Man I can't even remember when England had trees like that. You would think a park so stuck on being the most beautiful would have kept them, unless there was something that caused them to die or have to be removed like a tree disease or natural disaster that killed them, like the one tree by the Festa train station.
I hope it does. I can't think of a reason that it should be closed off. In fact, you can see the closing in google maps.
WHY would you close off a straight, basic path with no apparent staff-only area? It doesn't make sense.
As far as the lost trees, I don't remember them to be honest, and I think it is kind of nice to be able to see the beautiful architecture form Globe Theater.
It was closed because when they opened it back in 2009, profits for all those gift shops on the other path plummeted because less people were going in that direction.
Also, team members would have to balance their trays to get across the pathway with their lunch. It'd be much harder if guests were allowed back there However, they do use that space when the line for the sky ride gets ridiculously long for Christmas Town. There have been other straight paths in the park that had only been opened on capacity days, like the one in Rhinefeld, and there used to be one in Oktoberfest until they opened the entire pathway up.