castles

We all love and know that icon of icons, the Disney castle! It triggers memories of fantasy worlds and happy times. Is the castle just the stuff of imagination, or is there a real Disney castle on which Disney modeled his design?

Well, the answer is yes, there is a real castle behind the Disney castles. The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella Castles specifically are modeled on the Neuschwanstein Castle near the town of Fussen in Bavaria, Germany.

Neuschwanstein Castle perches on top of a hill in the Bavarian Alps for all the world like a castle from Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty.

Best Castles by Country

A real fairytale castle

Neuschwanstein castle Germany
a fairytale castle — Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle means New Swan Castle in English and it’s one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. In fact, over 1 300 000 people visit it every year.

It was built in the nineteenth century by King Ludwig II. You only need to look at the castle to know why he was called the Fairytale King. The castle is all turrets and towers and medieval mystery.

It was this magical look that gave Walt Disney his inspiration for the Disney castles that feature so prominently in his films and at Disneylands around the world. And it came to be, of course, the universally recognised logo of the Walt Disney companies.

King Ludwig’s inspiration

Neuschwanstein castle Germany
a fairytale castle in Bavaria. Which inspired Walt Disney. — Neuschwanstein Castle Germany

It’s clear this king loved beautiful things. In designing Neuschwanstein Castle, he looked to the great composer Richard Wagner for his inspiration.

As you move through the castle, you can see how lovingly Wagner’s operas and characters are reflected in the interiors of many of the castle’s majestic rooms.

At the same time, the King also liked his comforts. Yes, the castle was more modern than you might think.

At first sight, Neuschwanstein Castle may seem to hark back to the middle ages, but it was built with all the modern technology that 19^th century Europe had to offer.

It boasted flushing toilets on every floor and an air heating system for the whole castle. No freezing baronial halls for these ladies and knights!

Unfinished business

King Ludwig II began building his castle in 1869. The project was intended to take three years to complete.

But this Fairytale King must have been something of a perfectionist as construction ran on and on and on.

He died in 1886 before the castle was finished. In fact, the great Throne Room – of Byzantine proportion and occupying two stories of the castle – did not yet feature a throne.

The world’s first Disney castle

The world was treated to its first view of Walt Disney’s fantasy castle in 1950 when the now-classic animation, Cinderella, was released.

Imagine the excitement in 1955 when the first real-life Sleeping Beauty Castle was opened at Disneyland, California. Families could literally visit a castle straight from the storybooks!

This Sleeping Beauty Castle is the oldest of the Disney castles and is the only one whose construction was overseen by Walt Disney himself.

You can almost smell the fresh winds as they blow off the Bavarian Alps, or hear the grinding of an ancient drawbridge. The similarities are undeniable.

Disney’s dizzying heights

The Sleeping Beauty Castle is 23m high. Cleverly, the original designer, Roland E Hill, used ways to make the castle seem much taller.

He designed elements that were larger at the base and progressively smaller towards the top.

This illusion was taken even further when the castle was given a makeover in 2019. The pink shades at the base of the castle were made a little richer.

Then they were gradually lightened towards the top of the castle to give the effect of great height

It’s as if this magic castle really does reach up to the skies.

If tall castles are your favourites, don’t skip the article about the tallest castles in the world you can visit.

Enchanted visits

When you begin your walk through the Sleeping Beauty Castle, you step into a fairytale.

Scenes from the story of Princess Aurora come to life with 3D models and dramatic sound and special effects.

It begins with the announcement of the birth of Princess Aurora. As you wind through the passages and rooms of the castle, you are treated to a view of the baby Aurora as she receives magic gifts from the fairy godmothers.

You see the king and queen watching as all the spinning wheels in the land are burned.

And of course, there is the plot changing scene where everyone in the castle sleeps and sleeps.

Highlights of the story unfold as you walk through the castle: you meet the wicked Maleficent, the charming Prince and fiery dragons.

