Magic Monday: Living with the Land

 

Today we take a look at Living with the Land. This is a great ride for the whole family. This ride was an opening day attraction at Epcot on October 1, 1982 – although at that time it was called Listen to the Land. This ride has undergone a few changes but remains predominantly the same ride that you could enjoy in 1982! Take a look at this educational (and fun!) ride at Epcot.

This slow and gentle boat ride is located on the lower level of the Land Pavilion. Climb aboard and experience many different landscapes through areas and time. You can see the dense rainforests to the dry prairies. As you enter each vignette the narrator explains what the landscape is and how it presented challenges to life but also how adaptation triumphed to create the landscapes that we see today. Your boat then heads through some large screens where you can take a glimpse of how environmentally and ecologically friendly agriculture is being accumulated and implemented all over the world.

Your boat then enters a greenhouse where you can see Disney innovation at work! Here you can see the latest technologies that Disney is using to aid further the study of agriculture. help your young people find their favorite fruits and vegetables: see if you can spot bananas, papayas, cacao beans (although they do look a little different than the standard chocolate that young people are accustomed to)! They can marvel at things that they might have never seen before like the Nine Pound Lemon tree or the strange looking dragonfruit! There are even tomato and pepper trees! Disney ingenuity has even brought about Mickey shaped pumpkins, see if you can find one. Moms and dads will be amazed at the future of agriculture as it is displayed in the greenhouses (and lots of kids will be too). You will see the latest innovations of helping to control waste while improving output. Here you will find things like hydroponics, nutrient film farming, and aeroponics. there’s also a portion of the greenhouse dedicated to aquaculture where you will see catfish, alligators and even some shrimp.

Once your little sprouts are older, consider the Behind the Seeds tour, an in-depth look at the farming techniques used in the greenhouses. when you are done with your ride, consider heading over to the food court, Sunshine Grill or making a reservation at The Garden Grill. The whole family can be amazed that the fruits and vegetables that you are snacking on were (mostly) grown right next door in the greenhouses!