Epcot’s The Land – Circa 1982-1984

This is another in my sporadic series of “Step Back in Time” blogs — this one returns to Epcot and the Land Pavilion.

The Land opened in Epcot’s Future World on October 1, 1982 and was sponsored by Kraft. When the initial 10 year contract was up, Nestle became the new sponsor November 1992.

When the pavilion opened, the following components were in the building:

Listen to the Land Boat Ride – take a gentle cruise through various climates and learn about the history of farming. As the ride continued, you were taken into the future to see new and innovative techniques of both land and sea farming. While the ride is basically the same today, it has gone through several rehabs where the music and narration has changed.

Harvest Theatre – Symbiosis, an 18 minute film, explored the relationship between humans and their environment. The Harvest Theatre is still part of the pavilion, but now houses the environmental focused Circle of Life – Lion King movie with Timon and Pumba.

Kitchen Kaberet – these fun animated foods taught us about healthy eating and starred Bonnie Appetit, the Kitchen Krackpots and Hamm n Eggz. This attraction closed January 3, 1994 and gave way to Food Rocks on March 26, 1994 to make it more contemporary. Then on January 3, 2004, it was closed for good. Soarin now occupies that space once held by the singing fruits and vegies.

Farmer’s Market – 8 fast food booths offering wholesome and nutritious meals and snacks. Now called Sunshine Seasons

Broccoli & Co. – the souvenir store. As always, there is a merchandise store in every area.

The Good Turn Restaurant – a 250 seat revolving full service restaurant. It’s gone through several name changes (including the Land Grille Room) and today is the Garden Grill.

The Land – Discover at Epcot — Harvest new knowledge about man’s relationship with planet Earth and dig into advanced food-growing technologies.

** Hydroponics
** Symbiosis and Resource Conservation
** History and Future of Agriculture
** Nutrition
** Aquaculture

Here are some postcards from the early days …

“LAND – Explore creative partnerships with the land. Set sail for “Tomorrow’s Harvest”. Sing along at a show that has the whole town cooking. And enjoy country-store fun, food and flavor.”

“Listen to the Land – in the “country fair” setting of the Land pavilion, review age old agriculture techniques. Then, sail through the environments of the world and glimpse Tomorrow’s Harvest.”

“The Kitchen Krackpots – During your tour through The Land, you will see a wacky show which tells the story of nutrition in a very unusual way.” Notice that this postcard does refer to the Kitchen Krackpots which was the name of the band that played at the Kitchen Kaberet.

“Seasoned Performers flavor some spicy numbers on good nutrition at the Kitchen Kaberet, in the Land pavilion. Acts include Fiesta Fruit, Dairy Goods, and the hit of the Breakfast Circuit, Ham n Eggz”.

The following photographs are digital images of the PanaVue slides that were sold at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the 80s.

Here are some websites that offer photos and/or information about the early days of the Land:

All Ears Kitchen Kaberet Archives

Epcot Field Guide – The Land

Lost Epcot Features descriptions and photos from the early days of the Land.

Do you have photos from the 1980s of the Land Pavilion or any of it’s attractions? I’d love to see them and possibly include them in a future blog. Please send to
allearsnet at yahoo dot com
Thanks!

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