Groot from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise isn’t the only superhero tree at Disneyland, which boasts five dozen “Hero Trees” that play a storytelling role as supporting characters at the Anaheim theme park.
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The Disneyland horticulture team takes care of about 60 Hero Trees throughout the 500-acre theme park resort.
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Disneyland horticulture area manager Brandon Elrod said the Hero Trees are superheroes just like Iron Man, Spider-Man and Groot.
“These trees have survived the test of time, climate, pest outbreaks, redevelopment and being moved to a new spot to give them new life,” Elrod said during a tour of Disneyland’s Hero Trees. “So yeah, they’re definitely heroes in that regard.”
Disneyland’s Hero Trees may be significant for any number of reasons. They may have been around since the park’s opening day in 1955, support a backstory for an attraction or serve as a focal point in a themed land. Some are rare species while others are dedicated to people associated with the park.
The Dominguez Palm is one of the first Hero Trees at Disneyland.
The opening day tree is named after the Dominguez family that owned a 10-acre orange grove that Walt Disney bought in 1954 as he was assembling land to build Disneyland.
The 130-year-old Canary Island date palm that was originally planted in 1896 now stands just to the right of the Jungle Cruise entrance — so close, in fact, that the trunk rubs up against the boathouse queue building.
“This is one of our trees that we like to baby and give just a little extra attention and TLC,” Elrod said.
The 150-year-old Dwarf Pine in the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction is likely the oldest tree at Disneyland.
The three-foot-tall evergreen with a gnarly, twisted trunk is located near the miniature Geppetto’s Workshop in Pinocchio’s Village.
The Disneyland horticulture team maintains the natural landscaping that provides realistic proportions for the miniature scenery along the fairy tale boat journey.
Many of Disneyland’s Hero Trees are concentrated in Adventureland, New Orleans Square and the Rivers of America.
Newer areas like Galaxy’s Edge have a few Hero Trees that serve as focal points.
A Fever Tree planted just before the opening of the Star Wars theme land in 2019 stands on an island near the Frontierland entrance.
“That one’s just a big, beautiful unusual specimen,” Elrod said.
Disneyland’s central hub in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle is full of Hero Trees. Crape Myrtles ring the outside of the hub with Trumpet Trees on the inside.
“They all bloom profusely,” Elrod said. “The whole crown is covered in these brilliant pink flowers in the springtime.”
The Disneyland horticulture team gives the hub trees extra care and attention just because of their prominent location in the park.
Each of Disneyland’s Hero Trees has a distinct personality — just like a Disney character.
“Some are stoic. They just show up and fulfill the role,” Elrod said. “There are some that definitely need more stewarding and attention than others.”
Disneyland visitors walk past Hero Trees all the time without noticing them — like the Coral Tree in the middle of the walkway across from the Adventureland Bazaar.
“It’s not a notable rare species or anything like that,” Elrod said. “But it is on the list just because of its placement and prominence.”
Elrod’s favorite example of how Hero Trees help tell the Disneyland story can be found on either side of the Orangutan Fountain at the crossroads of Adventureland and Frontierland.
A Bodhi Tree on the right leans against the Pioneer Mercantile shop while a Triangle Palm on the left stands next to the Adventureland Bazaar.
“From a storytelling perspective, there’s a transition that happens in this space right here,” Elrod said. “If we go right we’re in Frontierland and if we go left we’re in Adventureland.”
The Jungle Cruise is filled with Hero Trees — including many that are hard to spot amid the forest of green.
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A Lagos Rubber Tree stands along the banks of Jungle Cruise on the edge of the Tropical Hideaway patio.
It was planted in the early 1960s for the opening of the Tahitian Terrace that eventually became Aladdin’s Oasis and then Tropical Hideaway.
“It’s just such a great, unusual species that ties in really well with the theming and storytelling of the Jungle Cruise,” Elrod said. “It has been a really adaptable backdrop for the different iterations of this space over the years.”
Riders on the Jungle Cruise float past a Sausage Tree that serves as a heroic focal point on a peninsula next to Schweitzer Falls.
“It’s very unusual and noteworthy because of the obvious fruit,” Elrod said. “They look like potatoes or giant sausages hanging by tendrils.”
The one Hero Tree that Elrod can’t say too much about is the Dreaming Tree that Walt Disney used to daydream under as a boy growing up in his hometown of Marceline, Missouri.
Walt’s original Dreaming Tree — a Cottonwood with distinctive heart-shaped leaves — was struck by lightning and destroyed. Three saplings grown from seeds of the original were dubbed the Sons of the Dreaming Tree.
One sapling was presented by the Walt Disney Hometown Museum to Disneyland as a gift in honor of the park’s 50th anniversary in 2005.
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Elrod won’t say where the offspring of Walt’s Dreaming Tree is located at Disneyland.
“There is a progeny or a descendant of that original Dreaming Tree here on property,” Elrod said. “We safeguard the location, but it’s alive and it’s doing well.”
Walt Disney Imagineering created a man-made version of Walt’s Dreaming Tree located near the entrance to Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland.
Not all the Hero Trees are rare, old or tall.
A stately oak planted next to the Golden Horseshoe in 2006 is dedicated to famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury — who was friends with Walt Disney and wrote a couple screenplays for Disney films based on his work.
The Ray Bradbury Halloween Tree — named after his 1972 book of the same title — pays tribute to the acclaimed author every Halloween.
“It gets lit up during the holidays,” Elrod said. “It looks really cool.”
The tallest tree in Disneyland is a 100-foot pine that hides visitors’ views of the 147-foot-tall Matterhorn Bobsleds when they are in Frontierland or New Orleans Square.
Disneyland arborists use boom lifts to trim the tallest trees in the park, but the park’s tallest lifts only reach 80 feet in the air.
That means Disneyland arborist John Nguyen and his team have to climb to the top of the Matterhorn Pine to shape the crown.
“It takes 25 minutes to climb from the bottom up to the top,” Nguyen said.
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The Disneyland horticulture team works mostly at night with the aid of bright LED lights.
Nguyen never gets scared climbing the towering Matterhorn Pine in the dark.
“It’s fun,” Nguyen said. “I love it.”
Nguyen is still one of the new guys on the Disneyland horticulture team with his 17 years of tenure. Most of his colleagues have been working at Disneyland for 25 or 30 years. One guy has been there for 45 years.
On average, full-time professional and skilled-labor employees have worked at the Disneyland resort for more than 12 years.
Some of Disneyland’s Hero Trees help tell a story.
“Trees transport you to another place, another time or another climate. Whatever the story is looking to reinforce,” Elrod said. “Trees provide texture, color, fragrance and even seasonality to a particular scene or vignette.”
A pair of Ficus trees flanking the Cafe Orleans outdoor patio transport Disneyland visitors to the New Orleans French Quarter and tell the story of a bustling 19th-century Louisiana riverfront.
The Cafe Orleans trees are decorated with seasonal decor during the Mardi Gras season.
The Disneyland horticulture team trims the “beards” of the trees whenever the aerial roots that naturally grow downward from the branches get too long.
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“They’re just stalwarts,” Elrod said. “They’re just bankable and reliable.”