Sleeping Beauty Castle

Opened with the rest of the park in 1961, it is the center of the Nara Dreamland Park. Its primary inspiration was the original Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, USA. Though it reaches a height of only 77 feet (23 m), it was based on a design by Herbert Ryman to appear taller through a process known as forced perspective; design elements are larger at the foundation and smaller at the turrets. The castle initially featured an empty upper level that was never intended to house an attraction, but Matsuo was not satisfied with what he viewed as wasted space, and challenged his Imagineers to find some use for the space.