>

Autumn is finally here in New Jersey, we were blustery and cold the other day. I was waiting for a day like that. Chilly mornings, cool afternoons; it’s great sweatshirt weather. All the trees are turning colors. The view is beautiful as you drive around. Even as beautiful as it is, I am checking the weather for Orlando, yes, I do it almost daily. And it is going to be in the 80’s there all week. That’s a shame, their trees don’t change colors anyway, but in Walt Disney World, the Imagineers have done an amazing job of landscaping with trees to make you think that you aren’t in Florida, but in a different part of the world all together, like the colors of the trees in New Jersey right now, this is a wonderful thing. For an understanding of how the Imagineers use trees in Walt Disney World, I present the Unknown Magic of Treescaping in Disney.



The Baobab Tree

 There is a tree that makes it home only in Florida, and specifically only in the Magic Kingdom. It is known as Disneyodendron eximus. It is the man made tree that is home to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House attraction. This is not the only special tree in Walt Disney World, over in the Animal Kingdom, there is the Baobab Tree. You can see it as you are on Kilimanjaro Safaris. This tree looks like it is planted upside down, with the roots sticking up into the air. These two trees help you to have Magical Experiences, when you are in Walt Disney World, by creating more realistic attractions.

But they aren’t the only Trees that help to make things realistic and Magical. One of these trees is Florida’s state tree, the Cabbage Palmetto it is a type of Palm tree. The fact that this tree grows in Florida works well with some of the Disney World guest areas. Disney Hollywood Studios, for example needs to have Palm trees, to help promote the feeling of being in California back in the 30s and 40’s. The Caribbean Beach Resort is another place that benefits from the Palm Trees.

Treescaping also makes the experience more realistic at the Polynesian Resort. Palms, Bamboo and other tropical plants not only create a visually pleasant experience, but you really start to feel as if you are in an Island Paradise. Even in the Resort’s Lobby which is found in the Great Ceremonial House, the Imagineers create a wonderful feeling of being in the islands, by using plants and a waterfall in their courtyard.

But tropical plants and trees aren’t the only ones that Disney has used as Treescaping to provide a different reality. At the Wilderness Lodge for example, they have evergreen and deciduous trees that are treescaped around the resort to make it feel as if you are in the Western Wilderness in the United States. When you are staying here around the winter holidays, it does make it seem colder and more wintery (even if it is 60 or 70 degrees).The Imagineers have also used evergreen trees at the Winter Summerland Miniature golf course to make it feel as if you are playing in a winter wonderland. And the snow seems a little more real when there are evergreen trees around.



Cinderella Castle is
behind these trees


There are also shade trees throughout the Walt Disney World Resort as well. Some are just tiny little things that are located around the resort hotels others are much bigger and are placed where they can be seen to enhance the beauty of the parks, or to provide some shade to guests. Still others are used to block the view of the outside world or of other areas in the parks. The Disney Imagineers use trees as well as other plants as visual separators throughout the Disney World.

So now you know, the trees of Walt Disney World come in many different types and sizes and are used for many different reasons. Everything from manmade trees to the Florida State tree are used for enhancing your Magical Experiences, providing shade, and blocking your view. While in Walt Disney World, you may not notice the Treescaping, but that’s what makes it an Unknown Magic.