Does anyone have an update on the status of the nets that have been put up on the trails around the Tree of Life? If they are still up, are they coming down soon?
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Are the nets still up at the Tree of Life?
- Thread starter HM GhostHostess
- Start date
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
There was an update a couple days ago on DaMouse and the nets are still expanding into other areas. The nets look well done and do not appear to be temporary by the looks of them. I just hope that this is not forever, because it really looks like it is ruining all of the up close sight lines for taking pics of the tree from the trails.
DisDadEddie
Active Member
I think the nets will stay up until the tree is repaired. After that I wouldn't be surprised if they became a permanant fixture for guest safety.
VDisneyFan18
Active Member
i told my family that i would rather have a branch fall on me just as long as i have a clear view of the beautifully done tree
I looked at the update on the nets at DaMouse and it appears that they are constructing the net support beams out of regular wood. When Disney makes "themed" wood throughout the resort, it is usually is made out of concrete, fiberglass, etc. That regular wood is going to rot pretty soon because of all the rain and humidity in Florida. Also, it doesn't looked like the nets and support beams are set up in a very organized manner. Surely these are temporary, right?
menamechris
Well-Known Member
I was at AK this afternoon - and while the set-up looks like it could be permanent - the wood already looks warped from the weather. I think if they wanted these to be temporary, they would need a more solid, lasting fixture. These look like they may last through the year before they would have to be replaced. With that said - who knows if Disney is working to do just that...maybe these are temporary before they build something more permanent. Once again, we hear nothing from Disney - it would be nice to hear how they plan to proceed with this rather than leaving everyone guessing. If it's going to be permanent - they should just go ahead and say it so we can all complain, make a stink...and then we will get over it. But guest communication these days does not seem to be Disney's way...
From the looks of the netting and support beams, I don't think so. Each piece of the tree is extremely heavy. I would guess that if anything falls, someone will get hurt whether or not the nets are in place.
MarkTwain
Well-Known Member
Which makes me think that this is all just a showy attempt to convince guests/themselves/safety officials that the tree issue has been "dealt with", when in reality guest safety is largely as great a concern as it was before the netting was constructed, and will be until the tree receives a proper examination. If you ask me, Disney's rolling the dice that more of the tree's maintenance problems won't hurt guests.
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
So is there an issue with the tree? I think if something were to fall it would have happened a long time ago.
flynnibus
Premium Member
A branch did fall the other month.. which is what instigated Disney putting up the nets.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Possibly. But my guess is that Disney can check the larger branches for any defects, but that it is an impossiblity to do so for every small branch.
The stuff that came down some time ago wasn't all that big, I think? Like a foot long, or two. Enough to really hurt somebody, but undoable to check all over the tree.
I fear the nets may be permanent until there is a full near-rebuild of the tree branches. A branch that falls off once is a freak occurence - anything can happen, you can;t prevent against every act of God. But another branch falling off, again, is a lwayer's nightmare - you are now wittingly negligent for being aware of the danger.
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
Nets?!!!!!! A big Manmade structure like that loosing branches calls for some nets? I think more like close the area down and fix the issue. So the solution for theyre manmade Steal and concrete branches falling off the tree of life a Disney Park landmark is to set up some nets LOL. What is the Disney World company turning in to? That tree is inly 12-13 years old. So if a triangle falls off of Spaceship Earth are they going to put up nets and just let them fall?
Are there any updates on this issue? I am growing even more concerned about these nets.
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
The nets are there and do not expect them to move for quite a while. When the net supporting structure was installed it was a semi permanent to permanent installation. There must be some sort of concern about this happening again and apparently no good solution or Disney would not have spent the money to put such an elaborate netting structure in place.
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Imagine that! A maintenance issue...at AK, no less...that's resulted in a gigantic eyesore that sits with a lousy patch-job that TDO pretends doesn't even exist while they stall for time trying to think up the cheapest way to skirt actually fixing the problem! Who-da ever thunk it?!?! Oh, wait....
PhilharMagician
Well-Known Member
I would say quite the contrary. There was no cheap netting of structure put up. The support framing for the netting is well themed and for a quick fix they did a great job. The biggest issue is taking pictures of the ToL from the inner trails and there is no real effect on distant shots of the ToL.
Sounds like you may have a simple solution to the situation? Please share.
To me it sounds like quite a huge problem if they have to get into dismantling the tree to rebuild the branch ends then they will have to close down most of interior of Discovery Island and iTtbaB. Right now AK barely has enough attractions as it is and I think that they did the best thing possible at the current time. Hopefully the Avatar expansion stays on track and at some point they can close down EE and ToL for the repairs they need.
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Sure, I have a simple solution and I'm happy to share. Here goes...get ready for it.... Fix it. If something breaks, fix it. It's that simple. Do what it takes and fix it. Not rocket science. Close down what you have to and fix it. Is the park lacking? Perhaps but that's no excuse to not fix something that breaks or needs maintenance. If guests get mad, oh well. Their alternative is to get hurt by falling branches, miss out on the DI trails that aren't open (as I understand not all of them are open for exploration since the branch fell months ago), and/or not have the up-close, amazing experience of gazing up at the ToL.
TDO has a real issue with "if we build it, we won't need to maintain it". It's a sad reoccurring theme for them, actually. This is closely followed by their other nasty habit of "if it breaks we'll remove it and cite 'surveys say guests demand it' or pretend it's always been this way".
Not exactly sure where I expressed an issue with the cheapness or theming of whatever netting is in place.
Personally, I think whatever money was spent on netting might have been better directed towards funds to actually fix the problem. Let's face it, if a small branch or leaf falls the netting will be great. If a larger piece of a branch falls, well, netting (regardless of how sturdy it is) isn't going to do much of even breaking the fall. If I was at AK today you'd not see me walking under the nets or under the tree.