Walt Disney's Garden

Behind the Seeds: Disney's Greenhouse Tour at Epcot

A few years back, Ryan and I took a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Now, most people wouldn’t peg a giant theme park as the place to indulge a love of gardening but they clearly haven’t taken the Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot.

This tour is located inside the Living with the Land attraction at Epcot’s The Land Pavilion. We booked ahead of our trip (which I definitely recommend if you’re interested as spots can fill up fast!) and it ended up being one of our favorite parts of the entire trip.

The tour takes you through four working greenhouses, each more fascinating than the last. These spaces are overflowing with vibrant, oversized produce and unusual crops from all over the world. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Disney uses innovative growing methods to produce food, experiment with plant health, and educate the public about sustainable agriculture.

We were introduced to a variety of techniques including hydroponics, aeroponics, vertical growing systems and got to see firsthand how plants can thrive without soil or traditional rows. One of the standout moments for us was learning about aeroponics: a method where the roots of a plant are suspended in air and misted with water and nutrients.

And then there was the famous “tomato tree.” Yes, you read that right. A tomato tree. Through careful training and vertical growing techniques, Disney coaxed a tomato plant into a treelike shape that went on to produce more than 32,000 tomatoes over a 16-month period. It’s even recognized by Guinness World Records. I remember standing there just trying to wrap my head around the sheer productivity of it.

Throughout the tour, we saw crops like vanilla, coffee, cacao, squash, cucumbers, leafy greens, dragon fruit, jackfruit, pineapple, papaya, java apple, and even cotton just to name a few. It felt like a peek into a futuristic version of farming, and it was all happening in the middle of a theme park.

What made it even more impressive was knowing that over 30 tons of produce harvested from these greenhouses each year go straight into Disney restaurants. Nothing gimmicky about it, it’s real food, grown sustainably and served to guests.

As someone who can’t help but nurture every sprout I come across, this tour was right up my alley. It made me think about how much possibility there is in gardening, not just for beauty or tradition, but for innovation too. Ryan and I still talk about it and would love to go back someday.

If you’re planning a Disney trip and love plants, sustainability, or just seeing how things work behind the scenes, don’t skip this one. It’s a slower-paced, hands-on experience that reminds you of the incredible things we can grow when curiosity and science come together.