Honestly I wasn’t even planning on riding Living With the Land. In fact, I didn’t even know it existed until a few weeks before my vacation when I was researching EPCOT’s attractions and I was especially shocked at how it had fastpass (this is especially pathetic since I have visited EPCOT probably about 5-6 times before my visit this year). However, after getting off Soarin’ 5 minutes before closing, this ride was still open so I decided to give it a shot since it lacked any sort of line at all, which was really nice considering how the ride probably has pretty sizeable waits during the day since it merits the honor of being a fastpass attraction. After boarding the very roomy and comfortable boat, the experience begin, but honestly the attraction was a sleeper in my opinion.
As the title of the attraction suggests, Living With the Land centers around the land, and more specifically the vegetation that inhabits it. Essentially the attraction can be divided into two distinct segments- the ecosystem segment and the greenhouse segment. Personally I found the first half quite entertaining and each of the ecosystems were very intriguing and well described. However, this part ended far too quickly in my opinion and proceeding it are very dull displays of various plants being grown in a massive greenhouse. While the massive array of unique and rare plants is impressive, the novelty wore off far too quickly in my opinion and soon enough the ride became boring and more of an education attraction than a fun-providing attraction. And my boredom didn’t end quickly either for that matter since the entire attraction is approximately 15 minutes long! That’s one long greenhouse tour in my opinion!
So why a 3? Now I acknowledge full and well that this attraction is intended to be an educational experience more than an entertaining one like Soarin’, Mission: SPACE, or Test Track, but honestly it was just too dull for me personally to warrant a very high rating. The first half was decent and the wide variety of plants is certainly impressive, especially those wonderful and unique Mickey pumpkins, but the greenhouse tour segment just seemed too drawn out and dull in my opinion. Botanists and nature-lovers certainly will feel at home and be absolutely in love with this attraction, but for the most part the average guest or thrill-seeker will be left yawning for fifteen minutes.
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