Disney Castle

Disney Castle is a world that appears in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts coded, Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. It is the home of King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and the other classic animated characters created by Walt Disney.

Disney Town is a town surrounding Disney Castle that appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. Minnie Mouse, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Chip and Dale, Horace Horsecollar, Daisy Duck, Pluto, and a transformed Pete by the names of Captain Justice and Captain Dark reside there, during the event of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. The town contains a multitude of mini-games: a racing game called Rumble Racing, a rhythm game called Ice Cream Beat, where the player will have to stack ice cream to a beat, and a ball game called  Fruitball, where the player shoots balls shaped like fruits towards a goal.

Timeless River, entered through a door in the Hall of the Cornerstone at Disney Castle, Timeless River is an area back in time to when the world was still monochrome and the Castle had not been built. It is largely based on the 1928 short Steamboat Willie, as well as many other classic Disney shorts. Mono (single channel) sound is used in this world, reminiscent of the original short films.

As such, Disney Castle is considered to represent Disney's short films and cartoons, although that role would later be shared with Timeless River. Disney Castle's design is derived from the real-world Magic Kingdom, which is in turn based upon "Cinderella Castle".

Disney Castle first appeared during the opening and closing scenes of Kingdom Hearts. It was unplayable, although visible throughout the game on the Gummi Map screen to the left of Traverse Town.

In Kingdom Hearts II, Disney Castle took on a more active role when the barrier protecting Disney Castle, the Cornerstone of Light, was corrupted by Maleficent and the world was invaded by the Heartless. This brought Disney Castle's attention to Sora and his friends, who rescued the castle with the help of Queen Minnie and the inhabitants of Timeless River.

Disney Castle later appears in Kingdom Hearts coded, where Mickey and Jiminy discover a message in his journal that says "We must free them from their torment" and create a data version of Sora.

Disney Castle
Though Disney Castle shows the palace and a little town on the World Map, exploration is limited to only within the castle, in almost all places that had been seen in the first game. King Mickey and Queen Minnie and other members of the royal organization hold meetings in the Audience Chamber. Hidden below Mickey's throne is another room called the Hall of the Cornerstone where the Cornerstone of Light is kept safe.

Below the castle is the Gummi Hangar, a room for storing and maintaining the Gummi Ship, controlled by Chip and Dale. This room is accessed by entering a castle-like arrangement of foliage in the courtyard. Sora and his party later enter Disney Castle through this room when they visit in Kingdom Hearts II.

Other places to be explored include the Library, where Donald, Queen Minnie, Daisy, and Goofy first read the letter from King Mickey about the danger of the universe. Minnie, Daisy and a broom servant can also be seen here anytime after you save the castle from Maleficent after returning from Timeless River.

The Courtyard is the place where Donald catches Goofy napping, and where Queen Minnie and Daisy ask Donald to explain things in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts. The Colonnade in the castle connects the Courtyard to the rest of the castle. A town can also be seen on the world image of the castle on the world map. This town is where Horace Horsecollar and probably Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck are living in after the Castle is built. Also seen on the world image on the first game is a well, a triumphal arch that has a trifoil, and a dark building that is in the shape of the trademark Crown symbol.

A pathway can also be seen when Donald rushes to tell Goofy about the King's disappearance in the first game. However, this pathway was deleted in Kingdom Hearts II.

Like many castles and palaces of the real world, there are most likely many more rooms in Disney Castle as well, such as the King and Queen's bedchamber, the servants' bedchambers, dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, the living room, a nursery for any children the King and Queen may bear, a gymnasium/fitness center, indoor swimming pools and jacuzzis, recreation rooms that include an arcade, project studios, a home theater, a ballroom, elevators and more. The castle also serves as a royal foster care/group home.

Timeless River
Sora and his party enter the Timeless River on Cornerstone Hill, where they find the Cornerstone of Light unprotected but still safe. Signs around the area announce the impending construction of Disney Castle, and Clara Cluck, Clarabelle Cow, and Horace Horsecollar are around to chat with, as is a Moogle shop.

Heading to the right leads to the Pier, where the party meets up with young Pete for the first time and beats him into a pulp. Continuing on the other path will take the party to the Waterway, site of the battle with modern Pete for the Steamboat Willie, and the Wharf, where young Pete and Sora's group begin the final boss battle with Pete to finish Timeless River.

