Stepping through Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, you enter Fantasyland, what Walt Disney described as "The Happiest Kingdom of Them All." The Fantasyland we know today, though, is a far cry from the one experienced by guests back in 1955. At the time, Walt didn't have the money to do everything he wanted to do with Disneyland, and Fantasyland was a good example. Instead of the fairy tale village he imagined, the inner walls of the castle were instead festooned in bright (and less expensive) tents, banners and flags.
But perhaps the thing Walt loved most about Disneyland was that the park would forever be a work in progress. The medieval fair look lasted for nearly thirty years until 1983, when a Disney team of Imagineers led by Tony Baxter finally transformed Fantasyland into the village of Walt's dreams.
Today, Fantasyland is a truly magical place, where the stories from Walt Disney's animated features come to life. Each of the anchor attractions in the castle courtyard area is housed in a portion of the village, and each section takes on unique architectural properties influenced by the tales told within.
Peter Pan's Flight takes off inside an English cottage, built alongside a clock tower reminiscent of Big Ben. Take a look, too, at the weather vanes on the rooftops. They're in the shapes of a pirate ship and a crocodile, straight from the story.
Around the bend, the architecture remains English but morphs into a Tudor style with the entrance to Toad Hall. The weather vane here is a silhouette of Toady speeding along in his motor car, just as you're about to do on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not one for humility, Toad has also commissioned statues of himself to adorn the facade of his home.
Across the way, the architectural styles are less English and more Italian and Bavarian. There's a small puppet theater above the entrance to Pinocchio's Daring Journey, along with a carved wooden toy like Geppetto might have made, right on the peak of the roof. Pinocchio's Daring Journey was a new attraction added during the 1983 reimagining of Fantasyland. It actually replaced the Fantasyland Theater, which had stood on this spot since the '50s.
The stone facade for Snow White's Scary Adventures is especially detailed, with intricate carvings representing both the light and dark aspects of that story. Above the entrance, made to look a bit like the Queen's dungeon, are ominous ravens perched atop skulls. They set an appropriately eerie tone for what is to come. Make it past that point, though, and you'll come to the cottage of the seven dwarfs, where friendly forest animals are carved into the columns of the queue.
In a way, your trip through the queue mimics the adventure to come. You and Snow White have to make it through the dark and scary forest, but will discover light and joy on the other side. Beware, though, for wherever you go the Queen is always watching from her tower perch.
