Living with the Land

Living with the Land is a 14-minute boat ride in Future World at Epcot theme park that explores agricultural advances in the rain forest, Africa and beyond. It is a slow-moving boat ride, which is part dark ride and part greenhouse tour. The focus of the ride is on agriculture, especially new technology to make agriculture more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Set sail on a voyage of discovery through living laboratories as you cruise past the American plains, a tropical rain forest and the African desert to witness the latest developments in aquaculture and desert farming. Float by experimental greenhouses where produce is grown for Epcot restaurants and take a fascinating first-hand look at an aqua environment, the Aquacell, with alligators and fish. The greenhouses grow crops native to many cultures, including rice, sugar cane and bananas. This thought-provoking ride will leave you amazed at the wondrous ways scientists are helping farmers prepare for the food needs of our world's nations.

The Ride

The dark-ride portion of the attraction opens with a scene of a deciduous forest in the middle of a thunderstorm, illustrating how the forces that shape the land can appear destructive to us. The boat then sails through artificial biomes representing a tropical rainforest, a desert and the American prairie. Some of the Audio-Animatronic figures in this section were originally created for the never-built Magic Kingdom attraction, Western River Expedition. The biomes feature sound and lighting effects, in addition to heat, wind and mist, to simulate real conditions. The boats float through a small theater that illustrates the relationship between humans and the environment, and the ways that we have been modifying the land to better serve our purposes.

The second part of the attraction takes place in The Land's "Living Laboratory", which showcases ideas about the future of agriculture. All of the plants in this section are grown through various methods of hydroponics. Plants are grown in sand, perlite, coconut coir and rockwool.

There are five distinct areas of the "living laboratory", which are:

• Tropics Greenhouse - This greenhouse features crops from the tropical areas of the world, including both familiar and exotic foods. Plants on display include banana, cacao, jackfruit, peach palm, dragonfruit, vanilla, cleome, pineapple, java apple and papaya.
• Aquacell - This section focuses on aquaculture, or "fish farming." It includes several high-density tanks and a few low-density display tanks and tubes. Animals on display include Tilapia, Sturgeon, Catfish, Bass, American Alligator, and shrimp. Some of the fish harvested from the Aquacell are served in the Coral Reef Restaurant in The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion.
• Temperate Greenhouse (formerly the Desert Greenhouse) - A greenhouse featuring crops from temperate climates. Currently, the Temperate house showcases large-sized crops, such as Prizewinner and Atlantic Giant pumpkins, winter melon, pomelo, and "Nine-pound Lemon." Other crops include sunflower, beets, turnip, cotton, millet and cassabanana.
• String Greenhouse (formerly the Production Greenhouse) - This greenhouse focuses on innovative high-density techniques, such as Nutrient film technique. It also shows off "vertical growing techniques", in which plants are grown on specialized trellises which cause the herbaceous plants to approximate the shape and structure of trees. One of the most famous examples of these trees is The Land's "tomato tree", which produced over 32,000 tomatoes in a 16-month period. It was recognized by Guinness World Records as both the largest and most productive tomato plant in the world. Other crops include eggplant, peppers, winged bean, lettuce and snake gourd. Furthermore, cucumbers and pumpkins are grown in the shape of Mickey Mouse through the use of special molds. Much of the produce grown in the String Greenhouse is used in The Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons, both restaurants in The Land pavilion. In total, over 30 tons of produce are harvested from The Land each year.
• Creative Greenhouse - The final greenhouse in the attraction shows some unusual ideas about the future of agriculture. Most of the plants in Creative House are grown via Aeroponics, in which a fine mist of water and nutrients is sprayed directly onto the roots of the plants. The roots dangle freely in the air, and are not hindered by any growing medium. Some of the plants' roots in Creative House are enclosed within rotating columns and A-frame structures, while others are completely exposed to the open air, at least temporarily, so the entire plant may be viewed by the Guests on the boat ride. Creative House also features a small exhibit of NASA hydroponic growing units, which were developed for use on extended-length space journeys. Crops on display include tomato, squash, lettuce, basil, rosemary, cabbage, super-dwarf wheat, swiss chard, marigold and snapdragon.

Additionally, the Living Laboratory contains:

• Biotechnology Lab - Attached to the Creative Greenhouse, the Biotechnology Lab is a sterile research environment. Several USDA scientists are on-site at The Land, performing research on crop improvement. The Land also produces a product called "Mickey's Mini Gardens" in the Biotechnology Lab, which are available for purchase in several locations in Epcot.
• Integrated Pest Management Lab - An Entomology laboratory that raises beneficial insects for use in The Land and all over Walt Disney World property. It is not visible on the Living with the Land boat ride, but is visited during the Behind the Seeds backstage tour. Insects raised here include tiny, stingless parasitoid wasps and ladybugs.

Touring Tips

• This popular attraction is geared more towards adults, but littler guests will also find it entertaining.
• The best time to go is before 10:30 a.m. or after 5 p.m., or use Fastpass if available.
• Flash photography not allowed.

Facts

• Sponsored by Kraft (1982-1993, as Listen to the Land), Nestle (1993-2007), Chiquita Brands International (2011-Present).

History

Living with the Land is an updated version of a previous attraction, Listen to the Land. Very little was changed between the two versions of the attraction. The opening scene, the "Symphony of the Seed", which provided a stylized look at the growth of a plant, was replaced by the opening storm scene. Also, the Biotechnology lab was relocated from the exit tunnel to the Creative Greenhouse. The Integrated Pest Management Lab is now housed in the space formerly occupied by the Biotechnology Lab. The ride has been updated to use an automated guide, not a cast-member.

Timeline

• October 1, 1982 - Listen to the Land opens
• September 27, 1993 - Listen to the Land closes, original opening scene, song, and ending are removed
• December 10, 1993 - Living with the Land re-opens with new "thunderstorm" opening scene, musical score, & ending
• 2004 - FASTPASS option addition
• August 20, 2006 - Cast Members no longer narrate the second portion of the ride. Instead an automatic audio spiel featuring the voice of Mike Brassell (also the narrator for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority at the Magic Kingdom as of October 2009) plays at each greenhouse scene, activated by RFID tags attached to the flume wall. The spiel is updated periodically as the greenhouses are replanted
• August 2, 2009 - Closed for Refurbishment, new exit unload safety bar added. New boats were ordered for the attraction but they were the wrong size and did not fit into the flume
• October 4, 2009 - Living with the Land re-opens again
• January 2010 - Living with the Land closes to change load area, dispatch console, and add the 6 new ADA boats and the 12 new ten row boats. Also to repaint certain show scenes and reactivate the rainforest's rain scene
• February 2010 - Living with the Land re-opens

Hidden Mickeys

• When waiting in line for the ride, if you look at the picture with bubbles you can see that 3 bubbles that are together form a perfect Mickey head. In the first mural you come to in the queue for the "Celebrate the Land" boat ride. There is a row of vertical bubbles. Half way up the row three bubbles form a Hidden Mickey turned about 35 degrees.
• There is a Hidden Mickey in the Family Farm Scene. The clouds all the way to the right of the scene form an outline of Mickey's head.
• In the film montage after farm scene, there are Mickeys on the nametags of the greenhouse technicians in one of the pictures.
• Towards the end, the boat passes what appears to be a laboratory. There is a machine which contains vials for testing. Some of the vial stoppers are green. The green ones make an outline of Mickey's head.