Incredible planting of over 200 Caryota obtusa at Disney's Animal Kingdom-Pandora

[Eric in Orlando]

Last week I got an early morning tour of the landscape at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is in the new 14 acre Pandora section. It is based on the Avatar movie. They have done a spectacular job with the landscaping using many, many unusual and odd plants. They have also added "fake" alien plants and the blend is seamless. The detail of this park is just incredible. I will post other pics in a separate thread. This section of Animal Kingdom just opened up in the last month.

One of the main plants that have used is Caryota obtusa. They have planted over 200 specimens in this area. In another year when they have grown out from the transplanting it will be awesome.

One of the best groupings is next to the water fall where they have underplanted them with Cyathea cooperi, what a great combination.

 

[Eric in Orlando]

[Eric in Orlando]

[Eric in Orlando]

[Eric in Orlando]

[Matthew92]

Awesome! I think I saw a mule in there on the 5th picture.

[Kim]

That looks pretty awesome!  I guess they know what they are doing. I mean, that the palms are monocarpic. They must have the maintenance issues all in the budget.

[sur4z]

... are there any giant blue people walking around or flying jelly fish?

[Reeverse]

That is cool that you got the tour. Did you get to check out Volcano bay yet?

[Ben in Norcal]

I'm with Kim.  That's going to be one hell of a PITA when they all start seeding.  I actually wonder if they DO know what they are doing?

[Jeff Searle]

I agree, what landscape architect thought this was a good idea. The 'look" will disappear after several years when they all start dying.

Eric, do you have any idea where all these came from?

[RedRabbit]

Woah, very cool! Thanks for sharing!

[fiji jim]

They should grow much taller than that before they start to flower. Then the ripening of fruits takes some years as the palm declines. I have a much bigger specimen here of more than 10 years old and it has not yet looked like flowering. So they may be good for a long while yet.

With their experience I would think that they have  planted them in locations where they can latter be felled without major damage.

[kinzyjr]

Eric, you do a wonderful job of sharing the sights of the city.  The state legislature needs to share some of that sales tax revenue with you for your advertising efforts.

[Eric in Orlando]

Yes, they know they have a finite life span. Disneys arborists are top notch and they can remove something one day and the next you never knew it was there. There are younger specimens and taller older ones so they won't all go at the same time. There are some other specimens in Animal Kingdom in the Asian forest area that have been there since 1998 when AK opened. Nothing is done without tons of planning at Disney.

I'm not sure where they got them. They planted other interesting palms, cycads, pandans, Ficus, Pachypodium, etc there. They also planted maybe a dozen 30ft Bismarckia too.

[Eric in Orlando]

15 hours ago, Reeverse said:

That is cool that you got the tour. Did you get to check out Volcano bay yet?

Haven't been there yet but need to get a tour of there. Interesting they planted lots of tall coconuts.

[Eric in Orlando]

18 hours ago, Kim said:

That looks pretty awesome!  I guess they know what they are doing. I mean, that the palms are monocarpic. They must have the maintenance issues all in the budget.

If Disney built it they have all the issues covered. They run a tight efficient ship and the Horticulture Dept is no different.

[Eric in Orlando]

11 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

Eric, you do a wonderful job of sharing the sights of the city.  The state legislature needs to share some of that sales tax revenue with you for your advertising efforts.

Hahahaa! They dont want to spend it wisely. Its government and "other peoples money" . When has that ever worked?

[Palmaceae]

49 minutes ago, Eric in Orlando said:

If Disney built it they have all the issues covered. They run a tight efficient ship and the Horticulture Dept is no different.

I worked in the horticulture department at Disney for 6 years in the '90s and yes it is very efficient. The parks have a lot of money so even though these palms will not be permanent, it does not matter as they have the money and the means to replace without a second thought.

[sur4z]

7 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

If Disney built it they have all the issues covered. They run a tight efficient ship and the Horticulture Dept is no different.

...but not too tight a ship when it comes to alligators

[topwater]

I've never been a big Caryota fan, but this looks great!  Thanks for posting. 

[cagary]

There is no doubt that these Caryota have an interesting look, but the question remains, why plant a monocarpic palm that has a somewhat limited life span? It would seem that there are numerous other palms that would also give the park an exotic look, but live significantly longer.

Maybe they were "on sale"?

[rprimbs]

I think that the Caryota are cool -- and will even look pretty cool when they start to fruit and have the huge inflorescence hanging down.  Com'on you guys -- it's "Avatar"!  How long do you think that is going to last?  If it lasts long enough for the Caryota to die, then they will probably make changes anyway, and the Caryota look great now.

