5. Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant

Image: Disney

Where: Disneyland Paris

The Story: Though it translates to “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle,” this towering palace has little in common with its similarly named counterparts except a color scheme. When tasked with opening their first European park, Imagineers struggled with what icon to choose. While all three other Disneyland-style parks had a central castle, there are real castles all over Europe, some much more extravagant than Disney’s. After tossing a few ideas around, it was decided that any castle acting as the centerpiece of a Parisian park needed to forget reality and instead take on a whimsical, fantasy twist. The result is a fortress that’s much more elaborate, colorful, and storybook than any of Disney’s earlier attempts, and it works wonders.

Inside: Passing across the drawbridge, the interior of the Castle is an open atrium where stone trees hold up scalable staircases and balconies that pass stained glass windows telling the story of Sleeping Beauty. Underneath is La Tanière du Dragon – the Dragon’s Dungeon – a walkthrough encounter with a sleeping (but easily disturbed) animatronic dragon chained into the castle’s dark grotto who earned a spot in our coveted Countdown of the Best Animatronics on Earth – a must-read for Disney Parks fans.

6. The Chinese Theater

Image: Disney

Where: Disney's Hollywood Studios

The Story: Disney's third theme park was intentionally designed as a half-day experience, born of then-CEO Michael Eisner's love of (and career in) the film industry. Half idealized, romanticized Hollywood history and half industrial soundstage-littered "studio," the arrival of the New Millennium didn't fare well for the park as the tired soundstage look and the allure of going "behind the scenes" shriveled and died, taking with it the park's official icon, the Earful Tower (a Mickey-hatted water tower).

To celebrate Walt Disney's 100th birthday in 2001, a giant, 122-foot tall Sorcerer Mickey hat was positioned at the end of the park's beautiful, Main Street style Hollywood Blvd., towering senselssly over the park and standing in front of a delicate and thoughtful recreation of Hollywood's iconic Chinese Theater. It didn't make much sense that a giant hat would be at the end of a hyper-realistic 1930s Hollywood street, and it made even less sense to cover the beautiful Chinese Theater – a built-in park icon! – for it. The twelve-story hat fell in 2015 (after a staggering 14 year life) revealing the theater once again.

Fun Fact: Disney has waffled on officially accepting the theater as the park's icon. Maybe it's because of the park's imminent complete rebuild that will bring a Star Wars land and Toy Story Land, effectively eliminating what's left of the "studio" style. The transformation already sent the Earful Tower to our list of Demoted and Demolished Lost Disney Parks icons. So rather than highlighting the incredible and impressive ready-made icon built into the park's "Main Street," in some material, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror's Hollywood Tower Hotel stands alongside Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, and the next icon on our list...

7. The Tree of Life

Image: Disney

Where: Disney’s Animal Kingdom

The Story: The perfect icon for a wildlife and conservation themed park, the Tree of Life stands an impressive 145 feet tall. The tangled and gnarled root system of the banyan tree spreads over many acres, forming animal habitats, bridges, tunnels, and walking trails for visitors.

Over 300 animals appear “carved” onto the tree (which is actually sculpted around the metal skeleton of an old oil rig). The Tree of Life was also Disney's first ever park icon meant to resemble a natural feature.

Inside: Originally proposed as a theatre for a show based on The Lion King, then-CEO Michael Eisner suggested that the inside of the tree become a 3-D show based on Disney-Pixar’s A Bug’s Life. The show, “It’s Tough to be a Bug,” continues to play today. Because the park opened seven months before the movie premiered, the show inside the tree acts as a prequel set before the film.

8. Pharos Lighthouse

Image: Alberto Alerigi, Flickr (license)

Where: Universal’s Islands of Adventure

The Story: Universal’s first attempt at a true theme park made of individual themed lands, Islands of Adventure blew away the park-going community with its innovative use of technology and a commitment to detail not seen since Disney’s best. Pharos Lighthouse stands on the water at the entrance of the park. The lighthouse is modeled after the very real Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. At night, its very real beam radiates and revolves, guiding visitors into – or out of – the park.

Fun Fact: Pharos Lighthouse is part of the park’s entrance land, Port of Entry. Modeled after a seaside community built by all the cultures of the world coming together, Port of Entry is full of details, surprises, and secrets that rival Disney's standards. Though it can’t be seen from the ground, when viewed from above the land around Pharos Lighthouse forms a halo with rays emanating from it, with the lighthouse at the center.