Three boats have sunk on EPCOT’s Living with the Land attraction in less than one month. Now, weeks after the original incident, one of the Walt Disney World Resort guests on board the first affected ride vehicle has shared their experience escaping the vessel.
The First Sinking on Halloween
The first major issue occurred on October 31, when a Living with the Land boat began tipping forward during the typically slow-moving greenhouse tour. One guest (TikTok user @finleyfamily) recorded a video from on board the ride vehicle, showing water rising inside the vessel as those onboard attempted to evacuate.
@finleyfamily We were on the ride Living with the Land at Epcot yesterday and it felt like we hit a pot hole but we know it’s on a track in the water. So as we kept going the water up front kept coming in apparently a lot. We were in the back but they loaded the boat heavily upfront we had two rows of empty seats behind us. One of the people in the front was a man who was probably 6.5” we all think it was loaded unevenly. But back to what happened. The people in the second row had about 4 inches of water they were moving there stuff around and it altered us and we could see that the front was so far down/listing…we knew something was wrong so we tried to move to the back of the boat to counter balance it. That didn’t work things started to shift and the boat, because it’s still being moved by the track, started to tilt pretty abruptly and we all felt scared and jumped off of it. Nobody was hurt just scared and wet thank goodness! @MichelleWalksDisney
By the time TikTok user @michellewalksdisney filmed the scene, guests had begun climbing out of the sinking boat without assistance from Disney cast members.
@michellewalksdisney Current situation. Boat in front of me started to sink and all occupants had to evacuate. We ended up chilling in our boat until cast members escorted us off and out the back. And people say living with the land is boring!! 😆 #epcot #livingwiththeland #wdw #fyp #sinkingship
One guest, Kevin Erickson, later clarified that the flooding was more severe than initially reported. Erickson said his wife noticed water rising roughly two-thirds of the way through the ride, beginning with her bag getting wet. Soon after, guests in the front row informed others that their section of the floor was completely submerged up to their knees.
Erickson explained that despite attempts to redistribute weight by moving around the ride vehicle, the situation worsened until guests abandoned the boat entirely.
“Apparently, I was the captain of this boat though, because I was the last one to abandon the ‘ship’ with a lot of help from my shipmates,” he said. “Because I was standing on the seat instead of the floor (because the floor was totally full of water by then), when my shipmates pulled me out of the boat I bumped my head on the roof of the boat. You can see that happen in the video by @michellewalksdisney.”
Second Boat Sinks on November 18
The issues continued on November 18, when a second Living with the Land boat began taking on water at a much faster rate. In this case, Disney cast members reportedly arrived in time to assist guests safely off the vessel. Riders later shared a now-deleted Instagram video showing that Disney compensated them with new Christmas-themed Crocs and a Lightning Lane pass to return to Living with the Land or enjoy another EPCOT attraction.
Third Boat Begins Tipping Over the Weekend
Only days later, a third boat began tipping on Living with the Land, as captured in a video posted by TikTok user @beka027mmp. The footage shows the vessel riding extremely low in the water, prompting concern from those on the boat behind it.
@beka027mmp Luckily, they made it! But it looked worse in person. Glad we didn’t have a Titanic situation on our hands. #titanic #livingwiththeland #epcot #boat #overboard
Several current and former Disney cast members commented that the boat was not operating correctly.
However, this ride vehicle did not sink, and the guests completed the attraction without evacuation.
Attraction Continues Operating Amid Ongoing Concerns
Despite the pattern of issues, Living with the Land remains open, and Walt Disney World Resort has not issued any public statements regarding the repeated malfunctions. The attraction is still scheduled to debut its annual Glimmering Greenhouses overlay for the International Festival of the Holidays on November 28, 2025.
Have you been on Living with the Land recently? Disney Fanatic would love to hear from you in the comments!
