The attraction is centered on a large treehouse based on the 1960 Disney film Swiss Family Robinson.

[5] At 70 feet (21 m) tall and 80 ft (24 m) wide, constructed of concrete and reinforced steel, the attraction weighed 150 short tons (140 t).

"[6] John Mills, who played Father Robinson in the movie, and his daughter Hayley appeared at the attraction's opening.

[7] The attraction was a walk-through rather than a ride, in which visitors walked up 68 steps in the trunk of the tree through various "rooms" designed on the theme of the movie, with items and structures made to appear salvaged from a 19th-century shipwreck and desert island finds.

When the Magic Kingdom opened at Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1971, the Swiss Family Treehouse was one of the original attractions of Adventureland.