The Land Pavilion — Future World — EPCOT

INTRODUCTION

The Land Pavilion is an impressive pavilion that sprawls across six acres, houses two attractions and one film, has a unique character meal, and offers a tempting Quick Service food court.

Land Pavilion

ATTRACTIONS

Soarin’ Around the World

Soarin’ Around the World debuted June 17, 2016, after the successful run of the original Soarin’ Over California that ran from 2005. New technology, including the projectors and screens, enhances an already amazing experience. The only persistent flaw in the ride is the distortion of the film for riders on the far right and far left. From those vantage points, the famous sights on the screen appear to be curved.

Soarin’ Around the World

Soarin’ Around the World is a multi-sensory experience that takes riders to more than a dozen iconic places, including the Great Wall of China, Sydney Harbor in Australia, and the Matterhorn in Switzerland.

A third theater was also added in 2016, making for shorter wait times. The Play Disney Parks app helps to pass the time in line.

 

Living with the Land

Living with the Land, a gentle 14-minute boat ride through unique indoor plant-growing areas, is an unlikely favorite — but it’s beloved nonetheless.

Living with the Land

An introduction shows tropic, desert, and prairie biomes that existed before humans arrived. The automated narration explains all about the four greenhouses and the aquaculture facility.

 

The boat glides on into The Land’s experimental growing areas:

  • The Tropics Greenhouse – crops such as rice, sugar cane, peanuts, cacao, and bananas are usually grown under the 60-foot dome. These crops can be found in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and the southern United States.
  • The Aquacell – crops include fish, catfish, tilapia, sunshine bass and American eel.
  • The Temperate Greenhouse – featuring the concepts and technologies of sustainable agriculture, including intercropping, integrated pest management and specialized irrigation systems that reduce waste and increase crop production.
  • The Production Greenhouse – where tons of tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and other vegetables are grown for use in The Land’s Garden Grill Restaurant and other Epcot restaurants. Land scientists utilize growing systems that are kinder to the environment and improve productivity.
  • The Creative House, showing imaginative ways to grow crops — without soil, hanging in the air, even on a space station. USDA scientists currently are working at The Land to develop fruit with a longer shelf-life.

Awesome Planet

In January 2020, a new film opened in the Land Pavilion. Awesome Planet shares vibrant images of our planet and discusses the importance of balance in the Earth’s ecosystems.

Awesome Planet

Get more Epcot Attractions At A Glance here!

DINING

Garden Grill Restaurant

Garden Grill Restaurant is a unique, circular Table Service restaurant that actually rotates — slowly. As the restaurant glides around in a circle, you will be able to look out over the atrium of the Land Pavilion and also catch glimpses of scenes on Living with the Land. Garden Grill serves a character dinner with farmer Mickey, Chip ‘n’ Dale, and Pluto.

Garden Grill

Garden Grill character interactions tend to be terrific, with the characters often circling through the restaurant at least twice during your meal. They’ve even been known to take a seat with diners!

Sunshine Seasons

Sunshine Seasons is a food court with abundant seating. It features an open kitchen, five stations, and a centralized cashier.

Sunshine Seasons

The Grill Shop serves grilled and rotisserie proteins while the Soup and Salad Shop features fresh herbs and vegetables from the Living with the Land greenhouse. The Asian Noodle Shop offers noodle bowls and stir-fry. The Sandwich Shop and Bakery Shop offer up comforting and delicious options. We recommend at least checking out the specialty cupcakes at the Bakery Shop!

Festival of the Arts Cupcake

Character Meals
Epcot Restaurants At A Glance
Menus From Around the World
Vegetarian and Other Special Diets

ENTERTAINMENT

There is no special entertainment found in the Land Pavilion.

TOURING TIPS

Both Soarin’ and Living with the Land boat ride are FASTPASS+ attractions. Be prepared for long waits for Soarin’, although not as long as they were in the past before the addition of the third theater.

Living with the Land FastPass+

Living with the Land is a slow-loading, slow moving attraction. Lines will build about mid-morning and they don’t tend to lighten up until much later in the day. See this early in the morning or after dark.

Behind the Seeds Tour is a special guided walking tour of the Land Pavilion’s greenhouse. Land scientists or a member of the College Horticultural team meet groups of up to 12 throughout the day for a 60-minute tour of the growing areas and research labs.

Behind the Seeds Tour

You can ask questions and take a closer look at environmentally friendly technologies such as integrated pest management. You must sign-up for the tour at the Tour’s check-in desk on the pavilion’s ground floor. Arrive early since the tour typically books up before noon. Reservations can also be made up to one year in advance by calling (407) WDW TOUR. Note: Behind the Seeds pricing goes up to $29 per person ages 3+ in June 2020.

