The Land Pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot in Florida features a boat ride called Living With the Land. This used to be called Listen to the Land, and it opened in 1982 when Epcot debuted. It used to have a groovy theme song, but that was ditched when the ride got a new name and slight makeover in 1993.With the closure of The World of Motion and Horizons, the number of Audio Animatronics figures in Epcot has been reduced drastically in recent years. The monkeys, birds, and other small animated animals here are among the few original Epcot animatronic survivors.
Shortly after the rainforest scene, the boats climb up a steep lift hill, then drop down a thrilling 90 foot waterfall plunge into a greenhouse below.
They don't really do that, but wouldn't that be insane if they did?
The boats do travel through a greenhouse, though, where all sorts of plants and fish are grown in mind-boggling, spine-tingling ways.
There is a rotating restaurant called The Garden Grill that overlooks the sections of the ride containing animatronic wildlife. This used to be called The Good Turn Restaurant (1982-1986) then The Land Grille Room (1986-1993). I have never eaten here, and regret not doing so.
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For years we used to go to Chip & Dale's Harvest Feast Garden Grill. I think it's closed now? We always used to go for breakfast and it was AWESOME! A good old fashioned country style breakfast with cheese grits, eggs, country sausage, thick cut bacon, biscuits, sweet rolls, fresh orange juice, and coffee. Oh yeah.. it was all you can eat as well, and the food was brought right to your table.
ReplyDeleteThe characters would come around to the table one by one, and the kids loved it (as did we). After a huge breakfast, there was nothing better than the relaxing Land boat ride downstairs! I was so bummed when we went last August and the ride was closed for renovation.
Great post brother! It really brought back some awesome memories!!
I liked the boat ride better when it was piloted and narrated by a real person. I wish Kitchen Kabaret was still there too.....more audio-animatronics that they have gotten rid of.
ReplyDeleteDarrin, thanks! Your dining experience sounds great! It's too bad I didn't even think about trying the Garden Grill on my last visit. As usual, dinner for me was at the Sunshine Seasons food court, which at least had been remodeled since my last visit. Very smart of you to ride the boat ride after eating to give you time to digest. Imagine riding Mission: Space right after that big meal---massive "protein spill" for those cast members to clean up!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I agree! One of the funny things about this ride to me is that you see people working while on your boat ride. This attraction and the old Magic of Disney Animation at Disney MGM Studios were kind of like visiting a "People Zoo"---don't feed the animators!
I really dig the Land ride on every visit to Epcot. The green house is great, but there's just something about the surrealness of the scenes leading up to it that I just love.
ReplyDeleteHave eaten at the Garden Grill once and enjoyed the spin.
Hello, A Snow White Sanctum! Yes, the animatronic scenes are my favorite part of Living With The Land. Especially the monkey scene. What kind of material does Disney use for the fur on its animatronic characters? Those monkeys have gotten rained on since 1982!
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