Speculation: Could Disney Park’s Treehouse Get a New Adventurous Theme?

There is a rumor going around that a beloved Disneyland Park attraction, Tarzan’s Treehouse, will see new life NOT as a permanent Park installation of Disney’s Encanto but as an attraction overtly themed after Disney’s Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.). Let’s look at the possibility of this happening.

Related: Disneyland President Discusses Treehouse Plans

It was just a week before this article’s publication that attendees of the 2022 D23 Expo learned that Walt Disney Imagineers were working on “Blue Sky” projects that would further expand The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Included in those potential plans was a permanent area for La Familia Madrigal and the enchanted world of Disney’s Encanto. This came as a bit of a shock to many in attendance because the general consensus among Disney Fanatics was that the potential Encanto attraction was going to be added to Disneyland Park in California, and it was thought by some that Disneyland’s Tarzan Treehouse was the preferred attraction to sacrifice to the Theme Park “Plussers” insistent on humoring rabid fans that would not even make an effort to go see their new favorite movie in theaters. But I digress. Now that the fabled Encanto Park addition is supposedly accounted for, one has to wonder what are the true plans for the Adventureland landmark. The new rumor says that the retheme will have something to do with S.E.A

Related: OpEd: Encanto’s Casita Should Replace the Swiss Family Treehouse

What is S.E.A.?

Founded on August 12, 1538, in Porto Paradiso, The Society of Explorers and Adventurers is a rather niche subnarrative of the Disney Parks Universe. It has never been given serious cinematic or television time, but the idea of an elite group of Disney adventurers has taken many fans by storm. So much so, in fact, that there was an entire panel dedicated to S.E.A. at the latest D23 Expo. Hints of the Society can be found all across the Disney Theme Parks, but its greatest overt presence can be found at Tokyo DisneySea. Its membership includes some iconic original Disney Parks Characters like Jungle Navigation Company Founder Dr. Albert Falls, Big Thunder Mountain Mining Company Founder Barnabas T. Bullion, Lord Henry Mystic of Hong Kong Disneyland’s Mystic Manor, and Captain Mary Oceaneer of the Oceaneer Club found aboard Disney Cruise Line. It also used to welcome the now-disgraced member Harrison Hightower III, the man behind Tokyo Disney’s version of Tower of Terror. They even used to use the Enchanted Tiki Room as a meeting spot. The mythos has also grown to include real-life explorers and adventurers like President Theodore Roosevelt.

Its mission statement reads as the following:

“The mission of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers is to collect, conserve, and curate valuable cultural and artistic artifacts from around the world and make them available to the public in an artistically pleasing and sensitive manner. It is furthermore the mission of the organization to equip and mount socio-cultural expeditions to discover, explore, chronicle and protect the artistic achievements of human society, past and present, exalted and forgotten.”―S.E.A. Mission Statement found at Oceaneer Lab and Mystic Manor

While there are nods to S.E.A. built into the latest refurbishment of Jungle Cruise, the Treehouse would be the first official S.E.A. exhibit in Disneyland Park and could suggest that Disney is finally exploring the potential of this growing franchise. And the best part? Much of the current Treehouse could actually stay the same!

S.E.A Addition Could Salvage Tarzan Theme!

Adding the Society of Explorers and Adventurers to Disneyland’s Treehouse actually allows Imagineers to keep it as Tarzan’s Treehouse. Because how could the Society NOT include Jane Porter and her father, Professor Archimedes Q. Porter, in their membership? While their security detail, Clayton, had other plans, the Porters’ approach to exploration aligns perfectly with S.E.A. It would also make sense that if S.E.A. had any foothold into the African jungle, it would be by utilizing the treehouse (with Tarzan’s blessing, of course). Such an addition could be the perfect compromise that allows Disney’s Tarzan to retain its Disney Park presence while also providing something new and fresh for Disneyland Guests.

But, there is no official word, at this time, what retheme plans are in store for the Disneyland Treehouse. So, we at Disney Fanatic will stay on the alert, and we will update our readers as more Disney Parks news and stories come to light.