Hidden Mickey Sightings:

Living with the Land—three circles near bottom of mural directly across from loading area

Assistive Listening Devices from Guest Services Can Be Used in Awesome Planet.

Reflective Captioning Available for Awesome Planet.

KIDS AND CHARACTERS

Garden Grill restaurant has character breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Meet Chip ‘n’ Dale, Mickey, and Pluto. Mickey wears his Farmer Mickey outfit.

Epcot Characters At A Glance
Character Meet and Greet FAQ!

SHOPPING

There’s a small shopping area on the ground floor of the Land Pavilion that sells a few souvenirs and packaged snacks.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Land’s entry mosaics are each 134 feet long with 150,000 individually shaped pieces of marble, granite, slate, glass and gold to represent the layers of the Earth that lead to the Great Hall. A husband and wife team created the mosaics.

Mosaics at the Land Pavilion

The pavilion encourages you to “think environmentally,” right down to sayings printed on the walls near the queue for “Living With the Land” — for example, “Once Our Natural Splendor Is Destroyed, It Can Never Be Recaptured” (Lyndon Baines Johnson) and “We Have Not Inherited the Earth From Our Forefathers, We Have Borrowed It From Our Children” (Kashmiri Proverb).

Living with the Land Mural

As you enter the building, look out to the ceiling where five balloons hang. The middle one represents Earth. The four surrounding balloons represent the seasons: Yellow for summer, Orange for Fall, Blue for Winter and Green for Spring. Under the Earth balloon are clouds and a lightning bolt.

Sunshine Seasons

The Environmental Research laboratory at the University of Arizona assisted Imagineering in establishing areas within this pavilion that, by using advanced agricultural methods such as hydroponics, grow vegetables served at its centrally located dining area.

The background music outside the Land Pavilion is the original EPCOT background music.

Soarin’ officially opened May 5, 2005, as new magic from Disneyland’s Disney California Adventure.

Soarin’

Prior to the addition of Soarin’ you could hear background music in the pavilion that included:

  • “Allegheny Moon”
  • “Blue Moon”
  • “Carolina Moon
  • “Got the Sun”
  • “How High the Moon”
  • Moon Medley “Moon River”
  • “Moonlight Bay”
  • “Moonlight Becomes You”
  • “Moonlight Serenade”
  • “No Moon at All”
  • “Old Devil Moon”
  • “Paper Moon”
  • “Polka Dots and Moonbeams”
  • “Sing in the Sunshine”
  • “Sonny”
  • “Sunny Side of the Street”
  • “Sunrise, Sunset”
  • “Sunshine on My Shoulders”
  • “Wait ‘Til the Sun Shines Nellie”
  • “You Are My Sunshine”
  • “You are the Sunshine of My Life”

The Land “History”

  • Soarin’ Over California ended 2016. The attraction sends guests on a sweeping flyover above the wondrous Golden State for a birds-eye view of the rich landscape and topography. “Soarin’ Over California” complements the popular pavilion’s agriculture and ecology theme.

The unforgettable experience combines cinematic artistry and state-of-the-art motion base technology. Guests are literally lifted 40 feet inside a giant projection screen dome and completely surrounded with the beauty and wonder of the state of California as their elevated theater seats take them on a scenic tour over the Golden Gate Bridge, the Redwood forests, Napa Valley, Yosemite and more. The free-flight experience intensifies as guests feel the sweeping winds and smell fragrant orange blossoms and pine trees around them.

  • Cast member boat guides were replaced by automated narration around 2008.
  • Nestle Junior Chef program at The Land pavilion in Epcot ended April 6, 2008.
  • The Land underwent a total renovation from January 2005-May 2005, when the Soarin’ attraction opened!
  • Food Rocks closed for good February 2004 to make way for the new Soarin’ Attraction! The entire Land Pavilion closed January 2005 for a major rehab. Soarin’ was completed, new look for the Garden Grill and a totally renovated Fast Food Court called Sunshine Seasons (replaced Sunshine Season Food Fair)!
  • The Land Pavilion was updated in 1994 as part of the first real Epcot renovations. Kitchen Kabaret became Food Rocks and the Symbiosis movie made way for The Circle of Life film. The Land was originally sponsored by Kraft, but is now sponsored by Nestle. In 2009, Nestle ended its sponsorship, and the pavilion as a whole has no official sponsor now. Living with the Land is sponsored by Chiquita as of 2011.