Sleeping Beauty's Castle

[Witches of Morva]

ORDDU: One more thing in regard to why Hong Kong Disneyland chose to duplicate the California version of a Sleeping Beauty Castle--instead of the Paris version: My sisters and I were told by someone in the know that the Paris version--pretty as it is--has developed a lot of leaks over the years--due to the intricate rooves and the way water drains off of them. It is, supposedly, a nightmare to maintain. For this reason, we have been told the Paris version of Sleeping Beauty Castle will never be duplicated again.

ORWEN: The smaller Disneyland version is much cheaper to maintain and less costly to build. And, since we all live in the era of cost cutting, I guess we're all supposed to be glad Hong Kong Disneyland has a castle at all...

[DisneyParkFan]

Actually the castles are only named after the princesses, they're not necessarilly theirs. Cinderella Castle in Walt Disney World doesn't look anything like he one in the movie, actually, it looks more like Sleeping Beauty's Castle from the movie. and Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Disneyland looks a lot more like Snow White's from the movie. That's what makes them so charming (for me at least).

I think that Sleeping Beauty Castle in DL was originially supposed to be Snow White Castle but got a name change as the newer movie came out. Anyone else hear/read this?

[WickedQueen]

The reason the castles are so different and WHY they are allowed to be different are two different answers.
#1. First off ... Gemini Cricket is correct. The castles (all four) are: Sleeping Beauty Castle and Cinderella Castle. The castles are NOT where the princess' live ... the castles are just named after the princess'. This is why they are not named Cinderella's Castle and Sleeping Beatuy's Castle. I know it is a little mis understanding ... but it makes sense! So they don't have to look the same because they are not the same castle. EXCEPT for the castle in WDW and the one at TDL. This is because they are the " pick 'em park". They went through DL and MK and picked what they liked about each park and what they liked the put in their park. They duplicated DL's Snow White Grotto and they duplicated MK's castle.
#2. The reason that the one in Paris doen't match the one in DL is because people in Europe see castles ALL THE TIME. (They are in Europe!) So, if they were to duplicate the DL castle ... then the Europeans would be like ... THAT is a castle ... and laugh! So, theirs had to be bigger and much more grand! (Side note: For the new park in HK, they are gonna duplicate the castle from DL! The park will only be less then half the size of DL, so they need a smaller castle!)

[Jspider]

The fact that they're all different is somewhat refreshing. While a lot of rides are recycled from park to park (grr... ) the castle at least gives every park it's own identity.
So why the Hong Kong decision? You've got me!

from what I understand and you all seem to be forgetting is that the Hong Kong Disneyland will have less land then any of the other Magic Kingdoms, up until now the origional disneyland has been the smallest and so they're simply copying alot of the scale designs from Disneyland in order to utilize the land effieciently in the same way Disneyland does

I also hear that the Hong Kong Disneyland castle has more cement in it then DL's does mostly because of how close it is to the ocean

I dissagree on the recycled ride, there are differences in EVERY version of Pirates in every park, and the Haunted Mansion also tends to have differences in every park (Tokyo and WDW had the same version until Tokyo started to get HMH) the ToT's have also changed from park to park (DCA's looks different from WDW's and Tokyo's will look totaly different and I hear paris will be different too) Pooh changed from clone to clone in scene to scene

the fantasyland darkrides also haven't had direct clones, space mountain is different in all parks

I can't think of many rides at all that have been cloned totaly the same they all have small or large differences between them

[MickeyMania]

The DLP castle is the whimsical, fantasy twin of the one in DLR. No point in recreating an authentic castle when you're in Europe, no?

[Alan-A-Dale]

One thing about the original Disneyland castle is that it has become very iconic over the past 50 years. It is very much instantly recognizable (especially to those of us who grew up watching Walt on TV on Sunday nights).

I think that in Europe -- there was probably a concerted effort to make sure they did NOT build a castle that look just like the American icon.

However, I would believe that in Hong Kong, the population would very much *want* a castle just like the one they've seen on TV for so many years.