The Land (1982-present)
by waltdatedworld |
The Land is the largest pavilion in Epcot. It is dedicated to the future of agriculture and has two floors. The lower level has two attractions and a counter service restaurant. The main level has a theater, and a sit down revolving restaurant overlooking the boat ride. It was sponsored by KRAFT from 1982-1993. Then Nestle sponsored the pavilion from 1993-2009. The pavilion doesn't have a sponsor currently, but the boat ride Living with the Land has been sponsored by Chiquita since 2011.
The Land pavilion directory |
Listen to the Land (1982-1993)
by waltdatedworld |
Living with the Land (1993-present)
The second version of the ride had only a few changes. "Symphony of the Seed" was replaced by an oncoming storm scene. Like the original boat ride, guests would then go into different environments such as a rainforest, desert, prairie, and farmland. Audio animatronic animals native to each region populate these areas. After, guests go into the Living Laboratory where different plants are grown. These include a Tropic Greenhouse, featuring the growth of bananas, jack-fruit, dragon fruit, and more. The aqua-cell focuses on fish farming where fish are raised such as tilapia, sturgeon, American alligators, shrimp and more. The fish are served at the restaurants inside The Land and The Seas pavilions.
The temperate greenhouse has large crops like a nine pound lemon, and a giant pumpkin shaped like Mickey Mouse. String Greenhouse has different techniques such as the vertical growing technique, which is used to create a "tomato tree," which holds a world record of growing 32,000 tomatoes in a 16 month period. The final area is the Creative Greenhouse, where techniques like aeroponics are used to grow plants with their roots are dangling in the air so water is sprayed directly on them, and a NASA area developing techniques for growing plants through extended spaceflight.
The Biotechnology lab was moved to a new area, and the old version is covered by a collage of people and plants around the world with a projection of Earth. The ride removed the live cast members in 2006 and now has an automated spiel instead. Chiquita is currently the sponsor for this ride only.
Kitchen Kabaret (1982-1993)
by waltdatedworld |
Food Rocks (1993-2004)
The audio animatronic food show was updated when Nestle took over sponsorship. It featured new animatronic food groups that sang parodies of famous songs, like Good Nutrition by The Peach Boys parodied Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys.
Soarin' (2005- present)
The area that housed both food group animatronic shows was removed to add a new concept all together to The Land. Soarin' Over California was an opening day ride at Disney's California Adventure, and one of the few rides that was not complained about. It was brought to Epcot as just Soarin' so they could changed the destination of the attraction if they wanted to, without changing the name. Soarin' is a five minute long hang gliding simulator that has nine separate rows of seats guests sit at. There are three rows with three "hang gliders" in each row. Once the attraction starts the seats all move forward and the first row goes up to the top of the theater, the second row is directly below it, and the third row below the second. They are placed in front of a large IMAX screen that shows different landmarks in California.
The Harvest Theater (1982- present)
by waltdatedworld |
The Land is a great pavilion. While the addition of Soarin' has met with controversy, it has lead to the pavilion's popularity to grow and give people reason to check out what the rest of the pavilion has to offer. Living with the Land is very innovative and uses many animatronics as well, like classic EPCOT Center. Soarin' is rumored to be receiving a new film, theater, and upgrades soon. The only thing wrong is The Circle of Life. It's one of the oldest attractions in Future World with absolutely no updates. Personally I've only seen it one time and don't have any interest in seeing it again.
Horizons (1983-1999)
by waltdatedworld |
by waltdatedworld |
by waltdatedworld |
The pavilion sat vacant for another year before it was demolished in the summer of 2000. It was demolished to make way for a Space pavilion, after all the troubles Test Track had retro-fitting a thrill ride into the World of Motion, it was decided it was easier to start from scratch. Once the ground was clear, construction began on the new space pavilion.
Mission: SPACE (2003-present)
Construction finished in 2003 and the new space pavilion opened on the former site of Horizons. It's sponsored by Hewlett-Packard and is a space simulator to train for the first human mission to mars. Guests enter a futuristic space facility filled with space trivia, tributes, and props. Guests are brought into one of four pre-show rooms, and are lead into an area right outside the bay of the ride. Guests are then lead into the space capsules that fit four people. Inside guests sit in front of a "windshield" screen with a joystick and control buttons in front of them. CGI is used to create images of traveling through space.
