ANAHEIM – The animals in Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise may not be real. But the jungle is.

Since the ride opened in 1955, the land around the ride’s river has transformed into its own ecosystem.

Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares clears excess foliage from the Jungle Cruise's artificial shoreline.

A colorful bromeliad plant lines the lush waterways of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland in the spring.

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Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares pilots a boat through the attraction during an early morning plant quality inspection.

Disneyland arborists scale the trees to trim away excess foliage from the Jungle Cruise's tree canopy that is as tall as 100 feet in places.

Disneyland arborist Ricardo Rodriguez ties his tools to a line before scaling one of the many tall trees at the Jungle Cruise attraction. The trees are pruned during the late winter months of February and March.



Disneyland arborists clear excess foliage from the Jungle Cruise's main waterway. They clear the foliage, yet leave much of the leaves on the ground to provide natural nutrients just like in a real jungle.

Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares romps amidst bromeliad plants at Jungle Cruise. Disneyland horticultural experts have determined that the plant life in the Jungle Cruise, much of which was originally planted in advance of the park's grand opening in June of 1955, has become its own mini-environment with its own unique challenges and issues.

Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares talks about the art of maintaining the Jungle Cruise ecosystem yet keeping the jungle from taking over the attraction and blocking the view of its many "inhabitants."

Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares examines ficus tree leaves along the Jungle Cruise's main waterway.

Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares tends to a bromeliad plant at the Jungle Cruise. Some of the plants and flowers now get their nutrients and water without being in the soil of the attraction, just like in a real jungle.



Disneyland Horticulturist Abel Cazares talks about the art of maintaining the Jungle Cruise's many colorful bromeliad plants.

Karen Hedges, the Disneyland Resort's Director of Horticulture and Landscaping, oversees the crews that take care of the flora and fauna of the Jungle Cruise. The plant life in the famed attraction has become its own mini-ecosystem over the years and now supports native jungle plants.

Bromeliads and toucans line Amazon stretch of the Disneyland Jungle Cruise waterway.

Disney workers have switched the plant makeup from mostly leftover orange trees from the the land’s previous owner to those more like a real jungle. And with the new plants, the land itself has turned into its own interactive environment.

“Now it has a large tree canopy made up of coral trees, ficus trees, some of the large palm trees and bamboo overhead,” said Karen Hedges, director of the Disneyland Resort’s Horticulture and Landscaping.

Hedges said the canopy is as high as 100 feet in some areas and the foliage is growing more like the plants do in real jungles.

“The plants actually keep the heat in from the day time and carries it through to night time,” Hedges said.

When the temperatures in Anaheim dip to freezing, that saves the plants from dying.

“It will stay a couple degrees warmer in here,” she said.

While the landscaping crews work in the jungle every day, they try to leave it alone except for pruning the higher trees, and making sure the plants do not interfere with the animatronic animals that guests see.

They even leave most of the fallen leaves on the ground to let the nutrients naturally return to the soil, just like in the jungles of the Amazon or Africa.

“The humidity has even attracted aerial roots from the ficus trees,” Hedges said.

And that humidity has also allowed flowering, native-jungle plants to blossom in a soil-less environment right above the visitors riding in the Jungle Cruise boats while listening to those famous wise-cracking skippers.