[Kim]

3 hours ago, cagary said:

There is no doubt that these Caryota have an interesting look, but the question remains, why plant a monocarpic palm that has a somewhat limited life span? It would seem that there are numerous other palms that would also give the park an exotic look, but live significantly longer.

Maybe they were "on sale"?

Just my opinion, but Caryota obtusa really brings the futuristic or prehistoric vibe to life.  Nothing else like it, and if they have the budget, why not make some nursery happy?  I think the concern about monocarpic palms is a red herring, myself.  If you plan for it budget-wise, no big deal.  Much longer lived than most annuals, hey? And what is Disney's budget for annuals? Probably pretty magnificent, I'd suppose.

[DoomsDave]

Slapping self.

Not a big fan of Disney.

But if they want to use palms, mono- or not, best to them.

[Dave-Vero]

Eric really is a good publicist for Florida.  

As he notes, the Caryotas can be replaced from time to time.   Universal's new Volcano Bay also has huge numbers of newly planted palms, so I'll have to take my chubby self over there sometime this fall, though I doubt they'll have many interesting ones.  Pandora looks like quite the concoction.  I'd like to see Disney hire some genuinely creative people to redo the ghastly boring US building at EPCOT.  

While visiting New Zealand, I jokingly suggested repackaging a nice guidebook to the country's trees as a guide to Pandora.  Their forests really do look interplanetary.

 

[edric]

Great job Eric, Ed

[Eric in Orlando]

Caryota obtusa is about the most exotic and unusual looking large palm that will grow here that doesn't look "palmy". This is supposed to be a forest on the moon of an alien plant. They did not use many palmy looking palms in here. To 99% of the visitors Caryota obtusa doesn't look like a "normal" palm. So for right now and in the next year it is instant impact. This place is instantly popular. The rides often have 3-4 hour waits. There is at least 4 more Avatar movies being released so it will remain popular. Some of these palms will remain for many years. At Universal's Islands of Adventure they planted Caryota obtusa and Caryota maxima (Himalayan form) at the entrance walk when it opened in 1999. The C. maxima have since flowered, died and been removed but several of the C. obtusa are still there and are massive and look incredible. People stop and look at them.

[Eric in Orlando]

7 hours ago, Dave-Vero said:

Eric really is a good publicist for Florida.  

As he notes, the Caryotas can be replaced from time to time.   Universal's new Volcano Bay also has huge numbers of newly planted palms, so I'll have to take my chubby self over there sometime this fall, though I doubt they'll have many interesting ones.  Pandora looks like quite the concoction.  I'd like to see Disney hire some genuinely creative people to redo the ghastly boring US building at EPCOT.  

While visiting New Zealand, I jokingly suggested repackaging a nice guidebook to the country's trees as a guide to Pandora.  Their forests really do look interplanetary.

 

They did plant a bunch of taller Cocos and Wodyetia that are visible from I-4. I think they did use Livistona decora too. Probably some Bismarckia. I'm curious what other palms were used.

[Eric in Orlando]

At Pandora other palms I saw used were Kerriodoxa elegans, Allagoptera arenaria, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, Dypsis decaryi, Bismarckia nobilis, Arenga engleri, Arenga tremula, Wodyetia bifurcata, Livistona chinensis, Livistona decora, and X Butyagrus. I'm going to post those pics in another post.

[Missi]

2 hours ago, Eric in Orlando said:

At Pandora other palms I saw used were Kerriodoxa elegans, Allagoptera arenaria, Chambeyronia macrocarpa, Dypsis decaryi, Bismarckia nobilis, Arenga engleri, Arenga tremula, Wodyetia bifurcata, Livistona chinensis, Livistona decora, and X Butyagrus. I'm going to post those pics in another post.

K. elegans photos next time you're there, pretty please!  I'd love to see how they used D. decaryi as well!

[DoomsDave]

That is imaginative, indeed.

I'll bet some D. leptocheilos, or even better lastelliana or "tri bear" hybrids would also give an otherworldly look, with pretty colors.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

Looks great!   I've never been a fan of Caryota much either, but I do think they are amazingly beautiful trees in their own right.  Not terribly palmy, but definitely unlike almost any other tree on earth for sure!  Thanks for the photos and the post! 

[jardinierpalmiertrat]

Amazing!! Wonderful !!!!!!!

[Cindy Adair]

Those do really add to the scene. Thanks for showing us Eric!