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You Can Now Visit The Actual Disney Castle In Real Life

You Can Now Visit The Actual Disney Castle In Real Life

Grab your girls ready for a magical adventure.

Lauren Bell

Lauren Bell

Disney has gone re-make mad lately, with live-action and CGI versions popping up last year, with many more planned for 2020 and beyond.

But whilst many of those films have included the likes of The Lion King and Dumbo, when you think of Disney, most would instantly think of the classic princess stories - from Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty.

Both so iconic, that they have their very own castles built in Disneyland Park in California and Disney World in Orlando.

Statuesque magical buildings, they are the first thing you clap eyes on when you enter the parks, but Sleeping Beauty's is reportedly inspired by a real life castle in Germany - one that you can visit.

Neuschwanstein supposedly is the inspiration behind Disneyland Park's castle in California (
PA)

And if you're going to see a princess castle, why not visit the real life one that inspired Walt Disney himself?

Sounds like the perfect excuse for a trip away with your pals, doesn't it?

Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, was built in 1869 by King Ludwig II and after Walt Disney and his wife Lillian visited in the following century, the Sleeping Beauty castle came to fruition.

Walt already had his sights set on building an overall amusement park, after visiting many with his two daughters, Diane and Sharon, but it was Neuschwanstein that was rumoured to be Walt's inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle that sits inside Disneyland.

The Sleeping Beauty castle in Anaheim California's Disneyland Park was opened to the public in 1955 (
Unsplash)

And it's not difficult to see why people think that, with both castles boasting beautiful blue turrets. Walt's creation has a grey exterior wall too, similar to Neuschwanstein. The only key difference is Sleeping Beauty's main castle walls are pink.

It is this castle in Anaheim, California that most believe is inspired, because the original Disney theme park was built under the supervision of Walt. The castle itself was originally the only attraction on site.

Interestingly though, Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland opened in 1955, four years before the film was released in the cinema. So when people were visiting the castle, they were asking which story it had come from - which no doubt worked as a great promo and marketing tool for the upcoming film.

The resemblance with the blue turret roof is striking (
Wikimedia)

When Disney World, Florida, was then born in 1971, Walt had already passed away - but the Cinderella castle here also bears major resemblance to the Bavarian castle - in fact even more so thanks to its height and closer colouring.

And although Disney World didn't open until later, Disney released the Cinderella animation back in 1950, so it is also said by some to be inspired by Neuschwanstein, a castle that now receives 1.5 million visitors every year.

So if you want to visit the incredible real life version and go and live your best princess life with your gal pals, you need to get yourselves over to Bavaria.

To reserve your tickets, head to the castle's website here. You have to book in advance (a minimum of two days before).

Cinderella's castle, shown in the film released in 1950, is also rumoured to be based on Walt's trip to Neuschwanstein (
Pixabay)

It's €2.50pp (£2.11) for the booking fee and another €13 (£10.96) for the ticket itself for adults, however, children under 18 accompanied by adults enter free of charge.

You must then pick-up of the tickets only at the ticket centre in Hohenschwangau on the day of your visit and at the latest 1.5 hours before. So many rules (but sounds so worth it)!

Once you've done all that successfully, go forth girls (and guys) and live like princesses - for a few hours at least anyway.

We wonder if a Prince Charming will be hanging around?

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Disney, travel

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