Time-Lapse Video: Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle at Disneyland Park

Heather Hust Rivera

by , Vice President, Consumer Products

Need a little lift today or some help getting into the holiday spirit? Take a look at this serene, time-lapse video and see how Sleeping Beauty Winter Castle transforms from day into night.

At the end of the video, you saw a quickened version of one of the nighttime light shows. The Sleeping Beauty Winter Castle light show is divided into three “acts” over the course of the evening. Each one begins at the Castle and travels the length of Main Street, U.S.A., finishing at the Town Square Christmas tree. Each act features a magical snowfall, and the final act concludes with “Believe…in Holiday Magic” fireworks.
Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland Park
When you need a little magic this holiday season and can’t hop on over to the Parks, come back to this video. The lights and music are very calming for me. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Comments

  • What a gorgeous video. I really want to make it to the park for the holiday season one of these years.

    It looks gorgeous at night all lit up…and with the snow.

    Beautiful.

  • Everything about Disney is magical but at Christmas it takes your breath away. I have loved Disney since my mother and my siblings watched the wonderful world of color in the early sixties and now my family loves it too.

  • #22 – Thanks for the info, Heather! Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to be up there THAT early in the morning, no less get access to the castle then.

    Being in the park that early reminds me of when we went to the 50 Years of Magical Memories Event and had “Breakfast at Dawn” in New Orleans Square, starting at about 5:30 am! We had to meet at the DLH at 5 am, to be escorted into the park. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get photos of the castle, since they were getting it ready for day’s festivities before the park’s opening, but my hubby and I did get a couple of shots that I think came out pretty nicely.

    We’re both looking forward to seeing all the Christmas decorations at DL for a little while, on our way up to the Studios, for the D23 “Disney and Dickens” Event next Wednesday!

  • Great music in the video:
    Carol Of The Bells

    c b c a, c b c a, c b c a, c b c a,…….

  • Oh, Heather! This is fantastic. Thanks for sharing. I wish you a very merry holiday season!

  • I’ve been to the park a couple of times with the holiday decorations, and waited on main street to see the lighting ceremony (with the music and the snow like they did last year) and it was basically just a lighting, nothing special this year…

  • Every time I’m there in Nov and Dec, I have to see the snow falling on Sleeping Beauty’s castle. I cry every time. Thank God for annual passes.

  • Mary from Santa Barbara, CA

    This video is so beautiful. But in person the Castle is breath taking and I can’t wait to see it on Dec 30 with my family. My niece have never been there for Christmas and I know they are going to be in AHHHHHH seeing this Castle all lite up!

    • Have a terrific time on the 30th!

  • #15 – Yes, Heather, I’d really be interested in a blog installment about ornaments! I have so many Disney orns at this point, either from Hallmark, Disney parks, Club 33 or other Disney sources, I had to give them their very own big, clear Rubbermaid storage box, that I labeled “DISNEY” on the side! It makes them easier to find, so I can start my Disney tree decorating before I do the other tree!!

    BTW, I’m the President of a local club chapter of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Collectors Club for the San Diego area, so I’m definitely interested in ornaments, especially Disney ones!

    About the castle photo, do you have any idea what time of day the photo was taken? It’s really beautiful and I’d love to take a similar one with our camera. Did they use any software enhancements to make things look more pink? It looks like they might have.

    Thanks again for another great blog installment!

    • Karen, our fabulous photographer and Disney Parks Blog author, Paul Hiffmeyer, took that photo. He said that he took the photo at 6:30 a.m.

  • This is an awesome video and so much more amazing when you are there! I was curious as to what the “three acts” are? I have seen the lighing of “It’s A Small World”, and also have seen the lighting of the castle (which we now call “The First Snowfall” because of my 3 year old nephew experiencing the “snow” from above) and the Belive show. Is this the three acts or is there more magic to discover?

  • Great stuff Heather! Will be going to the Park next week to check it out. Enjoy your holiday. Thanks for all you did this year!!

    • Thanks, Stephen. I hope you have a very happy holiday.

  • To Susan from IN: Your best bet to see Minnie may be in Toontown at her house. Good luck, hope your daughter gets to finally meet her! 🙂

  • Beautiful! I love how Sleeping Beauty Castle looks during the holidays.

  • are there any more meetups coming soon?

  • We are visiting in a couple of weeks and my 21-year-old daughter is desperately hoping to see Minnie Mouse. When she was five, we visited the park and we were told that Minnie was off that day. It has been a dream of hers since then to see her. We are so excited about visiting again!!

  • YES to the blog post about disney ornaments. i can’t wait for this weekend to pick some up. i’m starting a collection.

  • truly a disney magical moment!!! i love watching the castle light up. thanks for posting the video.

  • far right tower **

  • I don’t know if its just me but for right tower when lights come on looks like a hidden mickey with either a santa or fantasia hat on…..

  • that was beautiful!

  • Watching that transformation, in person, brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. It is so breathtakingly beautiful!
    The video almost did the same!

  • That is amazing! Always my favorite time of year at Disneyland. It seems its even more magical!

  • #1 – What a beautiful piece of video! Thanks for sharing it Heather!!

    I’ve been decorating my Disney tree and it’s really coming along well! Thanks to the D23 Mickey’s of Glendale shopping day, I was able to buy a new Tink tree topper and several orns, including 2 different ones of those gorgeous red and gold Victorian orns with Mickey and Minnie inside. I also have the ones I’ve had for years already on the tree.

    I also picked up almost all of the figural orns I wanted at our nearby Disney store the other day. There were a few they were either all sold out of or all the orns of that kind were broken!! Kinda sad to see Peter Pan missing his arm, and March Hair or Flora decapitated! The CM said they may be getting more in tomorrow, so I’ll call and see if they did before I go down there again.

    Do you do any Disney decorating Heather?

    • There are some really fun ornaments that I picked up in the Parks over the weekend. (We may do a blog post on all the fun ornaments in the Parks, so look out for that if you’re interested). I’m hoping to get our tree this weekend, so I can get started!

  • Christmas is amazing at Disneyland! Thank you guys for making my Christmas even better! The castle is beautiful!

  • AWESOME LiL VIDEO!!! CAN”T WAIT TO SEE IT!!!

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