Whether in Anaheim, Orlando, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, or Shanghai, you won’t find a “Disneyland” without a castle at its center. Fans even call the five Disneylands and Magic Kingdom Disney’s “Castle Parks” for short. But as to what castles they have at their center? Well… All six castles are different from one another (sometimes slightly, sometimes wildly), and all six are meant to celebrate Disney Princesses (sometimes a single Princess, and sometimes the whole group)…
But it got to us thinking… of the twelve official members of the Disney Princess franchise, whose castle would make for the most impressive park icon? Today, we’ll rank the Disney Princess castles from worst to best, figuring out whose palatial home would be the most picturesque park icon of them all…
The Castle-less Crew
First, we can start by eliminating the four Disney Princesses who don’t have a castle at all – or at least, not one we’ve seen on screen. For example, Mulan may be a member of the Disney Princess franchise, but she earns her place through heroism, not marriage to a royal. As a result, she doesn’t have a castle. Neither does Moana, who’s path merely leads her to become the Chief of her people on the island Motunui – a “Princess” in a sense, but not by way of the classic European iconography of a castle.
For similar reasons, Pocahontas has no castle to add to the countdown here. As daughter of Chief Powhatan, the forests of what would be called Virginia are her palace. Finally, Tiana from Disney’s 2009 return to classic hand-drawn animation The Princess and the Frog does become a bona fide princess by the film’s end, marrying Prince Naveen of Maldonia… but we never see the castle she stands to inherit back in Maldonia, and it’s her restaurant – not coincidentally named Tiana’s Palace – that serves the site of her happily ever after.
Right off the bat, the elimination of those four princesses leaves us with just nine members of the Disney Princess franchise whose royal abodes could potentially serve as park icons… so let’s start the countdown…
9. Castle DunBroch from Brave (2012)
2012’s Brave was described as Pixar’s first ever fairytale, seeing the experimental studio dip into Disney’s domain. The result was Princess Merida of the kingdom of DunBroch in the Scottish Highlands. Just as Merida is somewhat of an exception in the Disney Princess catalogue, DunBroch doesn’t quite feel like a “Disney Castle” to begin with. Low on stylization, it’s a historical Scottish fortress filled with Great Halls, Medieval bedchambers, and tapestry rooms more akin to the world of Berk from How To Train Your Dragon than a typical Disney Castle.
Would it make a good park icon? We’d say pretty flatly, no. DunBroch would be more at home in a living history park or a World Showcase pavilion than in a fantasy environment like a Disneyland.
8. The Royal Castle from Cinderella (1950)
Don’t believe what the sequence before a Disney film tells you… This is Cinderella’s castle from the 1950 film. We know, we know. It doesn’t look much like the Cinderella Castle you’ll find at Magic Kingdom or Tokyo Disneyland. But it’s pretty! Highly stylized and perfect for the film’s art style, we like it on screen!
The question, though, is whether or not it would make a good park icon if it were built in the real world the way it’s shown in the film. We’d tend to think… no. While it’s nice to look at in the movie, this castle probably wouldn’t translate well to the real world. That would help explain why Herb Ryman merely took inspiration from this animated castle when designing the park icon we know that carries Cinderella’s name.
7. Agrabah from Aladdin (1992)
Agrabah is certainly among the most exceptional of the Disney Princess’ castles given that it’s stylistically drawn from the Middle East and from the mythology of the Arabian Nights – the book of ancient tales from which “Aladdin” is adapted. Instantly iconic, Agrabah is a beautiful, glistening palace reminiscent of Arabic, Persian, and Islamic architecture – especially inspired by the Taj Mahal.
The only reason Agrabah ranks low on our list is because it’s too specific to Aladdin, and is drawn from a more exaggerated, saturated cartoon style than the rest of the castles on this list. If DunBroch is too “real” to stand in the center of a Disney Park, Agrabah is probably too unreal. If Disney were to build a theme park based on the Disney Renaissance, it might be in the running, though!
6. Arendelle Castle from Frozen (2013)
Technically, the sister duo of Anna and Elsa from 2013’s Frozen have never been officially inducted into the Disney Princess franchise (likely because the pair sells enough merchandise on their own that they need not be added). Even still, their castle in the stylistically-Nordic Kingdom of Arendelle is a beautiful one. Equal parts historic and stylized, it resembles a fairytale stave church expanded into a palace.
The castle in Arendelle actually is coming to life in Disney Parks thrice over (with recreations being built in Hong Kong, Paris, and Tokyo)… which probably explains why a late change to Frozen 2 saw the castle suddenly salvaged from the tidal wave of a broken dam when original drafts called for the palace to be destroyed and rebuilt to reflect the style of the indigenous Sami people of the region. Could the Arendelle castle serve as the centerpiece of an entire Disneyland? Eh, maybe not. Its historical accuracy and its silhouette sort of edge it out of the competition in terms of being a park-anchoring structure. But it’s pretty!
