All paths from The Oasis lead to the same place - Discovery Island and its centerpiece, the fourteen story high Tree Of Life. Be sure to observe the intricate detail of the more than 325 animals that have been carved into the bark of this impressive park icon. Like Cinderella’s Castle in The Magic Kingdom, this incredible Orlando vacation landmark serves as the center of the park, with paths leading away from the tree like spokes on a wheel to the other sections of Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Before rushing into this area’s immensely popular 3-D show, be sure to take some time to venture down the Discovery Island Trails, where a variety of small exotic animals including Capybaras (the world’s largest rodents), Asian Small-Clawed Otters, Red Kangaroos and European Polecats can be found. These trails are also home to a variety of exotic birds such as the East African Crowned Crane, White-Faced Whistling Duck, Wooly-Necked Stork and Blue and Yellow Macaw.

It’s Tough To Be A Bug!: This 4-D movie (you feel things in addition to the 3-D effects) features popular stars of Disney’s A Bug’s Life and is perhaps the most lauded movie of it’s kind in all of Walt Disney World. Join Flik, Princess Atta and Hopper as you and all of the other theatergoers are made honorary insects for the show. During this action-packed adventure, Orlando vacationers will learn some of the many hardships that bugs face every day and they may even gain a little bit of empathy for the creepy crawly critters of the world.

The show’s entrance is inside of the Tree of Life and the queue for it winds around the tree. This is an excellent opportunity for people to take some great Orlando vacation photos and check out the incredibly detailed carvings on the tree before descending down into the ground, where the 430 seat theater is located.

WARNING: This highly popular Orlando vacation attraction for which a FastPass is available is not for everyone. Parents are strongly warned by a multitude of signs that It’s Tough To Be A Bug! at Disney’s Animal Kingdom can be very frightening to children and even some adults that have a distinct fear of insects.

Did You Know?

• There are a number of humorous marquee signs that parody famous movies hanging on the walls of the pre-show area at the It’s Tough To Be A Bug! attraction. These include ‘Web Side Story,” “My Fair Ladybug,” “Beauty and the Bee” and “A Cockroach Line.”
   
• There are more than 100,000 leaves on the Tree of Life and it’s trunk is over fifty feet across. Twenty different sculptors are responsible for the intricate carvings on the tree, which took 18 months to construct.