A realistic space launch is simulated by spinning the capsules to create G-forces, and guests perform tasks as part of their designated roles they were assigned to before they boarded. It ends with them successfully landing on Mars. The ride was really intense, so in 2006 a new version was introduced. Guests would be divided into two teams: green team or orange team. Green team was the new version that does not include the spinning, while orange team was the original intense version. One of the four bays is for the less intense mission and the other three remain the original version.
After the ride guests are brought to the Advanced Training Lab. Guests can experience this area even if they don't want to ride the attraction. There are different exhibits such as Mission: SPACE Race- a team based game to try to get a rocket from Mars back to Earth. Expedition Mars is a kiosk where guests can control a virtual astronaut to navigate around Mars. Space Base is a playground area for children to explore a space like-environment. Postcards from Space is where guests can send e-card videos based around space themed videos.
Mission: SPACE is an innovative ride in the sense that it uses new technology to bring guests an experience they might not get. I could see a child coming off the ride and get inspired to become an astronaut someday. The problem with the pavilion is that it's not fleshed out enough. The theme is "training" so that there was no need to make guests feel like they were really going to mars. When they exit the ride they can see all of the ride mechanisms and go through un-themed corridors to the post show.
EPCOT had been designated to get a space pavilion for years and some ideas intended the current ride to be a pre-show for the rest of the pavilion. It doesn't help that it replaced one of EPCOT's most beloved attractions which was highly themed and dared to predict the future. Still, I enjoy Mission: SPACE for what it is. I've only been on the less intense version and I think it's pretty thrilling, even without the spinning I feel the G-forces.
The Living Seas (1986-2006)
The Living Seas pavilion opened in 1986 under the sponsorship of United Technologies. It held the world's largest saltwater aquarium when it opened, populating numerous fish including dolphins, turtles, whales, stingrays, etc. It was themed as a futuristic ocean research facility, where guests would take Hydrolators to the bottom of the ocean and explore under the sea from "Sea Base Alpha". Upon arriving in the pavilion, guests would queue up and see a pre-show before seeing a film about the ocean. From there guests boarded a Hydrolator, which was a sea themed elevator that gave the illusion that guests were traveling down under water, this was achieved by a rock wall that would fill with water and look like the elevator was moving down, when in reality the elevator moved only two inches to give the illusion of motion.by rickpilot_2000 |
by dragaroo |
by Jennifer Sherry |
by Michael Gray |
by Christian Lambert Photography |
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (2006-present)
by inazakira |
by princesskoko |
Guests board the new omnimover cars that now face sideways and are in the shape of clam shells called "Clamobiles." The aquariums were mostly covered up. The ride's basically a rehash of the movie in which the characters look for Nemo. The characters are seen mostly through screens, but one impressive addition is of an Angler fish that chases Nemo's father around using a "KUKA" robotic arm to make the fish move around quickly. The finale features the characters swimming around the pavilion's aquarium with the real fish. After exiting, Nemo's teacher Mr. Ray encourages guests to explore the rest of the pavilion.
by Norm Lanier |
by inazakira |
by Lee |
by Andy Castro |
Wonders of Life (1989-2007)
by waltdatedworld |
Wonders of Life pavilion directory by tom.arthur |
Body Wars
by Stuart Newsom |
by waltdatedworld |
Cranium Command
by Stuart Newsom |
by waltdatedworld |
by tom.arthur |
by Alex |
by waltdatedworld |
"Wonders of Life Is Closed" sign by Michael Gray |
Festival Center (2007-present)
Sadly, after the pavilion closed it became special event space. The pavilion is now only used during events like the Flower & Garden Festival, the Food & Wine Festival, as well as private parties. Body Wars has been stripped of parts and Cranium Command remains sitting empty. The theater that showed The Making of Me is used during the Flower & Garden Festival to show a film about the festival. Live demonstrations are done throughout the pavilion for each event. Snacks are sold in the old counter service restaurant, with merchandise scattered around the pavilion.
This pavilion has so much potential, it has a lot of space that should be put to good use. The newest Disney movie called Inside Out has a storyline similar to Cranium Command, and many Disney fans have commented how that would fit in perfectly in this pavilion. EPCOT fans don't want characters in Future World, but I would prefer that so the pavilion would actually be used year-round again.