Living with the Land

	Living with the Land
	The entrance to Living With the Land
	Epcot
Land	Future World
Attraction type	Boat Tour
Opening date	October 1, 1982
Vehicle names	Boat
Vehicle capacity	20
Ride duration	14 minutes
Audio-Animatronics	40
Formally Known As	Listen to the Land (1982-1993)
Sponsored by	Kraft (1982-1993) ; Nestle (1993- 2007) ; Chiquita Brands International (2011-Present)

Living with the Land is an attraction within The Land pavilion at Epcot.

Attraction History

The history of what would eventually be known as Listen to the Land began when Kraft announced that it would sponsor The Land pavilion, in Disney's unbuilt theme park: EPCOT Center. Original designs for the pavilion had been created with the idea that a logging company would be sponsoring the pavilion, however when the company pulled out, both the design of the pavilion and the attractions that would be housed within it were changed dramatically. With the focus of the pavilion now on agricultural, Imagineers created an open top boat ride that would take guests through the earth's many habitats, showing man’s effect on them. Still inside their boat, the second half of the attraction would allow guests to tour a working greenhouse that showcased new agricultural technologies and techniques.

During the development of Listen to the Land, two major changes took place. The first was the fact that the greenhouses were added to the attraction permanently (as opposed to being the temporary structures they were originally envisioned as). The second change was addition of a canopy to the boats themselves. When Imagineers decided to add real rain effects to the attraction, the boats were covered. Listen to the Land opened with the rest of The Land pavilion on EPCOT Center’s opening day, October 1, 1982.

Listen to the Land remained unchanged, until Nestle assumed sponsorship of the Land Pavilion in 1993. On September 23, 1993, Listen to the Land was closed for refurbishment (the rest of the pavilion would also be systematically updated over the next year and a half). During the renovation, the Symphony of the Seed opening scene was removed, and the rainforest scene was expanded. Furthermore, an automatic narration was installed for the first half of the attraction, and the ride's theme song "Listen to the Land" was removed. Finally, the Symphony of the Seed recap that concluded the original attraction was taken out and replaced with a collage of people and agriculture from all over the world. On December 10, 1993, the attraction reopened as Living with the Land. Following the changes in 1993, little of note changed with the attraction until 2006. At this time, the boat captains were removed from the attraction and replaced by a new automatic narrator voiced by Mike Brassell. On August 1, 2011 Chiquita Brands International announced it would be sponsoring Living with the Land.

Attraction Plot

Living with the Land is a boat ride which shows guests how agriculture grows in various habitats. The attraction concludes with a tour of a working research facility and greenhouse.

Listen to the Land

Listen to the Land began with guests boarding their boats and being greeted by their tour guide. While they loaded, they could hear the attractions theme song, "Listen to the Land". The first scene in the attraction was known as the Symphony of Seed. The scene was a stylistic look at how plants grow and spread. Inside the scene, guests could see seeds being blown by the wind, while classical music played. The next scene in the attraction was the Rainforest scene. Here, the tour guide explained that in the Rainforest, plants had to overcome a lack of light in order to grow. All around them, guests could see lush vegetation and Audio Animatronic animals. After exiting the Rainforest, guests entered a dessert. Here, the cast member would explain to them that plants faced the threat of a lack of water and sandstorms, but were still able to grow. In this room, guests could hear the sandstorm howling, and also see vegetation (such as a cactus) growing.

The third habitat that guests would visit on Listen to the Land was the prairie. Here, the tour guide would explain that the unpredictable whether of the prairies caused problems for plant life there. His two examples, wildfire and storms, could be seen in the horizon. Large bison could also be seen feeding in the prairie. The next scene in the attraction showed a turn of the century farm. Here, an country version of "Listen to the Land" could be heard. A farm and an old house were both located here, while a dog laid on the front porch. Guests would then go inside the barn, where images showing various forms of agriculture were shown. The tour guide told guests that research was continuing to make agriculture more efficient. Examples of this included better, machines, fertilizers, and seeds. The guide also told guests that much of the food served in Epcot was grown using these techniques.

The greenhouse located in Living With The Land.

At this point in the attraction, guests would enter the research half of Listen to the Land. This would begin in the Topiaries, where guests could see various plants being grown in a tropical atmosphere. Plants located here included: papia, sugar cane, rice, bananas, pineapple, and vanilla. The next section of the research center focused on "Aqua Culture", here fish farming took place, and guests could see various exotic fish. The tour guide would inform guests that many of this fish here, were used in restaurants throughout The Land pavilion.

The final part of the attraction showed new ways in which researchers at The Land were growing food. The first example that guests could see, was cotton and cucumbers that were shown growing in the desert. Further on, guests could see crops growing vertically, which the narrator informed them would save space. Other crops were shown growing without soil, and the tour guide would tell guests that researchers were using ladybugs as a pestilent. The last thing that guests could see on the attraction was future methods of agriculture. These included ideas for growing food on the moon, and genetically altering crops to make them more nutrition and resistance. Guests could then hear "Living With the Land" one more time, before reaching the unloading area.

If you want to hear "Listen to the Land", click play below: