The Land Vintage Photos

The Land is an opening day EPCOT Center pavilion focused on agriculture, horticulture, food, and human interaction with the Land. Although its entrance appears small, The Land is actually quite large thanks to the Soarin’ show buildings and the large Living with the Land boat tour.

While The Land has seen a great amount of changes in the pavilion over the years, it is arguably the pavilion that remains the most true to its opening day message. The Land has always contained two restaurants and three attractions.

As a child, The Land pavilion’s main attraction, Kitchen Kabaret, really appealed to me. This 14 minute Audio Animatronics-based show featured various foods singing about the value of good nutrition. The show combined humor, lovable characters, and of course, educational components to form one of the most memorable attractions at EPCOT Center. Although it was replaced in 1994, it will forever be known for “Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit,” a popular song in the show.

Other attractions that have existed in the land since its opening include the films Symbiosis (1982-1995) and Circle of Life (1995-present), Food Rocks (1994-2004) and Soarin’ (2005-present), and Listen to the Land/Living with the Land (1982-1993/1993-present). Likewise, the restaurants in The Land pavilion have been in the same basic locations since 1982, but have had aesthetic and name changes over the years. The location now known as Sunshine Seasons was previously Farmers Market (1982-1993) and Sunshine Seasons Food Fair (1993-2004). The rotating table service restaurant overlooking Living with the Land that is now known as the Garden Grill was previously the Good Turn Restaurant (1982-1986) and the Land Grille Room (1986-1993). The attractions only begin to tell the story of The Land pavilion, which has contained beautiful art, murals, and other design elements throughout the years. Check out Martin’s series on The Land to get a better idea of what The Land was and is:

http://vimeo.com/13771048

Although Journey into Imagination was my favorite pavilion as a child, The Land has become my favorite pavilion as an adult. Individually, nothing in The Land stacks up to Spaceship Earth, but together, Living with the Land, Soarin’, Sunshine Seasons (my favorite counter service restaurant at Epcot), the Behind the Seeds Tour (an amazing and reasonably priced tour), and Garden Grill make for a pavilion that’s not only very entertaining, but largely stays true to the vision of EPCOT Center.

Now time for the reader-submitted photos. There are some real gems here!

To all of you who submitted photos, I am eternally grateful. These vintage posts would not have been possible without your generosity. For photographer attribution and other information, hover your cursor over each photo. Also, be sure to check out our photo credits page. If you have EPCOT Center photos, please check out our EPCOT Center Photo Search page for details on how to submit them!

Land Pavilion

Epcot -  Living with the Land II

Epcot -  Living with the Land IV

Epcot -  Living with the Land III

Epcot -  Living with the Land V

CIMG0310

These balloons have been a feature of the pavilion since the beginning. Here, they have a decidedly 1990s color scheme.

in the land, i think... aug '86

Going back a bit further to the 1980s, the balloons are more detailed and a beautiful mural is prominent on the wall now adorned with fabric banners.

Farmers Market had several stations for different types of food.

The Land Epcot

The Land was first sponsored by Kraft, then Nestle.

This tile mural is an artistic depiction of the layers of the earth.

Please share your thoughts and memories of The Land in the comments, and be sure to share this post with your friends via Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.!

6 Responses to “The Land Vintage Photos”
  1. Dana plybon September 2, 2018
  2. Betsy December 28, 2012
    • Kimberly June 9, 2017
  3. Brian Hubbard October 8, 2012
  4. Cait October 5, 2012
    • Tom Bricker October 8, 2012

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