Sleeping Beauty's Castle
Fantasyland
Disneyland
Anaheim CA
2019

"Passant in pale" in heraldry (the study of coats of arms and symbols) means that a heraldic beast, like a lion, is depicted walking (passant) and arranged vertically in a column down the center of the shield (in pale).

In simpler terms: Imagine a shield with a lion walking upright down the middle. That's a lion "passant in pale."

Passant: means the beast is walking, with one forepaw raised.

In pale: means the beast is positioned vertically down the center of the shield, like a column.

Together, "passant in pale" means the heraldic beast is walking and positioned vertically down the middle of the shield.


Gaze at Sleeping Beauty Castle and venture inside to relive scenes from the beloved Disney classic.


Step into the Story

Explore winding passageways where the epic tale of Princess Aurora is told through spellbinding dioramas.

Inspired by the film’s original Eyvind Earle artwork, this iconic attraction features 3-dimensional displays, sound and stunning special effects. Don’t miss the climactic final scene, when Maleficent transforms into a fire-breathing dragon.


A Walk Through History

Inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria, Sleeping Beauty Castle opened on July 17, 1955, along with Disneyland Park. Guests could not actually walk through the castle’s interior until 1957.

The drawbridge has only been lowered twice—once at the opening of the park in 1955 and again in 1983 at the rededication of Fantasyland.


The Disney family coat of arms hangs above the archway to the castle. It is composed of three lions passant in pale. It is known that the coat of arms was not originally on the castle, but was placed there sometime between June 1965 and July 1965.

At the rear of the castle, shaded by the archways and driven into the ground is a gold spike that is widely, but wrongly, believed to mark the geographical center of Disneyland. In reality, the spike is a surveyor's mark that was used to ensure that the castle bridge and entrance lined up with Main Street USA when the park was first constructed. The original geographical center of the Magic Kingdom was in the middle of the round park, where the "Partners" statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands. The addition of Mickey's Toontown in 1993 moved the actual center of the park a few yards northward, but still on the hub side of the castle drawbridge.