When Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998, it faced the normal challenges of the other Disney Parks including adequate transportation services like bus stops and parking and creating an area that is cohesively themed yet interesting to guests of all ages. But there was another challenge: humans wouldn’t be the only living things in the parks! Real animals would be brought into a Disney Park for the first time in the company’s history.Animal Kingdom is too often overlooked and underrated. It is beautifully themed and maintained despite the amount of behind-the-scenes work required to keep it up.
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The most famous tree in Walt Disney World is Animal Kingdom’s Tree of Life, but no part of this tree is natural. It is 145 feet tall, 50 feet wide, has 103,000 leaves, and is completely man-made. The leaves were even attached by hand. The tree has to withstand Florida weather including chilly winters, tropical summers, and even tropical storms.
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The Tree of Life is one of the most breathtaking parts of any Disney park. Right up there with Cinderella Castle is this amazing 145 foot sculpture that includes around 325 different animals carved into the trunk, roots and every branch of the tree.
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In actuality, it isn’t a tree at all, but an oil platform constructed by imagineers into the amazing structure we have come to love.
Did you know there are over 300 different species carved into the tree’s trunk system? I find I could spend hours staring at the tree. It really is that fascinating.