Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Snow White's Castle. Fantasyland Castle. Walt considered a number of names before settling in on Sleeping Beauty's castle to promote the upcoming film that released three years later.

There was also a major change late in the castle's design. Imagineer Herb Ryman was concerned that the front of the castle looked too much like its inspiration - Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria. "I picked (the model) up and moved the obvious Neuschwanstein part that was facing Main Street and turned it around to the Fantasyland side," Herb shared. "At that moment, Walt Disney was standing behind us in the door...he had his hands on his hips and was smiling and said, "Well, I like that a lot better."

It wasn't until many years later after Walt passed that the Partners statue was conceived. It was unveiled in 1993 in celebration for Mickey Mouse's sixty-fifth birthday (credit "Walt's Disneyland" by Marcy Carriker Smothers)