The child in me is screaming. Yeah, he’s climbed trees before. Just not one like this. He sees the ample foot holds. Hippo-to-Scorpian-to-Owl seems like the best path to the summit. Or is it? There are 325 animals carved into the fifty foot wide trunk. Each a dynamic tool to get to the final destination. Tortoise-Antalope-Squid seems a little more challenging. Maybe next time .
At the top, the 8,000 branches are wide. They are the perfect place to sit hidden in the shade and drop water filled Mickey balloons on the unsuspecting legions of tourists lurking below. They should make quite a splash from this height. It’s 145 foot from the roots to the tallest leaf. The 103, 000 leaves still look real – even from up-close. They are eternally green – just enough to allow them to stand out from the trillions of real leaves around the park.
The hidden Mickey in the bark, though, well that would just look like a coffee stain from his angle.
He wonders - if he looks through the middle of the tree can he see right into It’s Tough To Be A Bug!, the attraction housed at the base of the icon. Likely not.
Certainly he is interested in checking out the oil rig that the tree was built around. He saw a rig in the ocean once, and finds it hard to believe that this wonder is formed around one.
He can recognize the magic in turing something so industrial into nature. It’s beautiful. He can probably even see Wishes from here.
Then, there is the adult in me. He likes Disney World a lot. Certainly enough to throw aside spontaneous child ambition and not climb the Tree of Life. For adult me realizes the likelihood of being dragged off the Tree by security. Adult me isn’t a quick climber anymore. He is concerned about slipping and hanging helplessly from the tail of the Sea Horse. It’s decided – today is not the day to get banned from Disney property. He still has reservations at Tusker House.
Instead, I’ll take one last look for the day, re-join the family, and try to figure out what to do with all these water balloons.
