The Seven Wonders of Disney World; Tree of Life
The Mousetunes podcast came up with this idea, and I just couldn’t resist. It was first mentioned on the November 5, 2006 show, and I highly recommend that you make this a weekly listen. Thanks to Lou and Nathan for planting this one in my brain.
The first thing worth mentioning is what the word “Wonder” means to me. Rather than trying to compare Disney icons to the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World or whatever list you like, I took the dictionary definition which includes the words “a cause of surprise, astonishment, or admiration.” In my mind, that means whatever blows my mind every time I see it. So this list includes the seven things at Walt Disney World that impress me the most, either because of technology, creativity, beauty, or just plain good fun.
We’ll do this in segments, as each Wonder deserves its own post. Keep in mind that this is in no particular order. We’ll start today with…
The Tree of Life.
This Wonder of Disney World stands almost 150 feet tall, and is about 50 feet wide. There are over 300 different animal carvings along the trunk, and over 100,000 leaves on the thousands of branches. Just think, all of those leaves and all of those branches had to be engineered, built, painted, and placed on this giant structure…individually. And just to make it even more amazing, the branches are designed to sway in the breeze, merely for effect.
The whole things was built on a Gulf oil platform, so that it can fit a huge movie theater in the basement…errr…roots. The idea of delivering the oil platform to Orlando and turning it into the Tree of Life is alone wonder.
It is the center piece of the Animal Kingdom and is without doubt the most subtle of all the park icons, as it seems to blend into the surrounding trees. As you approach the park, it takes some looking to point it out. But once you see it, it takes your breadth away. It is a “weenie” in the truest sense of the phrase. As you get closer and closer, the carvings and details begin to emerge in your eyes and you are drawn nearer. I remember the first time I saw it, I had to walk around it as close as I could. It was hard to believe what I was looking at.
From every angle in the park the Tree of Life changes a bit, and reveals something new. The visual experience from the bridge to Discovery Island is totally different from the walkway that runs from Asia to Africa. The real stunner comes on the line to see It’s Tough to Be a Bug! The view from there, up close where you start to think it is real as there seems to be bark on the trunk, is what makes us love this icon.
The Tree of Life is without doubt the most visually stunning of all the Seven Wonders of Disney World. That’s enough to make this list. The fact that it is also a stroke of creative genius in every aspect of its construction is just icing on the cake
MJMcBride said,
November 30, 2006 @ 2:25 am
The Tree of Life is a wonderful work of art. Too bad they couldn’t come up with a signature to MGM like this.
Dave said,
November 30, 2006 @ 3:04 pm
You don’t think the bih hat does the trick?
To me, in fairness, I like the hat much better than the Theater. At least this is unique and not just a reproduction of something already in existence. But I agree, it could be much better.