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The two original swans, one white and one black, were a gift to Walt Disney from the Hollywood Turf Club and was presented by the President of MGM Studios Dore Schary and Mervyn LeRoy.  LeRoy had been the producer on the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" which MGM put into production after the success of Walt Disney's 1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" 

There are two urban legends associated with Sleeping Beauty Castle. The first concerns a bronze spike hammered into the stonework just past the breezeway. It’s often said that this marks the center of Disneyland (or perhaps the center of Disneyland as measured in 1955). In fact, neither statement is true. The center of Disneyland originally was the Central Plaza, and even with the introduction of Mickey’s Toontown, the virtual center has only crept toward the castle but not quite reached it.

The second rumor concerns the gilded spires atop the turrets. One of the spires appears unpainted today, and it is said that this is meant as a physical manifestation of Walt’s credo that “Disneyland will never be complete as long as there is imagination left in the world.” A nice idea, perhaps, but this was never the intent of this spire! Designer Kim Irvine, who oversaw the repainting of the castle in the early 1990s (the bricks in the castle walls became multicolored at this point), replies that this spire was painted a darker color just to look different, and the effects of time and weather have given this spire a quite unintentional unpainted appearance.

The spires atop Sleeping Beauty Castle are covered with 22-karat gold leaf to give off just the right luster in all weather conditions. Walt insisted on this touch, but Roy, who found the financing to get Disneyland built,
balked at the expense. Walt therefore waited until Roy was in New York on
business before ordered the gold leaf to be installed on the castle.

Until the 1983 refurbishment of Fantasyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle was painted a different color scheme: white with blue spires. Walt Disney World's castle, built in 1971, went for a different look by opting for gray and blue, a color scheme that continues to this day. After 1983, though, Sleeping Beauty Castle switched to the now-familiar pink and blue, generating an arguably warmer and more comfortable atmosphere. Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant at Disneyland Paris, built in 1989, mimicked the new look of Sleeping Beauty Castle and its pink and blue color scheme.

This “lake” of water is actually part of the Disneyland darkwater system. Many attractions at the park that use artificially dyed water share the same water system, which travels slowly downhill from the former Motorboat Lagoon and Storybook Land Canal Boats, across the castle moat, down a stream to the Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise, and then through an underground pipe over to the Rivers of America (where it is pumped back up to the Motoboat Lagoon). On occasion the moat has been drained, interrupting the normal flow in the darkwater system.

This moat has been the home in years past to a pair of large Christmas trees, one on each side of the causeway. On December 6, 1998, both of these trees fell over into the causeway during high wind, one of them grazing a visitor in the head. As one might expect, this marked the end of Christmas trees in the moat!

The Castle Disappears!

In 1989 magicians Siegfried and Roy came to Disneyland for an NBC television special titled "Magic in the Magic Kingdom."  The show featured several magicians such as Harry Anderson and Lance Burton and concluded as Siegfried and Roy made Sleeping Beauty Castle disappear.  

Located above the portcullis is the Disney Family coat of arms.  But it wasn't always up there.  In this picture from the 1960s, you can clearly see the missing coat of arms.

 
[The Disney Coat of Arms today]

[But it wasn't ALWAYS that way...]

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