Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot

[photogal06...Sommer 10]

Just wanted to give a heads-up.....we did this tour on our last trip, and it was fantastic! Also a great value, especially with the Disney Visa discount...I think the 3 of us went for about $45 total.

I'd read mixed reviews of the tour, and the consensus was that it all depends on your guide. Ours was fab-u-lous! She's an intern there and was so excited about what they were doing that she could have kept us there forever, talking about it. We learned a lot and got some great ideas for improving our garden at home this year.

If you're at all interested in gardening or just seeing what they're up to over there in The Land, it's a fun way to spend an hour!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Glad you had a good time. I love Living with the Land. The tour sounds like it might be fun. Thanks for sharing.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Great to know! I've really been wanting to do it.

[Beckers 1,136]

We took that tour years ago (like a whole bunch of years ago because I think it was like $8 back then!!) and we loved it!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Good to know! I really wanted to do this during this past trip, but somehow we never got around to it.

Putting it back on the "to do" list for next time!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

We did this tour also last Oct. and it was a nice tour, not real long so if you have smaller ones it's a good one to do, well worth it.

[caveat lector 181]

Sounds like a great deal

[photogal06...Sommer 10]

Some photos from our tour....

Our guide, Mary, is an intern there. She's on her 2nd or 3rd career, and she's incredibly excited about what she's doing.

Here, she's showing us how to pollinate flowers. If I'd known that last fall, I could have saved my pumpkins!

Each intern has to do a project before leaving, and a former intern made this mold, which is used to grow Mickey-shaped cucumbers. We got to sample a cucumber grown there, and it was amazing! I don't like cucumbers, but I did like this one...it was very watery, with a light crisp flavor....almost fruity.

Three people were selected to release ladybugs, part of their natural pest control program. The ladybugs are stored in the cold, so they're inactive at first. The instructions were to hold the vial of ladybugs in your hand, and by the time we reached the release point, they'd be anxious to come out. That's a fact! It didn't take long at all for them to warm up and start banging against the sides of the vial.

The release

And, they're off...

A Mickey head pumpkin mold, designed by the same person who did the cucumber one

The red light is kind of annoying here, but we got up close with the gators

Saw a hidden Mickey between the gators and the tilapia

And fed the tilapia

The Miracle Fruit is a berry that makes things taste sweet....it's being used in patients who have that horrible metallic taste that comes with some chemotherapy....very cool!

We were given random vials of herbs and spices to sniff and see if we could identify them. The answers were on the table and in the plants in the area. Most were pretty obvious, but we got allspice, which was somewhat challenging!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Very awesome!!!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Ok. The land your just moved up the to do list. Great pictures. D

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Cool. Thanks for sharing!

[J&J Adventuring..Julia 22]

Thanks a TON! We've always wanted to do this tour. Now it's a MUST.

[we3peas 12]

We did this last May for my birthday. Had a lot of fun and learned a lot too. DH hates cucumbers but was raving about The Land's. They also try to grow what is used at the restaurants as much as possible.

[13.1ToGo 0]

Thanks so much for posting this! DD (11) loves growing things so we'll definitely plan to do this in May. Do you have to book in advance to get the Disney Visa discount?

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Sommer - somehow I missed this post originally, but thanks so much for sharing your experience.

We've been wanting to do this tour for a while now, and never seem to do it.

Putting it high up on the list for our trip this fall!

[Lou... 3,118]

People that for some unknown reason grow things in their back yard rather than doing what normal people do and buy them at the grocery store, will find it interesting, but those that aren't, will say, ok, that's out of the way.

If you plan on doing it, do it soon because when the Disney IMs are looking at locations for a new attraction, that's where it's going.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Also keep in mind that this is probably the cheapest back stage tour offered.

[pezheadval 32]

We took that tour years ago (like a whole bunch of years ago because I think it was like $8 back then!!) and we loved it!

Yes! We did, too! It was a nice tour...and super cheap at the time.

Some photos from our tour....

The Miracle Fruit is a berry that makes things taste sweet....it's being used in patients who have that horrible metallic taste that comes with some chemotherapy....very cool!

My 12 year old daughter first told me about Miracle Fruit. She found it fascinating and wanted to try it, so we ordered some Miracle Fruit tablets online and had a Miracle Fruit party. We at the tablet and then tried all kinds of foods that are normally sour or bitter...lemons, grapefruit, green apples etc. They tasted sweet like candy. It was a fun little experiment.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

People that for some unknown reason grow things in their back yard rather than doing what normal people do and buy them at the grocery store, will find it interesting, but those that aren't, will say, ok, that's out of the way.

If you plan on doing it, do it soon because when the Disney IMs are looking at locations for a new attraction, that's where it's going.

Crazy people like us do that because it tastes better. I hope they don't take out that ride/tour. I really like it.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Crazy people like us do that because it tastes better.

Perfect example... store bought tomato vs one you just picked.

No comparison.

[Lou... 3,118]

They tasted sweet like candy. It was a fun little experiment.

I use something that is similar, I call it sugar.

Crazy people like us do that because it tastes better.

Perfect example... store bought tomato vs one you just picked.

And how many tomatoes have you picked lately.

[pezheadval 32]

I use something that is similar, I call it sugar.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

And how many tomatoes have you picked lately.

Lately? Zero.

But I have been known to have a couple of pots of tomato plants, lettuce, etc. on the deck in the summer.

Last year I planted 5 kinds of mint and some other herbs. Boy did my yard smell delicious!

And there's nothing like "hey, I'm going to go pick some salad for dinner."

[photogal06...Sommer 10]

And there's nothing like "hey, I'm going to go pick some salad for dinner."

Absolutely! We don't have a huge garden, just a couple of beds in the side yard. We love to go pick a salad....we usually grow a few varieties of leaf lettuce, some cucumbers, some tomatoes....yum!

13.1......we didn't make any advance reservations for the tour....just walked up to the reservation desk in the Land when we arrived at Epcot that morning and asked what they had available for tours that day. It turned out they had 3 spots left on the next tour that morning, so we bought our tickets and asked for the Disney Visa discount right then...no problems at all. I bet your DD will absolutely love this tour!

[photogal06...Sommer 10]

My 12 year old daughter first told me about Miracle Fruit. She found it fascinating and wanted to try it, so we ordered some Miracle Fruit tablets online and had a Miracle Fruit party. We at the tablet and then tried all kinds of foods that are normally sour or bitter...lemons, grapefruit, green apples etc. They tasted sweet like candy. It was a fun little experiment.

That is a fun experiment....we may try that, too!