Monday, March 04, 2024

Tales From The Trunk



When the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse opened at Disneyland in 1962, it had one massive tree trunk.



When it morphed into Tarzan’s Treehouse, a second (albeit smaller) tree was added to the mix.



One of the tree knots was supposedly a tribute to Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars.



Yes, I guess I can see that. I am assuming (and we know how dangerous that can be) that with the recent remodel and removal of this second tree, that Jabba also bit the dust.



Over on Tom Sawyer’s Island, the young ones could climb up into Tom and Huck’s very own treehouse. You could get some pretty spectacular views of the Park from up here.



If you look a little closer at the March 1958 image, you can see that Tom and Becky have their names “carved” into the artificial tree.



It’s also visible in this July 1965 shot:





Just before Tom Sawyer’s Island was converted into Pirate’s Lair, I snapped as many photos as I could in February 2007. The carving appears to be the exact same one, unchanged after over fifty years.



Huck had his own little spot at the base of the tree.



Whether these little details are still around or not I have no idea. I remember Tom and Huck’s treehouse was closed for quite some time, but it appears that guests are able to climb up into it once again. Anyone know if that’s correct or not?

See more Disneyland Tom Sawyer Island photos at my main website.

1 comment:

Fifthrider said...

The last time I climbed up to Huck's treehouse was probably 2014. Everytime I go, I touch each railing and study each detail. Will this be the last time I see all this? Will it be gone next time? Will I? Walt really knew what he was doing with the SFR Treehouse and Tom and Becky's place. Forgive me but the addition at Tarzan's was something I enjoyed, as was Tom Sawyer Island's addition of the pirate caves. Normally a purist, I really enjoyed those. I'm still happier to see a return to the more original treehouse format.