Disneyland Sets Alarm Clock for Sleeping Beauty

With a virtual kiss from the Disney Imagineers, a slumbering princess and her classic story will come back to life later this year. Inside the iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, Walt Disney developed a walk-through attraction in 1957 based on the namesake princess and her animated film. In the late 1970s, Imagineers redesigned the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough (not much of an inspired name, eh?) and replaced the storybook scenes with dioramas. The attraction has been closed for the past seven years. According to Disney, a re-re-Imagineered Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, which will hark back to its 1950s roots, is slated to open in the second half of 2008. In addition to Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip, some of the other characters to be featured in the attraction will be the evil Maleficent and the benevolent fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. The classic Disney film celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009 and will get the platinum DVD treatment to mark the occasion.

• Disneyland Resort 2008 Ride Guide
• Toy Story Mania at Disney's California Adventure Ride Review

Photo: A rendered scene from the upcoming Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough at Disneyland. Disney 2008. Used with permission.