I went on Epcot's Behind the Seeds Tour (and it wasn't boring)

I love Living with the Land at Epcot. Going through the hydroponic gardens is interesting to me and I’m not even into plants. But I never gave much thought to the Behind the Seeds Tour. You may have seen the tour desk at the exit of the boat ride through Epcot’s greenhouses.

Recently my family took me on Behind the Seeds for Father’s Day. It was more fun than I would have thought!

The tour isn’t free but it’s on the more reasonable side for Walt Disney World extras. The Behind the Seeds Tour is $35 per person and it can be booked in advance on the Disney World website.

If you’re a client of mine, I can book the tour for you as well.

Here are a few highlights from Behind the Seeds at Epcot’s The Land pavilion.

The tour desk for Behind the Seeds is located inside The Land pavilion, between Soarin’ and the exit of Living with the Land.

OrlandoParksGuy: Travel agent for Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Orlando area cruises

The tour begins here in this gallery - the Biological Control Room.

Our guide showed us how Disney uses insects to control unwanted pests in the greenhouses. They raise both beneficial insects and pests here to create a balance. Otherwise, the beneficial insects would eventually run out of things to eat.

Disney raises a number of insects here - both pests and beneficial bugs.

This is the other side of the bio lab that you see from the boat ride. It’s not just for show. Inside they are currently working on growing plants from tissue cultures. There’s also some work going on here with NASA and the USDA.

The purple light helps promote growth.

If you’re a Disney nerd, you’ll love going backstage.

This is the outside of the tunnel that the boats pass through on Living with the Land.

Disney has to manually pollinate everything that grows in the greenhouses on the Living with the Land. Cast Members use tiny leaf blowers to get the job done.

For some plants, Cast Members just walk around touching all their flowers.

This is cultured sand, that’s why you see signs telling you not to touch it when on the boat ride.

It’s also 3-5 ft deep and has a complex irrigation system that delivers nutrients.

Restaurants that receive the greenhouse produce:

Garden Grill Epcot

Flying Fish at Boardwalk

Tiffins at Animal Kingdom

Monsieur Paul at Epcot

Special events and catering

Chefs at Disney can make special requests for something to be grown in the greenhouse if they want to experiment with a rare fruit or vegetable.

Chefs often visit the greenhouses to see what’s available.

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Have questions about planning your Orlando vacation? I have answers! Contact me now to get more out of your vacation.

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Since 2010, Darren has been making Orlando vacations easy! As an Orlando resident, he is able to provide insider, expert advice on Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Florida-based cruises.

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