Changes

Like the other Disney parks, Imagineers knew that Disney's Animal Kingdom would need a "weenie" or icon to draw guests into the park. The first icon considered for the park was the Animal Carousel <ref name= "book"/>. This three tiered structure would have featured birds, animals and fish that guests could ride on , as they went around the carousel. Michael Eisner eventually rejected this idea because he though it was "too frivolous"<ref name= "book"/>., and Imagineers came up with a new icon- The Tree of Life.

Initially, Imagineers had a tough time figuring out how to create the massive icon <ref name= "tree"> http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2012/06/tree_of_life_at_disneys_animal.html </ref>. The tree had to look authentic, while being able to withstand hurricane level winds<ref name= "tree"/> . On top of that, the tree would also have to house the attraction [[It's Tough to be a Bug!]] (the attraction show was chosen over an earlier idea of having a restaurant inside the treeicon) <ref name= "tree"/>. Eventually however, Imagineers came up with a fairly simple solution. First, they took the structure of an oil rig for the base<ref name= "tree"/>. Next, 45 secondary branches were then added to the tree, followed by 756 tertiary branches and finally 891 end branches. The Tree tree was then covered with 102,583 man-made leaves. After the structure was complete, 20 artisans carved over 300 animals into the treestructure's branches and trunk<ref name= "tree"/>. When the Tree of Life was completed, it stood 145 feet tall and looked as if the animals themselves were making up the tree's trunk<ref name= "tree"/>.