Farm to table before it was cool!
Here we have another ride that is a little bit hard to handle because of how it has changed; partly because of its very nature. Most of the changes are small enough to not necessarily qualify as an entirely new attraction, but then also it underwent an entire name change. Picking which name, and which moment in time to go with for the list was hard.
I was tempted to pick 1994, when a cool thunderstorm sequence was added. However, the original opening-day version of the attraction -- which I barely remember -- gets the nod here for two reasons.
First, because the foundational attraction is what allows the Land boat ride to alter and change and still convey the same concept without total overhaul.
Second, because the original attraction was home to one of the most memorable and iconic songs the parks have produced (removed for the aforementioned also very cool thunderstorm scene).
If you've never really paid much attention to Futureworld in Epcot, or weren't around for its foundational years, allow me to set the scene. On the east side of the park, you had pavilions about man's invention and technology. The shapes were rigid and squared, and the decorations were structures made of metal and plastic and concrete.
On the west side of the park, you had more of the natural world, with imagination, the oceans, and -- in the center -- The Land. The shapes here were curved and gradual, and the decorations were -- and are still -- water and rolling hills of grass. The central pavilion was highlighted by a giant green house rising up in the sky, holding a pavilion meant to celebrate the natural bounties the Earth had to share with its residents.
Because EPCOT Center was not meant to be any old theme park, and because its pavilions were not mere museums, behind that fake greenhouse in the picture were a collection of actual greenhouses, where agricultural scientists -- and their support Cast -- would produce food using cutting edge technologies. Much of that food was then served to guests in a restaurant overlooking the ride in question; a system I believe is still in use today, and that legacy is part of why the original sits so high on this list.
Like I said, farm to table before that was a trend. Unlike most of your F2T restaurants, though, EPCOT Center let you tour their farming facilities. Further, they conducted that tour not by foot, or even by simple car, but by the coolest of all ride systems: atmospheric boat ride!
Listen to the Land could be found at the bottom of the pavilion, and guests boarded a large boat that was pushed through a flume via pump systems. We'll see this set-up quite a bit in the future of the list (spoilers), and it works so well. It gives subtly different sensations of movement and creates a little more wonder than just a ride vehicle on a bus bar, and also allows for quick dispatch intervals with large load sizes, meaning lines move fast.
For Listen to the Land, flowing down the canal also just reinforces that feeling of flow, curvature, and nature like we discussed in the design of the west side of Futureworld. It's treated and filtered ride water, not the actual irrigation of the farmland you'll be seeing; but it feels like it could be the river that fuels the environment.
Also, your boat came equipped with its very own tour guide. A living, breathing human went with you as the flume snaked through greenhouses, hydroponic laboratories, fish tanks, and informational projection shows. She'd be able to point out all the cool plants being grown -- like Mickey Mouse shaped tomatoes and giant dragonfruit -- and explain the methods being used to produce the food as efficiently as possible. We talked about "comfy" when it comes to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and that definitely applies at the Land boat ride, too. The scenery in the greenhouses is serenely perfect sand, lush greenery, and active fish tanks, while you gently float by.
Also, it even all starts with a dark ride segment! While the restaurant looks on, your guide talked to you about the cycles of nature. You travel through a detailed rainforest -- perfect for the flume -- through the arid desert, along a prairie where animatronic bison house secret background projectors, and through a homestead farm. It's not the most exciting or detailed dark ride, but it is cool and a great way to start the trip with tangible sets and excellent sound.
Also, if there was just a whole ride of jungle scenes on a boat, I'd like it.
Nearly everything said here about The Land remains true to this day. Living with the Land remains a comfy, educational experience worth enjoying on any trip to Epcot. The seed for that experience was planted in EPCOT Center with Listen to the Land, and we're paying homage to that foundation today.
The song hits me almost every day. This was one of my favorites for sure.