Meet the Robinsons

Taking another turn into Adventureland, we start to spy the remains of a wrecked ship in and around the rocky landscape. We know we can't be far from the treetop abode of the family Robinson. Inspired by Walt Disney's 1960 film Swiss Family Robinson, the original Swiss Family Treehouse opened at Disneyland in November 1962 and was a natural for opening day at the Magic Kingdom in Florida.

The tree housing the treehouse is the very large, very concrete Disneyodendron eximus ("out of the ordinary Disney tree"). It's artificial of course, but based in reality. The design of the tree was inspired by banyan trees, which send additional branches down from their limbs, eventually creating the appearance of a forest of trunks all from the same specimen. In this case, the root trunks allowed the tree's designers to provide the outer limbs with necessary structural support.

Moving closer to the tree, we begin to hear the strains of the "Swisskapolka" and are introduced to the family - Father, Mother, Fritz, Ernst and Francis - as well as their fate as survivors of the wreck of the Swallow. Through this sign, the Robinsons tell us that "From the wreckage we built our home in this tree for protection on this uncharted shore." Similar journal-style signs throughout the attraction continue the story of the Swiss family's adventures and provide us information about each of the rooms of the treehouse.

One of the most fascinating details of the treehouse, though, is how the wreckage from the ship is used to create almost everything we see. The entrance sign is made from a broken oar:

Spindles and rope form the fence along the entrance, while cannons from the ship are poised and ready to meet any approaching danger. It's no coincidence that the cannons are aimed in the direction of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, deeper into Adventureland. If you recall, pirates figure heavily in the Swiss Family Robinson film.

More rope from the rigging and bits of the masts have been cobbled together to build this bridge across the river:

Of course, not everything the Robinson boys built came from the ship. Combining wood from the ship with bits of bamboo and other items from the island itself, they fabricated this incredible water wheel. Stop to watch, and you'll discover it actually works. The flowing water in the stream turns the wheel, cranking the gears and pulling the bamboo cups into the water below. The cups are then hoisted up to the top of the tree, dropping their load into an elaborate plumbing system that runs through each of the main rooms.

The Robinsons apparently enjoy island living. They may have left their Disneyland home (passing that treehouse on to Tarzan in 1999), but they still maintain treetop residences at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. With incredible treehouses in so many vacation hotspots, it's little wonder the family chose to neither return home to London or sail on to New Guinea. They seem to like it here just fine.