feel that about the huge castle in WDW but it just doesn't seem the same walking down Mainstreet without the big ol' castle to greet you.

The WDW Cinderella's Castle is described as Spectacular,While the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle is described as Charming.However im pretty Curtain that WDW's is Larger in Size

Mr.ToadWildRider wrote:Growing up on WDW though, seeing Sleeping Beauty's Castle (sort of) at the end of mainstreet in DL seems so odd. I guess DL goers would feel that about the huge castle in WDW but it just doesn't seem the same walking down Mainstreet without the big ol' castle to greet you.

I very much agree. I've only been to WDW (so I am biased), But I remember, as a kid, LOVING Cinderella's castle, with the blue tops for the turrets... I loved how it looked like something out of a storybook. (hehe or even Neuschwanstein). I think it would just be wierd to see a different castle at the end of main street. Not that I wouldn't like the opportunity to actually see! (If I ever make another visit to Cali... I'll have to spend a day or two at DL)