The old saying that “the grass is always greener on the other side” is now true… at least if the other side is looking over the fence at some grass at Disneyland. Walk around the Disneyland Resort and it is noticeable that the grass is much greener than most of Southern California in the middle of a drought. Disneyland has been replacing traditional turf with environmentally friendly artificial turf. The results really are quite lovely. The greener grass can be seen over the fence in the yard surrounding the Mickey floral planter at the entrance as guests are entering the Happiest Place on Earth! It was unveiled on September 2, right as the Halloween Time festivities began at the Disneyland Resort. It also was unveiled on one of the hottest weekends of the year at the Disneyland Resort, with temperatures hovering around triple digits.
That isn’t the only place where the grass has gotten greener, however. Artificial turf can now be found in the yard at Haunted Mansion, and many other locations throughout the Disneyland Resort. This is all part of an effort by Disneyland Resort to conserve water. Great efforts have been made to make the new artificial turf look as genuine as the real deal. The Disneyland Resort is utilizing eight different types of turf and gray, brown, and off-white blades are woven together to make it look as natural as possible.
One other area that has seen the conversion from real to artificial turf is the area around the Storybook Land letters. The switching to artificial turf will save an estimated 81,000 gallons of water a year Disneyland officials shared.
The process of the conversion to artificial grass was more involved than just replacing grass with artificial grass. The horticulture team at Disneyland worked with both event planning teams and Walt Disney Imagineering to make sure that the new turf would be compatible with the different activities and events that happen. This is because the new turf is harder to pull up or trench. This could be an issue when looking at events like the Candlelight Processional in December.
While there are many places that have seen traditional grass replaced with artificial grass, this isn’t true everywhere. Some places will still see some real grass placed. However, this is a grass that is chosen for its hardiness that is heat tolerant, and requires 50% less water.
The next time you take a walk around the Disneyland Resort, take a look at the grass and see how it really is greener. Not only is it greener, but it is also helping Disneyland not only be the Happiest Place on Earth but also one of the more environmentally friendly places as well!
