8 Facts and Secrets about Swiss Family Treehouse at Disney’s Magic Kingdom

The Swiss Family Treehouse is a fun exploration-styled attraction in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom. This attraction is great for all ages and provides a great opportunity to explore and live part of the movie, Swiss Family Robinson. Here are eight facts and secrets about the attraction that you may not know:

8 – The tree is technically a building.

When the tree was constructed, it had to actually be classified as a building. In terms of construction permits and requirements, it required that the tree is documented and classified as an actual building. This means that the tree has to adhere to all building rules, codes, and requirements as determined by the state of Florida!

7 – That is a LOT of leaves!

There are a total of 330,000 leaves that make up the leaves for the tree. Not only that, each of these leaves are completely fabricated so that they withstand the weather and winds and don’t fall off of the tree. The tree gets to remain beautiful and perfect all the time! Each of the fabricated leaves cost about $1 each to produce, so $330,000 just in leaves to build the tree!

6 – The tree has concrete roots.

Since the Swiss Family Treehouse tree isn’t exactly a real tree, but a fabricated tree, it also has fabricated roots. The roots are made out of concrete. The roots also extend into the ground around 42 feet (or about 4 stories) to provide support for the steel structure that makes up the body of the tree. I think it is safe to say that this tree is very likely to withstand whatever winds and storms come its way.

5 – Opening Day attraction for the Magic Kingdom.

When the Magic Kingdom opened on October 1, 1971, there were several attractions that were completed and ready for guests to enjoy on opening day. The Swiss Family Treehouse was one of those attractions and has been receiving and entertaining guests since 1971! It is always amazing to see the attractions that maintain their presence for all of these years. The attraction has maintained the same theme the entire time, too.

4 – There is more than one Swiss Family Treehouse.

The attraction was first a Disneyland attraction. It first opened in 1962 in Disneyland, and then in 1999, it was re-themed to promote Disney’s Tarzan as Tarzan’s Treehouse. There are also Swiss Family Treehouses at Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland that maintain the Swiss Family Robinson theming in those parks.

3 – Get your exercise!

This is a fairly unique attraction across Walt Disney World. This isn’t a ride-through attraction or a show. This is actually a walking attraction where you get to explore the treehouse on foot and navigate through the different areas. This means that you will be climbing around 116 steps total as you make your journey up into the treehouse, plus the walking across the various bridges and house areas! As if you weren’t already getting enough walking, now you can get a little more! This is a great place for kids to work off some of their energy and get to move around and explore. It will bring out the kid in all of you!

2 – Disneyodendron eximus.

This is the name that the tree is actually known as. The name means “out of the ordinary Disney tree.” This tree is quite impressive and massive. The tree is a whopping 90 feet high and is also 60 feet wide. The total weight for the tree is around 200 tons, so there is definitely no moving this tree around! There are also 1,400 total limbs that hold all of the fabricated leaves.

1 – It’s a perfect representation of the treehouse from Swiss Family Robinson.

The movie, Swiss Family Robinson, was a Disney film released in 1960. It had stars like Dorothy Maguire, John Mills, Tommy Kirk, and James MacArthur appearing in the film, too. The attraction is perfectly themed from the treehouse in the film down to every detail. There are even bedrooms with real beds, tables with place settings like the family is going to come and sit down for a meal at the table, and more. There is so much to explore. Fans of the movie will love the opportunity to see the film come to life in front of them.