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Tree of Life—It's Tough to Be a Bug! Review

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Tree of Life—It's Tough to Be a Bug!

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Category: Amusement Parks
Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom

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Fodor's Review:

Duration: 20 min.

Crowds: Moderate to heavy.

Strategy: Get a Fastpass reservation after you've been on Kilimanjaro Safaris. If the line is 40 min or less, however, save your Fastpass for another ride, such as DINOSAUR, and get into the regular line that meanders along the Discovery Island Trails. As you stroll the winding trail around the Tree of Life, it's fun to spot animals like ring-tailed lemurs, Galapagos tortoises, and red kangaroos in their habitats and to see how many of the creature carvings you can find on the trunk, branches, and roots of the mammoth icon.

Audience: All ages, but the show is very loud and some effects will frighten children under 8. There's often at least one screaming toddler during the show.

Rating: ***

A monument to all earth's creatures, the park's centerpiece is an imposing 14 stories high and 50 feet wide at its base. Its 100,000-plus leaves are several shades of green fabric, each carefully placed for a realistic effect. Carved into its thick trunk, gnarled roots, and soaring branches—some of which are supported by joints that allow them to sway in a strong wind—are nearly 350 intricate animal forms that include a baboon, a whale, a horse, the mighty lion, and even an ankylosaurus. Outside, paths tunnel underneath the roots as the fauna-encrusted trunk towers overhead. It's a rich and truly fascinating sight—the more you look the more you see. The path leads you inside the tree trunk to the star attraction of Discovery Island, where you get a bug's-eye view of life. The whimsical 3-D film adventure It's Tough to Be a Bug! is modeled vaguely on the animated film A Bug's Life from Disney-Pixar, the creators of Toy Story. Special film and theater effects spray you with "poison," zap you with a swatter, and even poke you with a stinger. It's all in good fun—and the surprise ending is too playful to give away.

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