Living With the Land at Disney’s Epcot Review

Living with the Land Review and Planning Info

Living with the Land opened on: October 1, 1982.

Pull up a list of all Epcot attraction planning reviews here.

Location: Living with the Land is located inside the Land Pavilion on the bottom floor. You’ll see it opposite Sunshine Seasons and near Soarin’ Around the World.

Awesome Planet is located up above and then exits next to Living with the Land’s entrance.

Closes Early: Unless it’s an evening Extra Magic Hours day, Living with the Land closes at 7pm. If Disney has scheduled evening Extra Magic Hours, then the ride operates for everyone until regular Park close, which is typically 9pm. During evening Extra Magic Hours, the ride is available to those who are eligible for EMH. You can pull up the exact operating hours for a given date at DisneyWorld.com here.

Extra Magic Hours: Morning and Evening.

Ride Length: 15 minutes.

Type: Dark ride, slow boat ride.

Similar To: “it’s a small world,” only with plants.

Requirements: None.

Scary Factor: None, unless you have a  fear of genetically modified organisms.

The beginning of the ride is on the dark side, but it shouldn’t upset anyone.

What to Expect: Riders board large, slow moving boats. The beginning of the ride is similar to other dark rides like Haunted Mansion as you pass through swamps and farmland.

Those dining at Garden Grill upstairs can actually see inside the bedroom of this house as the restaurant rotates. From down here, we can wave at the dog out front.

While education is the focus, Living With the Land is a fun and interesting exploration of agriculture and the environment. Everything you see in the “living laboratory” is real.

Disney shows off a variety of innovative farming techniques.

Disney’s own site refers to some of these techniques as “jaw-dropping,” which may be overstating things slightly. Disney does constantly switch out the crops, so whatever you saw last time has probably been replaced with another plant.

They’re big on hanging fruits and vegetables.

But you might be surprised by how some fruits and vegetables grow. I always imagined an eggplant being more of a potato or pumpkin situation. Maybe because I’m not very smart.

A short portion on aquaculture and fishing breaks up two of the main greenhouses. We have sturgeon on the left and tilapia on the right.

Integrated Aquaculture closes things out.

And if you’re really lucky, you’ll see somebody working in the lab.

Where to Sit:

Each row seats three to four people. The front row of the first boat in the line offers the best view, especially for pictures up ahead. However, just about every seat provides a great view of the plants and scenery because most everything is raised up and appears off to the sides of the boat.

FastPass+: Yes, low Tier 2 priority. You might be surprised by how limited FastPass+ availability at Epcot is with so many experiences taken in advance, but other attractions see higher wait times and less FastPass+ availability.

What You Miss Using FastPass+:

Just the wait, for the most part.

The standby queue winds around with little to look at other than a mural.

Total Average Experience Time with FastPass+: 20 minutes.

4th FastPass+ Availability: Usually pretty good. You may need to refresh FastPass+ availability to find a return time that isn’t too far in the future, but the attraction should become available without too much effort. On busier days, availability will be much tighter.

Expect to Wait:

The picture of the long standby line above may surprise you. Living with the Land now sees higher wait times earlier in the day with more capacity going to FastPass+.

When To Go: Before 10:30 or after 5pm is usually best, with the importance of arriving early or late higher on busier days. From 10:30am to 2pm, lines are usually longest, because a lot of people head to Sunshine Seasons for lunch, which is located right next door, in addition to the number of people that scoff at the high wait at Soarin’ and visit Living with the Land instead.

There is one other potential consideration. For most of the year, Living with the Land doesn’t operate after dark. On days with evening Extra Magic Hours, and in the winter when it gets dark earlier, the ride continues to operate after the sun goes down. Those who have experienced the ride before may want to seek it out after dark if the opportunity arises. The greenhouse sections are lit up much differently without the natural light coming in from the roof.

Rating: 8/10

Josh’s Take: Living With the Land is more entertaining than it probably sounds, mixing a fun boat ride with dark ride elements followed by the greenhouse and aquaculture sections. It also gets points for being an easy-going, air-conditioned experience that usually sees short waits and plentiful FastPass+ availability.