Also of note on Cornerstone Hill are four Windows to the Past that eventually open as the story progresses; each of these leads to a new area based on a classic Disney short film. From left to right, the windows are:




 * The Building Site, a construction site with a rickety platform and based on the 1933 short Building a Building.
 * Lilliput, a tiny town with a big cannon that can be activated by jumping on it. It is from the 1934 short Gulliver Mickey.
 * The Scene of the Fire, a big building with fierce flames that was inspired by the 1930 short The Fire Fighters and the 1935 short Mickey's Fire Brigade.
 * Mickey's House, which shows the inside of Mickey's House, decorated for Christmas, from the 1931 short Mickey's Orphans.

During the original visit to the Timeless River, the world's battle level is 19. Later on, the battle level becomes 34, although no new story content is added.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
While Disney Castle does not actually appear in the storyline, it is seen in the background of Disney Town and is featured as a racing circuit in the North American, European and Final Mix releases of the game.

Kingdom Hearts
This world is only seen in cutscenes while Sora is at the Destiny Islands, when Donald gets a letter from King Mickey with Pluto and is ordered by Queen Minnie to find the "Key" and the King. Jiminy Cricket is assigned by the Queen to become their royal chronicler.

Pluto jumps on the Gummi Ship to follow them. Donald and Goofy begin their journey from here on. The world appears on the Gummi Ship map near Traverse Town, but is not accessible. In the ending credits, Huey, Dewey, and Louie return to Disney Castle after the order of the worlds is restored.

Kingdom Hearts II
When Pete and Maleficent mess with the Cornerstone of Light and try to take over the castle by going back to the past to alter the present, Sora visits the castle for the first time, where he protects Queen Minnie, and eventually goes to Timeless River, a past version of Disney Castle before it was built, with Donald and Goofy to stop Pete from destroying the Cornerstone. The Keyblade Graveyard, where Sora fights the Lingering Will, is also accessible via the Hall of the Cornerstone in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix.

In the ending credits, Donald, Goofy, Uncle Scrooge, Pluto, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and King Mickey all return to Disney Castle after their battle against Organization XIII.

Kingdom Hearts coded
This is where the story of Kingdom Hearts coded begins, with Jiminy Cricket re-organizing his journal when he finds a mysterious message which was later digitized by King Mickey to create a Sora out of data in hopes of discovering when the entry was added by reliving the moment.

In episode four, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy and Pete are sucked into the data world of Disney Castle and in the real Disney Castle, Chip and Dale are trying to contact them. At the end of the game, when the data world is completely debugged and erased, they are sent back to the real Disney Castle, where King Mickey writes a letter to the real Sora about his findings (Terra, Aqua and Ven) and sends it to him in a bottle.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Minnie is taken hostage by Maleficent, who sends a letter and her crown to the Mysterious Tower to bring King Mickey back. Once everyone is assembled, Maleficent explains her past encounter with Master Xehanort and how she learned of the worlds and Kingdom Hearts from him. She know seeks the obtain the Datascape from her previous encounter with Mickey to aid her plans for universal domination. Though unwilling to do such an act, Mickey tries to buy time to think of a plan to rescue Minnie. Seeing that Mickey is unwilling to give her the Data Worlds willingly, Maleficent sends a blast of magic at him, Donald and Goofy. However, a dark corridor opens and one of Lea's Chakram blocks the blast while the other strikes Pete. Taking the opportunity to get away, Minnie uses her Light powers to free herself from Pete and Maleficent and heads over to her friends. Knowing that she cannot win, Maleficent leaves with Pete. Mickey turns to face Lea, thanking him and calling him Axel. However, Lea corrects him and introduces himself.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
At this time, a festival called the "Dream Festival" is being held by Queen Minnie. Many events are held at this festival, and whoever gains the most popularity votes becomes awarded with the Million Dreams Award.

After being handed a Disney Town Passport, Terra stops by at Disney Town. Just then, he sees a group of Unversed on the racing course of "Rumble Racing". He attempts to go after them only to almost be run over by Pete in his vehicle, posing as "Captain Dark". Luckily, Queen Minnie alerts Terra just in time for him to avoid it. The queen, Chip and Dale suggest to him to participate in the race as a means to stop the Unversed without breaking the rules.

Participating in the race allows Terra to discover that he may not need to give in to the darkness in order to achieve his goals, that following the rules may give him the same accomplishment. He also receives votes from Chip and Dale.

If Terra receives the Million Dreams Award, he is presented the "Rockin' Crunch Ice Cream".

Ventus is immediately greeted by Pete, posing as Captain Justice. He tells him of the Dream Festival, and then becomes distracted by Huey, Dewey, and Louie, who are trying unsuccessfully to make ice-cream with a machine left by Scrooge McDuck. After Pete's multiple failed attempts to fix it, Ven offers to try. After a few keystrokes, he finally sets it right.

