Swiss Family Treehouse - Magic Kingdom

This is often an overlooked attraction but be sure not to miss the shipwrecked Swiss Family Robinson’ s home in the trees. The 60-foot-tall treehouse has been in Magic Kingdom since it opened in 1971. The giant tree is situated in Adventureland just before you reach the Jungle Cruise.

This is from Disney’ s 1960 film & quot; Swiss Family Robinson& quot; which starred John Mills, Dorothy Maguire and James MacArthur. Although this was very popular at the time not so many of today’s children will have heard of it. It really worth seeing especially if you do before you bring your kids to this walk-through attraction. The make-believe tree beautifully recreates the home the shipwrecked family in the movie builds for themselves, right down to the organ in the & quot; living room& quot; and the skylight in the parents’ bedroom.

In the film the shipwrecked family of five salvages material from their sinking ship, the Swallow, to create a home among the leaves of a huge old tree on a South Seas island. There are bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a library; all set up just like other 19th-century homes. Eventually, the family has to fight a band of pirates, and then they are rescued, well maybe, you need to watch the film.

You need to be fairly agile for this attraction as there is lots of walking and climbing stairs. If you walk straight through the attraction it will take you at least fifteen minutes.

As you climb the steps of the Swiss Family Treehouse, you pass through the various rooms, with placards telling you the story of the Robinsons and their sons: Fritz, Ernst, and Francis.

You get close-up views of each of the rooms, which feature furnishings from items salvaged from the wrecked vessel. There is a lantern, a log book, ornate railings, and, standing prominently in the living room, the ship’ s wheel from the Swallow. Ropes from the ship drive a water-wheel system that dips buckets of water from the stream, carrying it to the top of the tree. Books are open, the dinner table is set and the family pipe organ plays happily, you will find it all very realistic.

When you get to the top of the tree, you look out on to Adventureland below, there is a view of the winding river and Jungle Cruise, and you feel just as though you are on a tropical island. It really is worth a visit.