Only the bottom section is hinged. The top section just bends down. This tree is not full at all. Only the ends of the branches have needles. The needles do not look realistic at all. The lights are strung in such a way that you cannot really separate out the branches because the lights go in between and not down the branch and then back up. The different light patterns are cool. I'm not going to return it because I don't want to pay return shipping. I used a gift card from points, so essentially got it for free. My daughter loves it for her room.