Disney castle snippets

There is no definitive Disney castle. The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella Castles are both Disney flagship castles.

You can see a Cinderella castle at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida or at Tokyo Disneyland.

Disney Cinderella's castle
Disney World , castles — cinderella’s castle

Like the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the design was inspired by real and fictional palaces and castles of Europe such as Versailles, the spire of Notre Dames de Paris and the Moszna Castle in Poland.

Again, designers point to Neuschwanstein Castle as the main inspiration.

The Florida castle took nearly two years to complete and stands around 58m high. More than 30m taller than the Sleeping Beauty Castle in California.

Interestingly, the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Paris Disneyland needed some special attributes to help it compete with the real castles and palaces that families in Europe are used to seeing.

So it, too, is taller and bigger than the original Sleeping Beauty Castle, standing some 51m high.

It receives regular fun and exciting overlays to celebrate anniversaries or the launch of a new film. And … there is a dragon to be seen in its depths that weighs 2500kg!

A castle to look forward to

Disney castle fans can look forward to the reopening of the Hong Kong Sleeping Beauty Castle in late 2020.

Rumour has it that the new-look castle will showcase all the Disney princesses we’ve learned to know and love.

If their fifth-anniversary overlay is anything to go by, we can expect this to be spectacular.

That celebration saw the castle shimmer as Tinker Bell’s Pixie Dusted Castle. The gold pixie dust glistened in the sun by day and was lit up at night.

Disney castles around the world

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, California, USA
Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World, Florida, USA
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Hong Kong Disneyland, China
Cinderella Castle at Tokyo Disneyland, Japan
Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris, France
Enchanted Storybook Castle at Shanghai Disneyland Park, China

Summary

Walt Disney visited many castles around Europe for his inspirations, but Neuschwanstein Castle is one that had a profound impact on him.

Later building all the fairytale castles in the Disney empire he gave Neuschwanstein tremendous popularity among the travellers and fans of Disney.

Thanks for reading this article and we have many more interesting facts about castles in our blog section.

Going through all Harry Potter films, there are impressive scenery, graphics and old magical style buildings. But can you find them in the real world?

The castles in Harry Potter are varied and imaginative. One of the movie’s high points is the usage of real locations as opposed to a green screen. This is especially obvious when it comes to castles such as Hogwarts, which look absolutely stunning on the big screen.

In this article, we’ll be going over the castles in Harry Potter that have real-life locations associated with them, as well as pointing out those that don’t.

Alnwick Castle(Hogwarts)

alnwick castle, harry potter's Hogwarts, Harry potter , England , British Castles — Alnwick Castle (Hogwarts)

Alnwick Castle is the second largest castle in the UK with living inhabitants. It has had its time as an outpost of the British military, as well as a college, refugee centre, and film centre.

It is perhaps most famous for being part of the filming of the first and second Harry Potter films. Its use started in autumn 2000, as a setting for the Philosopher’s Stone Hogwarts.

While it isn’t the only castle that has represented our favourite school of magic, it is the most famous and often used.

Within its Outer Bailey, there is a recognizable section where the students of Hogwarts were receiving flying lessons by Madam Hooch.

Tour a Castle

This is also where our protagonist was taught the fundamentals of Quidditch.

They were also using Alnwick’s other baileys as a filming location for many scenes, where Hogwarts students were tending to their daily business.

Furthermore, it was part of one of the series’ more iconic moments. When Ron and Harry took to the skies in the Weasley’s car, and then they crashed into the Alnwick Castle’s inner bailey.

The Lion Arch, displayed on the big screen as a way in and out of the wizarding school, with the roads towards Hagrid’s hut and the Forbidden forest well in view.

This is by no means all that is to be found within the castle today.

Today, the castle has fully embraced its Harry Potter heritage, incorporating a variety of fun and engaging activities to its guests.

Besides this, the castle also features a medieval arts & crafts group, as well as a “Dragon Quest” where visitors are free to live their epic tale.

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter and want to see where it all began, pay a visit to Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.

