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Ever since its debut in 1998, the Tree of Life has been the beloved symbol of Animal Kingdom. All Walt Disney World parks have their own icon (who can think of Magic Kingdom without thinking of Cinderella Castle, for example?), and the Tree of Life can certainly hold its own when it comes to magical Disney park icons! Here are just a few of the 8 things we love about the Tree of Life.
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8. Amazing Animals
The highlight of the Tree of Life is, of course, its magnificent animal carvings. Although we’ve never counted them (but we welcome any ambitious guests to do so), we’re told there are over 300 living and extinct animals contained in the branches and roots of the tree! Disney Imagineers wanted artistry to come before realism, so each animal was designed to lead or “grow” into the next animal, using the existing structure of the tree as a guideline. So you might see a root that looks like a slithering snake, or a hanging branch that forms the trunk of an elephant, all flowing together in a way that looks completely natural. It took a year and a half to complete this masterpiece, and artisans from all over the world were involved in its design and creation.
7. Impressive Stats
The Tree of Life is simply impressive, no matter how you look at it! Though it may look absolutely real from a distance, it is completely man-made, sharing that honor with only a few other artificial trees among Animal Kingdom’s 4 million living plants. It’s designed to look like an African baobob tree, and it stands a whopping 145 feet tall. Disney Imagineers needed to create a massive tree that looked real, so they designed a new system that allowed them to make and assemble the branches while keeping the whole thing flexible. The base of the tree is 50 feet wide, and it contains over 8000 branches of different sizes.
6. Tree of Life Awakenings
Magical enough during the day, the Tree of Life becomes even more enthralling at night. Now that the Animal Kingdom is open later, all guests have the chance to enjoy it in its new role in Tree of Life Awakenings! Every 10 minutes, glowing fireflies bring to life colorful spirits out of the many animals carved into the tree’s trunk. Watch closely, and you may just see some love-struck hummingbirds, a winter fox with winter cheer to spread, and a beautiful doe setting out on an adventure. It’s an inspiring visual spectacle you won’t want to miss.
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5. Inside the Magic
To get even closer to the magic of the Tree of Life, you can venture inside the tree itself! Though you’d never know from looking at the exterior, there’s actually a theatre inside the root system where the short multimedia show “It’s Tough to be a Bug” is held. The perfect show for any guests wanting to get up close and personal with the insect and spider kingdom, it’s also a chance to explore the innards of everyone’s favorite magical tree. You’ll never look at the Tree of Life the same way again!
4. Leaf Makeover
It may sound unbelievable, but the Tree of Life contains over 102,000 man-made leaves. At over a foot long each, the leaves were all attached to the tree by hand!! And the leaves got a bit of an upgrade recently. LED lighting was added to the leaves in preparation for the longer, night-time hours at Animal Kingdom. We can only imagine the headache it was to remove, upgrade, and replace each of those 102,000 leaves, but the Imagineers are pros, and the tree is now well-prepared for its starring role in evening festivities at the park.
3. Up Close and Personal
Obviously, every Animal Kingdom fan needs a selfie with the Tree of Life in the background! But did you know you don’t have to content yourself with looking from afar? Unbeknownst to many guests, there’s a secret path that winds right up to the tree, allowing you to get as close as you want to your favorite exquisite animal creations. The entrance can be hard to spot – keep your eyes peeled as you leave Harambe, and you’ll see the path on the right of the tree, before the bridge. It’s the perfect place for some close-up shots of the tree, and it’s pretty secluded; you’ll feel like you’ve found your own secret animal garden! Pro tip: bring binoculars to spot hard-to-find animals, or maybe even a Hidden Mickey.
2. Hands-On Artwork
You won’t see any “look but don’t touch” signs here! Even though it’s a genuine work of art, thankfully, the Tree of Life is also completely hands-on experience! So touch away, and be amazed at the fantastic artistry and workmanship that went into creating the creatures you see. One touch is all it takes to realize the tree isn’t actually wood, which is always surprising, because even up close, it looks exactly like tree bark! This look was achieved by mixing browns and greens until the Imagineers were satisfied that it looked like the animals had been carved into a real tree trunk.
1. It’s Not Going Anywhere
It’s a good thing the Tree of Life is so beloved by Walt Disney World guests, because it’s not going anywhere, no matter what weather Florida throws at it! Amazingly, the tree is actually made from a refurbished oil platform. And if that weren’t enough, there’s steel in the base and in the branches themselves. Imagineers took care to design and build the tree specifically to survive a hurricane. So while the tree might lose some leaves in the event of hurricane-force winds, the tree itself would be just fine!
