Oh by gosh, by golly, it’s time for mistletoe and holly… in a sparkling greenhouse at EPCOT! One of the best features of the holiday season at Walt Disney World are temporary attraction overlays. While most of the really good ones locked behind a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party ticket (looking at you, Space Mountain with a “holiday twist”), there’s another great option included in your EPCOT admission: Living with the Land: Glimmering Greenhouses.
During EPCOT’s International Festival of the Holidays, the greenhouses within the Living with the Land ride are transformed with festive decorations, twinkling lights, and themed displays, all set against the backdrop of the ride’s innovative crops and sustainable farming methods. Living with the Land is already one of the most peaceful attractions on WDW property. Add in a nighttime cruise studded with twinkling lights and you’ve easily got yourself a relaxing holiday tradition for the family.
This is a fairly new seasonal overlay, with its debut in 2019 as a “Merry & Bright Nights” offering at EPCOT. This returned in 2020 and 2021, before being re-branded as “Glimmering Greenhouses” in 2022.
The queue pictured above may look like a packed house – but the wait was posted at 20 minutes, and I only waited about 10 minutes on this particular evening.
Glimmering Greenhouses Riding Tips:
- Time your cruise for dusk or after dark
- Request the front row if you’d like; it’s definitely worth waiting a few additional minutes for the best views!
While the first half of the boat ride remains the same, the greenhouse portions contain the best Christmas lights display at Disney World (at least until those Castle Dream Lights return…). Once you enter the blue twinkle light-filled tunnel and into the greenhouse portion, you’re transported to a sparkly winter wonderland with every single plant display and tree illuminated.
That reveal into the first Tropical Greenhouse is just breathtaking:
Some of my favorite details include wrapping paper and oversized ornaments featuring the original Land pavilion logo:
Color-changing LED pucks add a soft glow underneath the sand, illuminating your path forward:
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the extra colorful lights through the aquaculture greenhouse!
The large “hidden Mickey” hose typically found here is surrounded by a color-changing LED rope, and peep the custom fish wrapping paper:
Throughout the String and Creative Greenhouses, each beam and support are sparkling. It sort of makes me wish this overlay was year-round… but then it wouldn’t be as special, right?
You’ll find a red nose and reindeer antlers on the Mickey Mouse topiary:
And I can’t get enough of the cascading twinkle lights above the “EPCOT” and Mickey-shaped lettuce growth:
Have you experienced Glimmering Greenhouses at Living with the Land yet?
Living with the Land: Glimmering Greenhouses will be around at EPCOT throughout the park’s International Festival of Holidays, which ends December 30th, 2024. Don’t miss it!
