“Let’s listen to the land we all love, nature’s plan will shine above, listen to the land, listen to the land.”
An agricultural pavilion was in the original plans for EPCOT Center and The Land was an opening day EPCOT Center pavilion focused on agriculture, horticulture, and human interaction with the Earth. Whilst The Land has seen several changes over the decades, it may be the one pavilion that remains the most true to its opening day message. Recently on Connecting with Walt, Tom Bell and I talked about the history of EPCOT’s The Land pavilion.
The early version of the Land Pavilion, designed by Imagineer Tony Baxter, was made up of seven crystal structures housing five different habitats of the Earth. Each one told the story of how we must decide to preserve or develop the various resources of the land. Each section followed the story of water coming down from the sky to the mountains until it eventually dries up in the desert. The feature attraction was to be Blueprints of Nature, an attraction where guests would board a “balloon” using a track mechanism similar to Peter Pan’s Flight and follow the journey of snow as it melted into water and flowed through Earth’s various ecosystems.
When Kraft agreed to sponsor the pavilion, the design and concept was changed to reflect Kraft’s interest in agriculture and food. The pavilion was reshaped to look like a glass pyramid or mountain. The main attraction was a boat ride attraction named Listen to the Land. Kraft expressed interest in having an attraction about nutrition, so the Imagineers created an audio-animatronic musical revue staring singing food characters called Kitchen Kabaret. The third attraction was an environmental film titled Symbiosis. The Land pavilion opened with EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982.
When Kraft’s 10-year contract expired in 1993, Nestle Corporation took over sponsorship. By this time, several of EPCOT Center’s corporate sponsors felt the attractions were becoming dated and needed to be changed. Nestle’s goal was to make The Land a leading-edge pavilion. A two-year plan was developed to refurbish and modernize the pavilion. The Land would become the first Future World pavilion to go through a mid-1990s reimagining.
Many of the changes were cosmetic, such as a refreshing of the pavilion’s color palette. Kraft branding was removed from Kitchen Kabaret. Listen to the Land closed and reopened on December 10, 1993, as Living with the Land. It’s theme song was replaced and changes were made to a few of the scenes.
Kitchen Kabaret had become outdated since the USDA replaced the Basic Four food groups with The Food Guide Pyramid. Disney and Nestle decided to retire the attraction and closed it on January 3, 1994. A new animatronic show similar to Kitchen Kabaret with a cast singing about nutrition rather than food groups opened on March 26, 1994, called Food Rocks. Popular pop singers were represented in food form singing parodies of their most famous songs promoting good nutrition.
Symbiosis was replaced with Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable on January 21, 1995. This new show starred Simba, Timon, and Pumba from The Lion King in which Simba works to convince Timon and Pumba not to ruin the land by constructing Hakuna Matata Lakeside Village.
With Disney adding thrill sides to Epcot such as Test Track and Mission: Space, Disney planned a major update to The Land convincing Nestle to extend its sponsorship. On October 19, 2003, Disney officially announced Soarin‘. A new show building was constructed. The entrance would be directly on top of the Food Rocks theatre, so the characters gave their final performance on January 3, 2004.
The Land pavilion closed on January 2, 2005, for another refurbishment. Soarin’ was formally dedicated on May 11, 2005, as a present from the Disneyland Resort to Walt Disney World as part of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Celebration. The Land pavilion reopened two weeks later.
A few changes have happened since then. In 2006, the Living with the Land skippers were removed from the boats and replaced with recorded narration. On February 13, 2009, Nestle ended its sponsorship, leaving The Land without a sponsor; although, Chiquita signed on as a sponsor of the Living with the Land boat ride in 2011. A third theatre for Soarin’ was constructed in 2016. The Circle of Life film closed in 2018 to be replaced by the film Awesome Planet which tells the story of life on Earth and the importance of protecting it.
Is The Land a must-do pavilion when you visit Epcot? Are you a fan of Kitchen Kabaret or Food Rocks? On Connecting with Walt, we go deeper into the history of the pavilion and all of the attractions in our two-part series. I hope you’ll join us!
Connecting with Walt: A History of The Land Part 1
Connecting with Walt: A History of The Land Part 2
Michael Bowling is the Disney Historian for The DIS Unlimited and host of the Connecting with Walt Podcast. He lives in Northern California. With his late wife Carol he has two adult children and one granddaughter who shares her grandfather's love of all things Disney. Michael's passion for Disney began during his first visit to Disneyland as a one-year old when some Pixie Dust got into his bloodstream during Tinker Bell's flight over Sleeping Beauty Castle. Since then he has learned all he could about the Disney magic and shares it freely with his students, family, neighbors, co-workers and pretty much anyone who will listen. Michael is a Disneyland and Walt Disney World annual passholder, D23 Gold Charter Member, DVC owner and The Walt Disney Family Museum Charter Member. With his family he has spent time at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, has traveled with Adventures by Disney and Disney Cruise Line, and relaxed at Aulani. Michael has been been able to visit all the Disney Parks with friends he has met through The DIS Unlimited. When Michael is not at the parks or spending time with his family or in his garden, which is filled with Disney topiaries and statues, you can find him at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco or at the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary where he is a docent. Michael enjoys reading about Disney history and learning all he can about Walt Disney and those who make the magic happen for all of us.
