Yesterworld: Disneyland’s Abandoned Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough

Exploring the history of the original and long abandoned versions of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, what remains today, and what has been lost forever…

Check out the fantastic Theme Park inspired productions of the Ye Olde Proppe Shoppe!

TWITTER: @Yester_World
INSTAGRAM: yester_world

Special thanks:

SOURCES:

Photo resources:

Videos Used:

Walt Disney Home Entertainment

TPMvids

The 1970s version of the walkthrough:

Misc castle footage/exterior of walkthrough:

[wherethetatosat]

That's so Walt. Got 100 feral cats? Let's feed them, clean them, then find them homes.

[_MythicalWolf]

Best part of the story is he fact that Walt was nice to the kitties. What a good guy.

[FANTAVISION]

Happy to hear that he cared for and helped the cats find homes!

[KaiDrawsShit]

This is a long story but here we go. When I went to Disney Land I was 9 years old (I think) and Sleeping Beauty was my absolute favorite movie. When my mother and I walked near it I ran up the steps and she ran after me. I was thrilled and I loved all of it... that is until the Malificent parts. When I heard her laugh and saw her. I shreaked so loud and started bawling my eyes out. I ran down the stairs and pushed past my mom yelling "SAVE YOURSELF MOMMY!" I ran into my dad's arms (he didn't go in). She came out and saw me clinging to my dad and she said "don't you want to finish the tower? What about true loves kiss or the fight, that's your favorite part!" I just slumped down on the ground and told her she would have to carry me up. I always thought it was a dream but I saw this and all the memories can flooding back to me. What a beautifully scarring experience.

Edit: This is making me realize I was such a drama queen.

[batmenace]

I love how Disneyland still has feral cats roaming the park that help keep rat infestations down. And they still care for the cats by leaving out food and water, defleaing and vaccinating them, spaying and neutering them, and giving out unplanned kittens for adoption.

[LOC-Ness]

love how the early princess movie attractions all started out completely scary

[YesterworldEntertainment]

A few corrections: I accidentally called Prince Phillip "Prince Eric"...sincerest apologies, I also referred to Maleficent as "Queen"...or maybe I'm just trying to establish an alternate universe...only time will tell.

[hyperspaceoddity]

I actually think my favorite parts of these kinds of videos is reading the comments of people's stories from when they were actually able to experience the old versions of the parks.

[Thepleatedpeacock]

I loved this!! Thank you for the thorough history...I was a decorating cast member when we cleared out the animated figures. I can definitively tell you the reasons besides the obvious, were: extensive structural damage(many dioramas were completely caved in from rain and firework damage), the need for security cameras, and ADA compliance. My team repurposed the figures on Main Street, and I myself rehabbed and created the Forest Dancing scene inside the castle shoppe. They were handmade beautiful treasures and I’m so happy I was part of the castle’s new chapter :)

[depresso]

The cats should've been the attraction.

[carly]

i literally thought you were going to walk through an abandoned castle

[ironbear]

My father proposed at the final scene with the Kiss. I'm so glad they brought it back, and luckily I was able to experience it myself(albeit, of course, differently).

[weezerchi]

Another theory that I heard about the 2001 closure was that the attraction was not ADA compliant. Guests could only experience it if they could climb up and down the stairs. You'll notice in the current version, there is a wheelchair-accessible experience near the exit of the attraction, on the ground floor. :) Love seeing the old parts of the original! Very cool.

[disneybrandisneyman]

Wow, Walt is just a great guy. He bathed and found homes for over 100 cats. 10 out of 10, Walt.


TEN OUT OF TEN

[sarahbourne]

Sleeping Beauty is my favourite and most nostalgic Disney movie for me. I'm glad the current version is closer to the original version of the walkthrough as it focuses more on the castle scenes rather than the whole film (ugh those mannequins), making you feel like you're really in there.

[TheWyman_]

So abandoned I didn't even know it existed

[nicolepowell]

I'm always amazed how you find all this information especially the photos of the "goon" props. Thank you.

[metademetra]

I don’t know how accurate the bit about there being a hundred cats and enough fleas to turn a shirt gray was, but telling employees to turn a tiny room inhabited by cats into an attraction (because movie) and making sure said cats were adopted sounds like a really Walt thing to do.

[disneybabe]

When I was a baby my parents took me to Disneyland and video taped it. I transferred it to dvd and still works. When they took me Sleeping Beauty's castle had the moving dolls. It was pretty awesome

[markdwalton]

Well done, as always! I had no idea that there was an older, classier version of the walkthrough before the cheesy 70'd redo, nor that the recent reimagining had so much to do with that original version! So cool! The only things I really missed from the 70's version was the large physical animated dragon (I thought it was pretty impressive at the time) and seeing the actual "dancing" Aurora have her dress change color. Everything else in the recent version is a home run. Thanks so much for all the details, research, and photos!