Landscaping has been an essential part of the appeal of Disney’s theme parks since the opening day of Disneyland back in 1955. Morgan “Bill” Evans’ work on that park ensured that plants became as much a part of theming on rides such as the Jungle Cruise as characters and Cast Members – if not more so, in some cases. The same philosophy was applied at Walt Disney World – but it was a huge challenge. The resort sits on 25,000 acres of what was essentially swampland, and all plantlife has to deal with the hot, humid Florida climate and a host of hungry insects. Disney established a huge nursery and tree farm, and experimented with different plant species until it found ones that looked appropriate and were capable of thriving. Nowadays, some 4,000 acres are landscaped across the resort’s theme parks, hotels, golf courses and other public areas. An army of more than 600 Cast Members is responsible for maintaining this acreage, and carries out a wide range of tasks to do just that. Let’s take a look at what these unsung heroes of Walt Disney World get up to…
12. Planting species from all over the world
The first, and most obvious task, for the horticulture Cast Members is to plant and re-plant millions of plants every single year. The team plants around three million bedding plants annually across 300,000 square feet of flowerbeds, as well as tending to 175,000 trees and more than four million shrubs. There are 13,000 rose bushes alone at the resort. 3,000 species of plants representing flora gathered from all over the United States and more than 50 foreign countries can be found at the resort. To help them acclimatize to the Florida heat, Disney often brings them in literally yearsin advance of when they are needed, keeping them at the nursery and tree farm until such time as they are ready to be placed “on stage”.
11. Creating topiaries
A team of around 30 Cast Members staffs the nursery, which produces more than 4,000 hanging baskets every year. It also produces the topiaries that add to the theme of the various theme parks and resorts, which can be found in more than 200 designs. There are three main types of topiary on show at Walt Disney World – geometrical, shrub character and spagnum moss character. The geometrical topiaries are the simplest design, and involve pruning a shrub into a pattern. The character topiaries are much more complicated. In both cases, a Disney artist must create a sculpture for the figure, with an artist welder then creating a “skeleton” out of steel. For shrub topiaries, the steel skeleton is then placed over a small plant in a large box, which is allowed to grow and is eventually “trained” into the shape of the frame. Fast-growing, evergreen plants are needed for this type of topiary, and can take anywhere from five to 15 years to mature. Sphagnum moss topiaries can be produced much more quickly. The steel frame is stuffed with un-milled sphagnum moss, with vines or clumping plants being planted in the moss. As the vines grow, they are secured to the moss-filled frame by hair pins. A character topiary can be created in this way within mere weeks.
10. Carrying out daily (and nightly) maintenance
Horticulture Cast Members at Walt Disney World are up bright and early, allowing them to carry out maintenance tasks by the time guests arrive (in some cases, night work is necessary). Every day, they weed gardens, chop dead heads off flowers and replace withering flowers with new ones. According to one former Cast Member, grass is even literally paintedgreen where it has browned due to weather stress! When a change is demanded or a special project is required, the Cast Members can work through the night to completely transform a garden from one day to the next.
9. Clearing up hurricane damage
Image: CKramer, Flickr (license)
Hurricanes are a fact of life in Central Florida, and can do extensive damage to the carefully-crafted landscaping at Walt Disney World. This can include flooding, as well plants being pulled out the ground and deposited elsewhere. Typically, the horticulture crews are able to repair most of the visible damage within days (with lots of overtime required), although backstage work can continue for much longer.
8. Mowing the lawn
There are 2,000 acres of turf at Walt Disney World, and all of its gets mowed at least twice a week. This requires an astonishing 450,000 mowing miles every year to keep the grass in shape. That’s the equivalent of 18 trips around the Earth at the equator
7. Setting the scene
The landscaping sets the scene in every area of Walt Disney World’s theme parks. Nowhere is this more true than at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, with its overarching nature-based theme. In DinoLand USA, for example, the various plants showcase some of the oldest genera of plants on the planet. Ferns and early angiosperms are used to help set the scene, as well as telling a hidden story of how plants evolved. To recreate the lowlands surrounding Mount Everest for Expedition Everest’s Forbidden Mountain, more than 900 bamboo plants, 10 species of trees and 110 species of shrubs were planted. In total, around 2.5 million individual grass plants and 100,000 trees were planted during the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. That includes the largest collection of flowering trees in North America, the largest collection of African species outside of Africa and the third largest cycad collection in the United States.
6. Watering the plants
Given the enormous number of plants at Walt Disney World, effective irrigation is essential. Some 65,000 sprinkler heads and 2,000 miles of water pipes help to keep the plantlife watered, with much of the required water coming from an on-site water treatment facility. Elsewhere, a huge composting facility mixes waterwater biosolids, wooden pallets and trash wood products, along with food waste from the resort’s many restaurants. The resulting compost is used to fertilize the resort’s grounds.
5. Protecting local plantlife
Given the huge number of foreign species that Disney has introduced to its Florida resort, there’s a danger that these alien species could “escape” and start competing with native plantlife. Disney’s teams constantly monitor things to ensure that non-native species remain within the designed landscape, and the company also participates in efforts to remove invasive exotic plants from Walt Disney World and surrounding natural areas.
4. Managing unwanted guests
Image: Gilles San Martin
Insects such as aphids, mealybugs and whitefly can wreak havoc on plantlife. Disney has two main ways of combating this. The first of these is careful use of insecticidal soap and other chemicals and pesticides to help keep populations down. The second is through the controlled release of millions of “good” insects that devour the bad ones. We took a look at these “hidden Cast Members” in this recent article. Similar approaches are used to control other pests – including ones, such as mosquitoes, that prey on guests themselves.
3. Creating edible landscapes
With the creation of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the role of the horticulture team became even more important. Now, many of the plants didn’t have to simply look good. They had to taste good, too, for the benefit of the animals wandering the park’s enormous “African” savanna and other enclosures. In some cases, the themed landscapes were planted at least a year or as many as two to three years before animals were introduced. Naturally, many African species are present, but there are also “look-alike” species that are designed to ape African plants in cases where it wasn’t practical to bring them to Florida. The animals that roam around the savannas are browsers and grazers, and the landscape provides plenty of options for tem to chew on. Cast Members have to constantly add plants to the savannas to replace those that have been gobbled and to keep the animals interested. Disney also “cheats” by introducing thousands of pounds of pre-cut leaves every week, to discourage the animals from devouring allof its pretty plants.
2. Feeding the guests
It’s not just the animal residents of Disney’s Animal Kingdom that are fed by the work of Cast Members. The plants in Epcot’s The Land Pavilion are not just for show. More than 30 tons of fruits and vegetables grown in the pavilion are served at Walt Disney World restaurants every year, including lettuce, cucumbers and peppers.
1. Setting up a festival
One of the highlights of the annual calendar for members of the horticulture team is the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival – one of the largest outdoor flower festivals in the world. Cast Members produce dozens of floral and topiary displays in advance of the event, and also participate in workshops and presentations. The team are also involved in another major Epcot event, the Food & Wine Festival, for which they grow specialty herbs for use in demonstrations by chefs.
