Behind the Seeds Tour Review: A Fun Look Inside Living with the Land

Back in March, I had the opportunity to take the Behind the Seeds tour at EPCOT, and as someone who has always loved Living with the Land, I was so excited to finally experience it for myself.

If you have never heard of the tour or are looking for more information before booking, you are in the right place. Behind the Seeds is based inside The Land Pavilion at EPCOT and takes guests behind the scenes of Living with the Land.

Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride that takes you through the different greenhouses and farming facilities that Disney uses within EPCOT. The attraction also showcases how innovation is collaborating with Disney Imagineering to create different ways of farming to adapt to different climate and ecological systems.

The tour is approximately one hour long, and as of May 2026, costs $39 for children and $49 for adults before tax. Pricing, availability, and discounts are always subject to change, so be sure to check the current Walt Disney World website or My Disney Experience app before booking. I ended up getting it just a little bit cheaper with my annual pass, which made it even more worth the spend for me. Tours run about every hour starting at 10:30 AM with the last tour starting at 4:30 PM. The groups are intimate, with approximately 10-15 people with the tour guide. I booked my tour for 1:30 PM, which made a good break in my day to do something outside of traditional attractions.

Important Notes

This is a walking tour, so I would HIGHLY recommend the shoes that are most comfortable for you. Disney also highly encourages closed-toe shoes, but they are not required. There are some benches available periodically during the tour, but I would not count on them to be available 100% of the time.

There is also a strict designated path that guests must follow during the tour. Since the greenhouses are controlled environments, Disney is very clear about not crossing into the plant areas for both guest safety and the safety of the plants. If you have someone who may be a runner or prone to wandering in places they shouldn't, I would not recommend this as it may be uncomfortable.

One thing I really appreciated was Disney’s transparency about the different sensory elements guests may experience during the tour. This is extremely helpful for those who may have trouble with different lights, sounds, or other stimulants that can be stressful. I have linked the document to this blog post for reference as well!

WDW Sensory Guide - Tours & Experiences.

Download • 357KB

The Tour

Right before my tour started, we were greeted by Elizabeth, a cast member from Palo Alto, California with a background in biology and a clear passion for the Living with the Land projects. She gave us such amazing insight in every greenhouse we went into, and constantly recommended websites and other resources to use to find sustainable and green options for our daily lives.

Starting the tour we walked backstage and started behind the end of Living with the Land. Fun fact, this tour actually goes backwards through the ride! Here we were given small radio headsets to wear that helped us hear Elizabeth, in case we were not in direct hearing range of her. We started in one of the research labs that focuses on "Integrated Pest Management." Here she explained how Disney is not only finding ways to try and create better farming practices, but also healthier ones. One of the best ways to do this is through IPM, where you introduce the natural predator of the pest you are having issues with into your ecosystem, as long as it is appropriate for the environment. This method of farming helps with decreasing the amount of pest control chemicals being used in different fields and types of farming. Elizabeth also gave us more information on the research that Disney is doing with specific pests to find the best way for their greenhouses.

Our next stop was backstage, outside of the ride, with a look into that "purple-hued room" which is actually the Biotechnology Lab for Crop Improvement! This lab was created and is operated in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Research Service. Although we did not get to go into the room, we were able to look in through a window that showed the plant tissue cultures that they use in the "Mickey's Mini Garden." These are small plants that you can buy and take home with you to grow in your own garden. They are available for sale at the Behind the Seeds tour desk at the exit of the Living with the Land ride. Here Elizabeth went into more detail on plant tissue culture and the benefits of them.

It was here we went into our first of four greenhouses. The first one we visited is called the Creative Greenhouse - this is actually curated in collaboration with NASA! They use vertical growing towers to grow their crops which uses less space and helps produce more crops. This technique is currently used by NASA and their astronauts in space at the International Space Station to grow the vegetables that they eat and research. It was in this greenhouse we were invited to try a slice of cucumber that is actually grown within the greenhouse. Although I am the world's pickiest eater, I did end up taking a bite of it, even if I ended up regretting it. It was a super cool thing to say that I ate something picked fresh from the greenhouse that morning. It was here that Elizabeth talked to us about Disney's conservation initiatives and how the greenhouses are used and integrated within the entirety of Walt Disney World Resort. Did you know that the majority of the lettuce they grow is used in EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Lodge to feed the animals that live there? This was super cool to hear!

The second greenhouse we went into was the String Greenhouse. This is where the farming techniques of vertical farming are showcased. Elizabeth explained the most of the vegetables from this greenhouse are used for the Garden Grill and Sunshine Seasons also located in the Land Pavilion. This greenhouse was also once home to a tomato "tree" which holds the Guinness World Record for the most productive tomato plant in the world, which produced 32,000 tomatoes in a 16-month span. This year, it is two of these "trees" that produce just about as much if not more for the Land. In this greenhouse there was also vegetables that were placed in molds to grow into different shapes, this includes Mickey Heads and more. Also located in this one was the lettuce displays that the Disney Cast Members will make "pictures" within with different species of lettuce. This lettuce is grown using a nutrient film technique, which Elizabeth gave us more details about as we got closer.

The third greenhouse was the Temperate Greenhouse, this features plants from desert-like climates and shows how plants with little water can thrive in the right environments. This was one of the most beautiful greenhouses because of the amount of flowers and flowering foods that were present. This greenhouse also showcased a wide variety of edible flowers and plants that are available throughout the world that many people may not think were actually edible.

It was after this we did a quick walkthrough of the Aquacell. This is that cool room that you go through in Living with the Land with the red hues and all the fish and shrimp that you can find. This section features aquaculture and fish farming, and shows more sustainable practices for farm raised fish. These fish and other creatures are raised and used within the Coral Reef Restaurant located at the Seas Pavilion. It was here that Elizabeth also went into more detail about sustainable fishing and aquaculture practices and how to find shops and restaurants that are using these practices.

That led us to the final, and my favorite of the greenhouses, the Tropics Greenhouse. This is the one that you probably see the most pictures of online when searching up the ride, for its glass dome roof that covers the greenhouse in the most beautiful way. We spent the most time in this greenhouse exploring and learning about the different spices and how they impact the flavors of food and how hard it is to grow some of them. It was in this greenhouse we also saw a Vanilla flower that only opens once a year! This was super exciting to see as it was on the backside of the ride and not one you could easily see from the boats.

From here we walked back through the greenhouses, covering miscellaneous topics and giving Elizabeth any questions that we had for her. Overall, I had the best time learning more about the practices Disney is researching, developing, and using throughout Walt Disney World. I have always loved Living with the Land, and I can say that this was well worth the cost to take this tour.

Overall Verdict

I cannot express enough how much I would recommend the Behind the Seeds tour. If you are interested in Disney tours but do not want to break the bank, I think this is a great introduction to the world of behind-the-scenes experiences at Walt Disney World.

I would especially recommend this tour to anyone who loves Living with the Land, has an interest in gardening or agricultural practices, or enjoys learning more about the details that make Disney attractions so unique. Even as someone without a science background, I found the tour very easy to understand, engaging, and genuinely fun.

Overall, Behind the Seeds was absolutely worth the cost for me, and I would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a unique EPCOT experience outside of traditional rides and shows.

Best For: Living with the Land fans, Disney adults, gardeners, homeschool families, sustainability lovers, and guests looking for a lower-cost EPCOT add-on experience.