Sword in the Stone at Disney World – How It Works

Located directly behind Prince Charming Regal Carrousel in Magic Kingdom, you’ll find The Sword in the Stone. Many Guests try throughout each day to pull the sword from the stone, but not everyone is able to do so.

What does it take to pull the sword from its secured position inside of the stone? Is it a matter of strength? Does it require a particular skill? Is it simply a  matter of luck? Or is it something more? I personally have never attempted to pull the sword from the stone, but my daughter has. Unfortunately, her efforts were unsuccessful. Have you or someone else in your group tried your luck at this daring feet? Were you successful?

In this article, I'm going to take a deep dive into this attraction to help everyone better understand it. I’ll discuss its history, how it works, and what it really takes to pull the sword from the stone. As someone who frequently visits Disney World, I have seen many Guests try and fail to pull the sword out. So what does it really take? Let's take a look and see!

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The Sword in the Stone – What is it? Where does it come from? How does the attraction work?

The Sword in the Stone attraction was directly inspired by the 1963 Disney animated film, The Sword in the Stone. In this classic movie, we follow along with the journeys of a young orphan boy named Wart. Early on in the movie, Wart meets the great wizard, Merlin, who helps guide him on his own path to success. Merlin knows that Wart is destined for greatness. We see Wart go through a series of trial and error as he learns from the teachings of Merlin.

Later on, we find that Wart, whose real name is Arthur, is actually the rightful King of England. Coincidentally, this is found out by not only us, but also the other characters in the film at the same time. The other characters are in shock when they see Wart with the sword that was once very much stuck in place. Wart isn’t even aware that he had done anything special.

What's special about the sword?

Wart simply thought he was grabbing an ordinary sword for his brother to use in a tournament. However, what he actually did was pull the enchanted sword, Excalibur, from the stone that it was embedded in. Long before Wart came in contact with it, the sword was secured into the stone with an enchantment. Only the one who was the rightful King of England, the true heir to the throne, would be able to remove the sword from the stone. It would not be able to be removed by anyone else, no matter their size or strength.

Wart’s naturally small and tiny stature is one reason why his easy removal of the sword was so alarming for other characters in the film. While others much bigger and stronger than Wart tried their best to remove the sword, they were unable to. Since Wart was the only one who was able to remove Excalibur from its enchanted location, he was finally recognized as the rightful heir to the throne and the King of England. Therefore, The Sword in the Stone is actually a story about a young King Arthur.

The Sword in the Stone Ceremony

Previously, at Walt Disney World, a Sword in the Stone Ceremony would take place at various times throughout the day. During this ceremony, Merlin would come out and interact with Guests around the enchanted sword. He would call on volunteers to come and see if they had what it takes to pull the sword from the stone. Guests who were chosen would go up to the sword and attempt to pull it out. More often than not though, they wouldn’t be able to.

The ceremony did tend to have a bit of a comical twist to it. Guests would get a kick out of big, strong men attempting and failing to release the sword. Especially if shortly after a small child was able to pull it out (just like in the movie!).

Once the sword was pulled from the stone, the successful Guest not only received bragging rights, but also some royal treatment! Merlin would place a crown and robe on the Guest and dub them with a royal title. While the crown and robe weren’t souvenirs that were able to be kept from this exciting experience, the Guest did receive a medal from Merlin that they were able to take with them as a keepsake!

Can the sword still be pulled from the stone?

Yes! While there is no longer a Sword in the Stone Ceremony that takes place with Merlin at Disney World, Guests are still able to test their skills and see if they are able to remove the sword. Without the ceremony taking place, it’s more of a random occurrence when someone is able to pull the sword loose. Since there is not a specific gathering that takes place anymore, it’s almost more exciting when a Guest does successfully pull the sword out!

How does it work?

Well.. In all honesty, we’re not really sure how exactly The Sword in the Stone attraction works. There are many theories that visitors of Walt Disney World have come up with. Some think it’s a matter of timing. Others think that certain MagicBands can activate it. There are even some that are convinced that there is a light that comes on in the window of Cinderella Castle that signals when the sword will come loose.

However, the theory that seems to make the most sense (to me at least), is that there is a Cast Member that is standing nearby, discreetly in the crowd, that controls the attraction. There are some who theorize that this Cast Member would have a headset on and would receive instructions on when to activate the attraction using a handheld device. Whether the Cast Member would or would not be told when to activate it by somebody else, or if they would decide on their own, the general consensus is that they would have some sort of handheld device with a button that they would push. Upon pushing it, the sword would lift freely by whichever Guest was attempting to pull it out at that time.

Since these are all just theories, with none of them being set in stone, we really don’t know the true logistics behind this attraction. This does of course bring more mystery to The Sword in the Stone attraction and results in many magical moments. Realistically, if we all knew how this attraction worked, it wouldn’t be a fun surprise anymore when a Guest successfully pulls the sword up out of its place.

The Sword in the Stone on Disney+

For quite a few years now, it’s been very common for Disney to take a classic animated film and turn it into a live action remake. We’ve seen stories such as The Lion King, Aladdin, The Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid all brought to life. There are even multiple live action remakes in the works right now like Moana and Lilo and Stitch!

The Sword in the Stone is another classic animated film that Disney had every intention of turning into a live action remake. The plan was for this to be released as a Disney+ original movie. However, the director of the film, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, just recently announced that the film was unfortunately put on hold. While he is unsure of the future of the film, he still has high hopes that production of the film will continue one day.

Are you a fan of Disney’s live action remakes? Would you be interested in seeing a live action version of The Sword in the Stone? While I love Disney’s animated films, I’m also a fan of the remakes! I’ve enjoyed the ones that have come out so far and I look forward to those that will come out in the future. I think that The Sword in the Stone is a great option for a live action remake and hope that the project is able to resume sometime in the future!

While we are unsure of the future of the live action version of The Sword and the Stone, you can currently enjoy the animated version on Disney+!

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