Living with the Land
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| Living with the Land | |||||
| Epcot | |||||
| Land | Future World The Land pavilion | ||||
| Designer | WED Enterprises | ||||
| Attraction type | Boat ride | ||||
| Theme | Human interaction with nature. | ||||
| Opening date | October 1, 1982 | ||||
| Vehicle type | Boat | ||||
| Vehicle capacity | 36 | ||||
| Cars per vehicle | 2 | ||||
| Guests per car | 18 | ||||
| Ride duration | 14:57 minutes | ||||
| Audio-animatronics | 35 | ||||
| Capacity | 1200 per hour | ||||
| Previously called | Listen to the Land | ||||
| Sponsored by | Nestlé | ||||
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Living with the Land is a ride located within The Land pavilion which is part of Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World Resort at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It is a 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.
As of August 20, 2006, 'Living with the Land' no longer features Cast Members narrating the second portion of the ride. Instead an automatic audio spiel plays at each greenhouse scene, activated by RFID tags attached to the flume wall. The spiel is updated periodically as the greenhouses are replanted. The attraction was closed for renovation to install the new spieling system from August 20th, 2006 until September 9th.
Contents |
[edit] The Ride
Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat 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, 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 Guiness 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.
The ride concludes with a lighted collage of people and produce from all over the world, along with a projection of Earth as seen from space.
[edit] Listen to the Land
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.
Also, the theme song "Listen to the Land" is no longer used in the attraction, though an instrumental version can still be heard in The Land's exterior background music loop.
[edit] 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 - Living with the Land closes to remove cast members from driving and narrating in the boats
- September 9, 2006 - Living with the Land re-opens with automated boat narration
[edit] Image gallery
 A demonstration of non-traditional agriculture in the greenhouse of The Land pavilion, as seen from Living with the Land. |
 A demonstration of intercropping, as seen in the greenhouse of The Land pavilion, as seen from Living with the Land. |
 A "tomato tree" |
 Pepper plants in "Verti-Gro" columns. |