Whose castles will come out on top? Read on to find out…!
5. Atlantica from The Little Mermaid (1989)
Ariel is lucky among Disney Princess in that she has two castles to choose from. As a Princess in her own right, Ariel hails from the undersea kingdom of Atlantica. Then, through her marriage to Prince Eric, she joins the world above in a coastal castle that’s equally iconic. Given that the latter is already brought to life in large scale at Magic Kingdom, we might as well look at the second in terms of its park-icon-ability.
Atlantica is a beautiful castle, looking sufficiently like a golden undersea Atlantis. It’s imperfect, asymmetrical, and organic, looking like metallic coral shimmering on the ocean floor. We get a taste of what that whimsical undersea style looks like in a theme park at Tokyo DisneySea, but it’s clear that Atlantica is pretty enough and iconic enough to serve as a park icon… it would just need to be an ocean-themed park which is the only reason it ranks this far down our list.
4. Beast’s Castle from Beauty and the Beast (1992)
Located deep in a forest in France, we see more of the Beast’s Castle – inside and out – than probably any other in Disney Animation. And the result is highly theme-park-able by any standard. The castle has been brought to life in Disney Parks to a significant degree twice – once in Magic Kingdom’s New Fantasyland, and then in much larger scale in Tokyo Disneyland as the entrance to a curious Beauty and the Beast dark ride. Neither really looks quite like the movie version (and for some reason, both are painted purple), but we can absolutely see the animated version being the centerpiece of a Disneyland-style park.
If Disney were to build a theme park dedicated to their Renaissance run in the ’90s, there’s no doubt whatsoever that the Beast’s Castle could (and should!) be the centerpiece of it. Though it was The Little Mermaid that kicked off the company’s fairytale-centered animation rebirth, Beauty and the Beast has the unique position of being the first animated film ever nominated for the Best Picture category at the Academy Awards (a feat that’s occurred just twice since – with Pixar’s Up and Toy Story 3).
Plus, the Beast’s Castle is practically tailor made for an evening projection show that could see the “curse” lifted, transforming the Castle from an overgrown, dark fortress into a shimmering castle of light.
3. Snow White’s Castle from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the world’s (and thus, Disney’s) first full-length animated feature film, introducing the first of what would later be called the Disney Princess. Given that, it’s surpising how perfectly its castle could translate to a theme park, even today! Perched on a rocky outcropping over a German village, the lakeside castle is soaring and elegant; drawn with just enough fantasy to be unreal, yet looking totally buildable.
For that reason, Snow White’s Castle could absolutely be standing at the end of a Main Street (or equivalent) in the next Disneyland-style park to be built! Like the rest of the castles on this list, it’s fanciful yet historic, and “generic” enough that it doesn’t feel contained to the context of a single movie like Agrabah, Arendelle, and Atlantica do.
2. Corona Castle from Tangled (2010)
Say what you will about Disney’s first CGI fairy tale, Tangled, but the (unfortunately named) Kingdom of Corona’s castle really is a sight to behold. Inspired by Normandy’s Mont Saint-Michel and its abbey, the castle grows from a fortress foundation to beautiful teal domes, all reigning over an island town of festive banners.
Given that it was quickly surpassed in box office receipts by 2013’s Frozen, Tangled is pretty infamously ignored when it comes to Disney Parks. (Only DisneySea’s new Fantasy Springs will dedicate a dark ride attraction to the film, while Walt Disney Studios Paris is at least label-slapping a spinning family ride with Tangled.) But its castle really could be the centerpiece of a Disney Park, surpassing the franchise it was designed for and coming across as a wonderfully stylized, warm, and fantastical Disney Castle in its own right.
1. King Stefan’s Castle from Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Like Cinderella, two Disney Parks castles are named for Aurora, the “Sleeping Beauty.” However, the two Sleeping Beauty Castles (in Anaheim and Paris) both look quite different from each other. In a way, though, both do resemble the actual castle seen in 1959’s Sleeping Beauty. (That’s particularly surprising since Disneyland opened four years before Sleeping Beauty debuted, and allegedly, Walt intended for the castle to be called Snow White’s Castle until late in the park’s development.)
If our question is whether or not the film version of King Stefan’s Castle could be a park icon, the answer is definitely yes. The animated version is certainly more than either of the real, built Sleeping Beauty Castles, but Disney could probably build the one seen on screen at the next Disneyland (wherever that ends up…) and it would work wonderfully.
