Living with the Land Holiday Overlay

[larryz]

Actually decorations ARE an event...there are many drive-through parks decorated with lights for the holidays... It is just decorations and they are crucial to a holiday celebration of any sort.

No, those are just decorations that you pay to walk/drive through. If you think that's an "event," you need to get out more.

 

[KimAnnFran]

Do they still have the "listen to the land" theme song?

 

[peter11435]

Do they still have the "listen to the land" theme song?

It’s been gone for 25 years.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It really does look like they handed the interns a couple hundred bucks, sent them down to the local lawn & garden center, and gave them 5 hours to pull everything together. It looks cheap and hastily thrown together. None of it relates to the mission of the attraction; it's literally just some strings of lights thrown haphazardly around the greenhouses. Perhaps if they updated the audio to include holiday music and/or new narration if would make sense, but as it is, there's just no rhyme or reason to it.

It's even more confusing when you consider that, more than any other indoor attraction, the extra lights are useless during daylight hours. And given the average guest's park touring habits and that the attraction typically closes at 7pm, very few guests will actually see this in its full glory (such as it is).

I will give them credit for trying. But for the worldwide theme park industry leader, I think they could try harder.

But it gives guests more time to ride the ride by having a night-lit version that it didn't have before. It's a plus for overall park capacity.

Yeah, it has no SFX and can look cheap, but that was true for the first year of the Christmas Tree Trail at DS with Wal-Mart six-foot trees and decorations that look like the CPs made them at gunpoint. Over the years they kept upgrading and adding till today, at which point, it's not that awful.

Also, like at DHS, with the removal of Osborne Lights, each year they add more to what they had the year before until the park is nicely decorated and has two big Christmas shows (JB and Sunset).

I imagine the Christmas decorations will improve as they bring out last year's decoration and are given a budget to keep adding to it year after year.

I hope.

 

[Nunu]

the first year of the Christmas Tree Trail at DS with Wal-Mart six-foot trees and decorations that look like the CPs made them at gunpoint. Over the years they kept upgrading and adding till today, at which point, it's not that awful.

Agree! I saw it the first year and it looked sad and cheap, I've avoided visiting since. I might give it another try this year.
And like you said, sometimes budgets are raised for small projects like these.

 

[Phil12]

Agree! I saw it the first year and it looked sad and cheap, I've avoided visiting since. I might give it another try this year.
And like you said, sometimes budgets are raised for small projects like these.

Maybe they'll bring back Listen to the Land:

 

[Dead2009]

The complaints about this overlay are a bit much. It's a theme park attraction, yet it's a boat ride through a greenhouse and decorated appropriately. No one complained before the lights were added? What are people wanting here? Lord. They really can't ever do anything right. We all nitpick things but this is a bit much. Just sit back and enjoy the overlay folks. Stop overthinking everything. Not everything requires a spastic light show that reminds you of the Osborne lights.

Thousands of dollars weren't spent so it's a dud.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Thousands of dollars weren't spent so it's a dud.

They spent thousands.

 

[Jedi Stitch]

Didn’t see this posted anywhere, or maybe I’m just overlooking it, but Living with the Land has a new holiday overlay this year. Living with the Land: Merry and Bright.

That video brightened my mood for the day.

 

[SuperStretccch]

Saw it last night and it was beautiful! I'll be honest, I personally wasn't aware of this overlay existing until I got on the ride, so it was a neat surprise to enter into the greenhouse and see everything all lit up beautifully. I also think they did just fine with the decorations; not overly flashy but also not understated. It didn't detract at all from the overall experience or message of the attraction; just some additional visual fun.

Still think it's fantastic to see them giving much-deserved attention to this classic piece of Epcot and I hope LwtL continues to remain a staple even throughout the major overhaul in the coming years.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

If they’ll put a little Santa hat on the capuchin in the jungle scene I’m sold....

 

[Seabasealpha1]

Maybe they'll bring back Listen to the Land:

Every time I hear this mentally all I can see is:

 

[socalkdg]

How long do the decorations last?

 

[LittleBuford]

The lights were an unexpected and beautiful surprise when I rode this one night a few weeks ago. The complaints make little sense to me. If thematic logic is the problem, shouldn’t Jingle Cruise be more of an issue? A decorated greenhouse makes more sense than a Yuletide jungle.

To be clear, I enjoy both overlays and am not trying to take a swipe at Jingle Cruise. It’s Christmas—can’t we just enjoy the extra festivity without overthinking it?

 

[ToTBellHop]

How long do the decorations last?

Unclear since Epcot pulls its decorations first, typically, but I would imagine through at least 1/5. They’ll need it all gone by Festival of the Arts on 1/17.

 

[socalkdg]

I'm in Epcot 1/4 so I'll try and check it out that day.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

It was back as of this weekend, new narration as well