What Disney Castles Truly Looked Like in Real Life

The various castles from Walt Disney animations are truly breathtaking fantasy structures. Many, though, are based on real life locations that you can still actually visit. Here’s a look at the real life versions of many of the most famous castles in Disney cartoon history.

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

The castle from “Sleeping Beauty” is one of the most iconic Disney images, despite looking a little different in the actual movie than in subsequent adaptations that appear in theme parks and on the company’s logo. This setting was based on a very real castle in Germany that still stands today.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Built in the 19th century, Neuschwanstein Castle is actually fairly similar to the Disneyland castle in terms of its intended purpose. It’s an example of historicism, where architects create a building to mimic the romanticized historical design of centuries past. Thus, this building looks like it came straight out of a fairytale, even though it’s relatively young by castle standards.

Corona Castle

Corona castle in “Tangled” is an impressive structure: a castle town that juts out of a relatively small island that can only be reached by boat or bridge. The surrounding water is the perfect place to launch hundreds of paper lanterns while commemorating a missing princess, or falling in love with a thief who has a heart of gold.

Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, provided the inspiration for Corona’s castle. This very well-defended castle and abbey saw off English invaders time and again during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France in the Middle Ages, and to this day remains an impressive military achievement.

Agrabah Palace

The instantly recognizable palace at the heart of Agrabah is a wonder to behold if you’re a street rat, but less of an impressive view if you’re a princess in disguise. Its turrets can be blasted off like rockets if given suitable encouragement from the most powerful sorceror in the world.

The Taj Mahal

American artists at Disney based Agrabah’s palace on the design of the Taj Mahal, but this isn’t accurate to the movie’s setting. Aladdin is based on the “1001 Arabian Nights” legends which originate in the Middle East, while the Taj Mahal is located in India, over 2000 miles from the Arabian desert.

Kuzco’s Palace

Kuzco’s palace in “The Emperor’s New Groove” is a glittering spectacle with thousands of steps hidden high above a Peruvian mountain range. The movie is filled with jokes about the difficulty of exploring and navigating this golden construction, and with good reason, considering how hard it is to explore the palace’s real life counterpart.

Machu Picchu

There’s not a lot left of the real Machu Picchu, but its structure is still clearly visible for anyone who is able to make the difficult journey up to its mountaintop location. The air is so thin at the top that tourists need to be careful not to get altitude sickness while journeying to the ancient ruins of the Inca trail.

Imperial City

Simply referred to as the Imperial City in the movie, this large palace provides the backdrop for the explosive climax in the movie “Mulan.” While the movie version of this palace looks a little different to its real world inspiration, it’s instantly recognizable to anyone who has visited China.

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was constructed in the early 15th Century and was used as the winter residence for the Emperor during the Ming dynasty. It is perhaps the most famous building in Chinese history, and is second only the Great Wall of China in terms of its cultural impact.

Prince Eric’s Castle

The above-ground castle in “The Little Mermaid,” simply known as Prince Eric’s Castle, is noteworthy for being at the very edge of the ocean. Considering how dangerous it would be to build a castle literally atop the sand on a beach, surely this can’t be based on a real castle, right?

Chillon Castle

While Chillon Castle is a little more boxy than the Disney alternative, this real life castle really did inspire the setting from “The Little Mermaid.” Built at the edge of the ocean, the castle is one of the most visited medieval buildings in Switzerland.

The Beast’s Castle

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While warped and twisted by enchantress magic for most of the movie, the few shots in “Beauty and the Beast” that show off Prince Adam’s castle in all its glory display a gleaming white building with plenty of windows and circular rooms. It’s no surprise that this design was directly lifted from a real French castle.