How long is Behind the Seeds?

The Behind the Seeds tour takes 1 hour, but you should check in 15 minutes early. You can check in at the Land pavilion on the lower level between Living with the Land and Soarin’.

How much is Behind the Seeds?

Behind the Seeds costs $39 plus tax per person. There’s a 15% discount if you’re a Disney World annual passholder, Disney Vacation Club member, or pay with the Disney Visa card or Disney Premier card. Park admission is not included and you need a valid EPCOT pass or ticket to enter the park and join the tour. Advance reservations are recommended. Same-day spots may be available but aren’t guaranteed.

Is the tour hot or noisy?

The Behind the Seeds tour goes through working greenhouses, which can be warm and loud. Tour guides typically provide headsets so you can hear them. The greenhouses weren’t as hot as the summer temperatures outdoors during our tour, but we worked up a little sweat. There are water stations available throughout the tour, though we recommend bringing a water bottle. If you’re heat sensitive, consider a morning tour.

What should you wear or bring on the tour?

Wear cool and breathable clothing that you can easily walk in. You walk on paved walkways throughout the tour. Closed-toe shoes aren’t required, but you should wear shoes you’d be comfortable walking in for an hour. A water bottle can help you stay hydrated, though water is available in the greenhouses.

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A Review of EPCOT’s Behind the Seeds Tour: Is It Worth It?

Updated: September 23, 2025, 3:00pm CDT

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Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
Booking the Tour
Behind the Seeds Tour Experience
Is the Behind the Seeds Tour Worth It?
Final Thoughts

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My best friend’s favorite ride at Walt Disney World is Living with the Land, and we booked Behind the Seeds to get a backstage tour for her birthday.

This 1-hour walking tour took us off the boat path and onto the greenhouse floors inside EPCOT’s Land pavilion. Inside, cast members grow produce for Disney World restaurants and test sustainable growing methods, including aquaponics and hydroponics. This fun tour gave us an interactive, behind-the-scenes look at Disney’s EPCOT greenhouses. We sampled greenhouse cucumbers, got an up-close look at growing systems, and even fed the fish.

Learn how we booked (and saved with a Disney credit card), and see highlights from the tour so you know what to expect.

Key Takeaways

The experience: A 1-hour walking tour of the 4 working greenhouses and fish farm inside the Land pavilion at EPCOT
Cost: $39 per person (discounts available for cardholders, passholders, and Disney Vacation Club members)
Booking: Book your tour in the My Disney Experience app or on the Disney World website. A theme park ticket or pass is required and not included.
Ages: Park guests 3 and up can join the tour; kids under 18 must visit with a paying adult.
Attire: Cool and comfortable attire and closed-toe shoes are recommended.
Who should go: Living with the Land fans, gardeners, and anyone seeking edutainment.

Booking the Tour

You can book the Behind the Seeds tour in the My Disney Experience app or on the Disney World website. It’s possible to sign up at the tour desk within the Land pavilion, and there may be same-day availability, but advance reservations are recommended. Tours are typically scheduled daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every hour on the half hour.

If you’re not sure you want to book the tour, we recommend riding Living with the Land first. If you want a closer look inside the greenhouses, you can then book a tour.

The tour costs $39 plus tax per person. If you have a Disney World annual pass, are a Disney Vacation Club member, or pay with the Disney^® Premier Visa^® Card or Disney^® Visa^® Card, you can get a 15% discount on the tour.

Disney Visa card at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — The Disney Visa card saved me 15% on this tour.

Booking the tour does not include admission to EPCOT. You need a valid pass or day ticket to enter the park and join the tour.

Hot Tip:

The Behind the Seeds tour is one of the lowest-priced tours at Disney World. Other tours include the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (starting at $149), Wild Africa Trek (starting at $219), and Starlight Safari (starting at $89). Caring for Giants, a 1-hour African elephant tour at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, is another low-priced tour starting at $39.

Behind the Seeds Tour Experience

Checking In

As recommended, we checked in at the tour desk 15 minutes before our tour. The desk was between Living with the Land and the ride exit for Soarin’.

At the desk, tour staff confirmed our reservation and gave us waivers to sign. The tour guide reminded us that we’d be on the tour for an hour without restroom access and directed us to the restrooms near Soarin’.

Waiver at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Tour waivers.

We were given tour guest lanyards to wear during the tour.

EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour guest pass — Behind the Seeds Tour guest lanyard.

Once all the tour guests had checked in and gathered near the desk, we were taken through a door near the Soarin’ exit to start the tour. We began in a briefing room, where the tour guide gave us an overview of what to expect and the rules to follow and asked whether we had any allergies.

Next, we went into a biological control lab, where our tour guide explained pest management methods used in the pavilions. We learned about using a parasitic wasp to manage destructive leafminer larvae.

Before we left the lab, we were handed over-the-ear radios to wear during the tour. These were helpful, because parts of the greenhouses were loud and it might have been challenging to hear well without the radios.

EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour pest control — Inside the biological control lab.

The first greenhouse we visited was the Creative Greenhouse, where we got an overview of unusual crop growing methods, including squash growing without soil and hanging in the air.

Plants without soil in the Creative Greenhouse EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — These squash plants rotated through a trough instead of growing in soil.

In the Production Greenhouse, we saw plants grown for Disney World restaurants, including the Land’s Garden Grill Restaurant. We learned about using vertical towers and microgreens in media such as perlite.

Vertical growing in the Production Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Vertical growing in the greenhouse.

The guide also explained how waste is sorted and reused in the greenhouses, including composting.

Grow tank in the Production Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Vertical growing and waste disposal.

This part of the tour included a tasting stop with thin-skinned, burpless cucumbers, typically gentle on the digestive system.

Cucumber sampling in the Production Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Tasting a greenhouse cucumber on the tour.

We then moved on to the Temperate Greenhouse, which features sustainable agriculture concepts. Our guide explained the nutrient-film-technique hydroponic growing system used for some greenhouse plants. As we learned about the concept, we saw gardeners on the other side of the greenhouse planting using the technique.

Nutrient film technique growing in the Temperate Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — An NFT demonstration in the greenhouse.

The Aquacell was next, where we viewed tanks with fish, including shrimp and tilapia, and saw one of the tanks being cleaned. Here, we learned about aquaponics, using the beneficial bacteria from fish waste to create nitrates for plants.

Inside the Aquacell at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Inside the Aquacell.

We got to feed the fish before we left the Aquacell.

Fish feeding in the Aquacell at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — Feeding fish on the tour.

Next, we entered the Tropics Greenhouse, which was the highlight of the tour. Though this was the warmest greenhouse, it was also the most beautiful, with a 60-foot glass dome overhead and tropical plants surrounding us.

Our tour guide pointed out jackfruit, bananas, cacao, and other crops grown under the dome. We also saw plants that aren’t easily visible from the Living with the Land ride. That included a Mickey-shaped black pepper plant that our tour guide told us is the oldest plant at the Land.

Hidden Mickey black pepper tree in the Tropics Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — We met the oldest plant at the Land on our tour.

This part of the tour also included a spice garden segment, where we smelled and guessed the identity of spices and learned about each of them.

Spice quiz in the Tropics Greenhouse at EPCOT The Land Behind the Seeds Tour — The spice garden in the Tropics Greenhouse.

Hot Tip:

Our tour guide joked that guests riding Living with the Land through the greenhouses might think we were celebrities on a backstage tour, so we should wave if we wanted to! Obviously, my friend and I waved at everyone who looked our way.

After a pepper Mickey photo op, our tour wrapped up in the Tropics Greenhouse. We then headed back through the Aquacell and greenhouses to the briefing room. We had an opportunity to ask any final questions and turned in our radios before we left.

Is the Behind the Seeds Tour Worth It?

We enjoyed the tour and had a great experience. It’s one of Disney World’s best-value backstage experiences. At 1 hour long, it was short but substantial and hands-on.

If you enjoy Living with the Land, gardening, or STEM education, this tour is an easy yes. If you’re focused on rides or don’t want to stand for an hour, you might skip it. Kids under 3 aren’t allowed on the tour, so families with young children may want to wait or arrange childcare.

Final Thoughts

Behind the Seeds is the first tour I’ve taken at Disney World, and it was educational and enjoyable. The tour guide was informative and friendly, encouraging us to ask questions and explore the permitted tour areas. It was a great interactive tour, and I walked away with new knowledge and appreciation for the Land greenhouses and growing techniques. This won’t be a must-do tour on every Disney World trip, but I’ll gladly return and plan to book a family tour so my kids can get a biology lesson among the Disney greenhouses.