If Ven receives the Million Dreams Award, he is presented with the "Double Crunch Ice Cream".

Aqua is greeted by Pete posing as Captain Justice, just as she arrives in town. Horace Horsecollar comes yelling for help after the Unversed infest the "Fruitball" Area. Aqua volunteers to help after Pete runs away in fear of battling monsters. After she defeats the Unversed, Minnie appears to thank her. Horace introduces her as the queen and Aqua bows to show her respect, but she tells her to not be so formal. After Queen Minnie explains the Dream Festival and how Pete has been attempting to win others' votes, Horace votes Aqua as his hero. At the end of the festival Aqua wins the Million dreams Award and is presented with the "Royalberry Ice Cream".

While Aqua is accepting her award Pete rushes on stage claiming that he should be the winner. Queen Minnie gets angry and banishes him to another dimension. Maleficent's voice can be heard offering to help him escape if he will become her ally, he agrees and is seen walking through a portal she created.

At the end of the game Huey, Dewey, and Louie are competing in a Race in the Rumble Race course where Huey is the victor. Observing them is Queen Minnie, Pluto, Horace Horsecollar, Chip, and Dale.

Kingdom Hearts II
Arriving in a spectacular fashion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy work out that they have gone back to a place in time before Disney Castle was built, where the unprotected Cornerstone sits on a quiet hill. Before they can get much farther in the world, Pete in his old form belligerently runs past them. They chase him down and accuse him of trying to do something with the Cornerstone, but after a fight, the three realize they have just beaten on the wrong Pete.

They return to the Hill and spot Heartless jumping into the four windows from the past. They also find a fifth window, which shows how the present Pete's desire to return to his simpler life as a steamboat captain created a door into the past in the first place. The party then leaps into each window, fighting off the Heartless there and discovering new windows that detail Maleficent's plan to take advantage of her lackey's porthole to the past to weaken the defenses of the present Disney Castle.

Upon exiting the last window, the party is aghast to find the Cornerstone missing. They manage to catch up with it at the Pier, in the possession of present Pete, who has also taken the past Pete's beloved Steamboat Willie to transport it. Sora and his party manage to defeat Pete and retake both the Cornerstone and the steamboat. They return the Cornerstone to the hill, and then catch up with Captain Pete at the Wharf, where he joins the party in a battle against the present Pete to expel him from Timeless River for good.

Present Pete is soundly thrashed and is sent fleeing back to Maleficent; Sora locks his door into Timeless River so he cannot return. The Cornerstone and the present Disney Castle safe at last, the three are offered a reward by Captain Pete: a chance to pilot his beloved steamboat. After all, that pesky cabin boy never showed up for work, anyway....

Disney Town
In Disney Town, Pete dresses up as Captain Justice and Captain Dark in a plot to win the Million Dreams Award.

Timeless River
In Timeless River, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, are converted into black and white versions based on their original appearances. Sora appears in his original outfit from Kingdom Hearts, and is done in an anime-style similar to Osamu Tezuka. Donald's appearance goes back to his 1934 debut in The Wise Little Hen, and Goofy resembles his original 1932 appearance (though a lot younger here) in Mickey's Revue. Although the modern version of Pete appears in this world as the final boss, the only change to his appearance is that he becomes black and white.

Trivia

 * Because Disney Castle is not based on any Disney movie, it is the only Disney-based world in the game that doesn't borrow anything from the productions. It is based plot-wise, only borrowing characters instead.
 * In the Audience Chamber, there are statues of Donald and Goofy in full regalia, or their ancestors, and in the Library, there are two portraits of Mickey's ancestors. The Audience Chamber also contains a sculpture resembling the Kingdom Hearts logo. On the desk in the library there is a photo of King Mickey and Queen Minnie in their normal Disney clothes. Furthermore, several of the hedges in the Courtyard are patterned after the band players from The Band Concert, one of them bearing a resemblance to Horace Horsecollar.
 * Disney Castle was shown as a playable world in an early trailer for Kingdom Hearts, but was removed from the finished game.
 * Even though the mini-game is called "Fruitball", a sign in Disney Town says "Fruit Scatter".
 * Timeless River is one of the few worlds in the game to have a change of day, as in the "Scene of the fire" area, it is clearly seen to be nighttime.
 * As a "world within a world", Timeless River cannot be accessed by Gummi Ship.
 * In the Library, the portrait hanging on the right side of the door is reflected the wrong way. The portrait faces left, while its reflection faces right.
 * In the Audience Chamber, look carefully at the wall tapestry. There are three Mickey head symbols—one is for Mickey, the second is for Minnie, and there is a third one (possibly for the royal couple's children.