Disney Castle

Disney Castle is a world introduced in . It is surrounded by Disney Town, and contains a gateway to its past form, Timeless River. It is the home of King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and the other classic animated characters created by Walt Disney. 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, which is in turn based upon the castle from.

In Kingdom Hearts, Disney Castle first appears during the opening scenes, and briefly during the credits. 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. In Kingdom Hearts coded, Disney Castle is the main base of operation, though it only appears in cutscenes. Mickey and Jiminy Cricket discover a message in Jiminy's Journal which says "We must free them from their torment" and thus creates the Datascape. In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Kingdom Hearts III, Disney Castle briefly appears in cutscenes.

Development
Disney Castle was shown as a playable world in an early trailer for Kingdom Hearts, but was removed from the finished game.

Kingdom Hearts
Disney Castle first appears in Kingdom Hearts, but is only seen through cutscenes despite the world appearing on the World Map. Areas such as the ', the ', and the , are scene as Donald learns of King Mickey's disappearance. The  is where Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy work what their next steps should be. As Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy Cricket leave they are seen descending a long and darkly lit spiral stairway, leading to the , where they access the Gummi Ship and take off.

Kingdom Hearts II
Though Disney Castle shows the castle and Disney Town on the World Map, exploration is limited to only within the castle. In Kingdom Hearts II Donald and Goofy return to Disney Castle for the first time since leaving, along with Sora. They arrive at the Kakunōko (格納庫), a room for storing and maintaining the Gummi Ship, controlled by Chip and Dale. Leaving this room takes the party up to the Nakaniwa (中庭), which is entered through a castle-like arrangement of foliage in the middle. Surrounding the Courtyard are several hedges that are patterned after the band players from , one of them bearing a resemblance to Horace Horsecollar.

To the northeast of the area is the entrance to the castle itself, and takes the party to a long hallway named the Rōka (廊下). The Courtyard can be viewed from the Colonnade and further leads to the Shosai (書斎), where they'll meet up with Minnie. The room also contains portraits of two of Mickey's ancestors, a tiny picture on the desk of Mickey and Minnie in their normal Disney clothes, and one of the world's save points. After clearing the world, Daisy and a broom servant can also be found here.

In the middle of the Colonnade is a tall and massive door, with a much tinnier door at the bottom serving as the actual entrance to the Ekken-shitsu (謁見室). The Audience Chamber is a colossal room with massive pillars on each side, and a red carpet leading up to King Mickey's throne. Behind it are statues of Donald and Goofy in full regalia. Hidden below Mickey's throne is another massive room called the Ishizue no Ma (礎の間) where the Cornerstone of Light is kept safe. Upon arrival the room is darkened and overflown with Maleficent's thorns. By courtesy of Merlin a door leading to Timeless River quickly appears here, and once that world's been cleared, the thorns will vanish.

After beating the game, a massive dark portal will appear inside the Hall of the Cornerstone. Entering the portal will transport Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the Keyblade Graveyard, where a battle against Lingering Will ensues.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
The interior of the castle is used as part of the Castle Circuit racing track in the Rumble Racing competitions hosted in Disney Town.

Kingdom Hearts
Donald Duck walks into the Audience Chamber to wish King Mickey a good morning, but is shocked to find him missing. Pluto comes out from behind Mickey's throne and gives Donald a letter from the absent King. King Mickey states in the letter that he has left to try and figure out why stars have been blinking out all over the world and he tells Donald and Goofy to find "someone with a key" and stick with him. Mickey tells them to begin their quest by going to Traverse Town and asking Leon for help. Donald and Goofy are ordered by Queen Minnie to find the "Key" and the King. Jiminy Cricket is assigned by the Queen to become their royal chronicler. As they are leaving the world, Pluto jumps on the Gummi Ship to follow them. Donald and Goofy begin their journey from here on.

Following the defeat of Ansem, Huey, Dewey, and Louie return to Disney Castle after the order of the worlds is restored.

Kingdom Hearts II
When Pete and Maleficent attempt to defile the Cornerstone 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 and he protects Queen Minnie. Eventually, he 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. Some time after Xemnas's defeat, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck, Pluto, Huey, Dewey, and Louie all return to Disney Castle.

Kingdom Hearts coded
Not long after returning to the castle, Jiminy Cricket re-organizes his journal and finds a mysterious message, which is 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. King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy and Pete are sucked into the data world of Disney Castle. Meanwhile, in the real Disney Castle, Chip and Dale finds a way to contact them. 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 Sora about his findings (Terra, Aqua and Ven) and sends it to him in a bottle.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Maleficent and Pete return to Disney Castle, take Minnie hostage and summon Mickey, Donald and Goofy to speak with them. Maleficent demands access to the Data Worlds once again, but Mickey refuses. As Maleficent attacks them, Lea arrives and stops her, rescuing Minnie from Pete in the process. Maleficent and Pete take their leave, while Mickey, Lea, Donald and Goofy return to the Mysterious Tower.

Kingdom Hearts III
Throughout Sora's journey, Chip and Dale contact and give him information from the Gummiphone in the library in Disney Castle.

Following Master Xehanort's defeat, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy reunite with Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto at Disney Castle. After Yen Sid, Chip, and Dale arrive, the group watches fireworks high above the Castle. Sora, Kairi, and Chirithy are also present, enjoying the celebration.