Universal Studios – Florida(Various)

While none of the castles in Universal Studios is currently being lived in, they were made for the filming.

For example, you can see many of the locations where filming Harry Potter, including some scenes of Hogwarts and other schools.

While none of these is the magnitude of the castle used in the shoot, they present the world of Harry Potter in another way.

You can see a variety of replicas of many scenes in the movie, including a replica of Hogsmeade.

There’s also a variety of Harry Potter-inspired attractions to be found within.

Buckingham Palace

While the Royal family’s residence didn’t play a large part in Harry Potter, it was still shown on the big screen.

Buckingham Palace appeared during the scene where the Order flies on their broomsticks above the city.

This scene in The Order of the Phoneix (2007) had clean shots of many of England’s most beautiful landmarks, including the palace.

Before they arrived at Sirius Black, they flew over most of the notable monuments in the city of London, including Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace which is also one of the most expensive palaces in the world is open to visitors and features a great deal of British history.

With a total of 775 rooms, if planning a visit, you will find something that interests you.

The American School Of Magic

There’s another castle used in the Harry Potter spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” where J.K. Rowling has confirmed that there’s another school of magic in the US.

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them takes place in New York City, there, Newt Scamander meets a variety of people who were taught by an American School of Magic.

It is also revealed that this school is not whin NYC, but is instead of immigrant origin.

Pottermore shows us that there’s a total of 11 wizarding schools in the world.

While it was not confirmed nor denied in using a real castle for the shooting, Rowling might reveal its valid location someday.

Those That Aren’t Real

Now, you might be a bit disappointed that a lot of the castles you’ve seen in the movies aren’t real.

For example, the depiction of Beauxbatons Academy in France is entirely CGI, as well as all of the other castles you’ve seen.

Computer-generated effects persist even in some later shots of Hogwarts.

With that being said, a variety of other locations was used for the shoots.

If you’re looking to experience more of the Harry Potter universe in real life, you might find that it suits your needs to go through the variety of cathedrals such as Gloucester Cathedral.

At the Glouchester Cathedral, many of the Harry Potter fans report a genuinely magical experience.

This cathedral is featured in the Philosopher’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, and the Half-Blood Prince.

It was used to display the interiors of Hogwarts, and the interior of the cathedral makes for some easily recognizable shots.

A variety of other locations such as the Millenium Bridge and Australia House were used in the shooting of the films.

Conclusion

To recap, the only two actual castles that were used in the shooting of the Harry Potter films are Alnwick Castle and Buckingham Palace.

While that is true, it is worth saying that both of these locations are well-worth visiting.

Alnwick Castle has fully embraced its identity as part of the Harry Potter shoot and offers a variety of fun activities for adults and children alike.

It is also simply a gorgeous location to spend a weekend at, and it is simply a trove of history and wonder.

Buckingham Palace was only used in a single shot; however, it is by far one of England’s biggest tourist attractions, and its entire architecture is somewhat reminiscent of the Harry Potter universe.

Universal Studios in Florida offers by far the most genuine Harry Potter showcase.

While it lacks in any real history, if all you want to do is relive the locations from the movies and have an interactive time, this is the place for you.

While the American school of magic revealed in “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” might not be real, only time will tell.

If you’re willing to extend your definition of “castle” a little bit, there’s a variety of impressive cathedrals and buildings that you can visit.

Finally, while a lot of the castles in the movies are purely CGI, visiting European castles is bound to show you where the inspiration came from.

Even if they weren’t used in the shoots, castles like Château de Chambord offer a Harry Potter vibe and let you take a peek into Rowling’s mind as she was thinking of them.

However, if you’re in the US and ask yourself if there are any castles in your country, we suggest checking out our recent article about castles in America.

Thanks for reading the article please check our blog section for more articles about history, travel, and the movies where castles have been used.

Find the best castles to visit next

Find out more

Lists o top castles around the world.

Which Castle is the Disney Castle Modeled After?