behind the seeds tour return

EPCOT Behind the Seeds Tour Returns to Disney World This October

by Timothy Moore | Aug 16, 2022 | EPCOT , Walt Disney World News , WDW Blog

The famous EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour is back starting Oct. 2, 2022. Scroll on for details.

When Walt Disney World reopened following its brief closure for COVID-19 in 2020, many of its beloved experiences, like character meet-and-greets and backstage tours, were put on pause. Slowly, Disney has been bringing back some of these special experiences. The latest to get the greenlight? The beloved (and cheap!) EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour.

The EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour officially returns Oct. 2, 2022 , with ticket sales starting on Aug. 16, 2022.

What Is the EPCOT Behind the Seeds Tour?

EPCOT’s Behind the Seeds tour gives guests a unique opportunity to tour The Land Pavilion on foot . Guests can regularly tour the pavilion by boat on Living with the Land , but this attraction doesn’t offer the exclusive encounters of the special tour.

EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour. Photo by Brett Svenson

During the Behind the Seeds tour, guests encounter the fish farm and four greenhouses , learning about everything from hydroponics to fish farming. Guests even get to check out the massive fruits and vegetables that EPCOT is famous for growing.

How Much Does Behind the Seeds Tour Cost?

Behind the Seeds costs $35 per person , plus tax. This was the cost of the tour before the COVID-19 closure; Disney has not yet clarified if the cost will go up upon reopening.

For $35 per person, you’ll see some cool behind the scenes stuff you won’t see from the boat on Living with the Land. Photo by Brett Svenson

You will also need theme park admission and an EPCOT Park Pass Reservation for the day of your scheduled tour.

How Long Is Behind the Seeds?

The EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour lasts approximately 1 hour , so it doesn’t cut in much to your day at EPCOT. On some days, you might stand in line longer to ride Living with the Land.

Keep in mind that this is a walking tour, so you will be on your feet for a full hour.

How Old Do You Have to Be for Behind the Seeds?

Disney says that Behind the Seeds is appropriate for preschoolers, kids, tweens, teens, and adults .

The EPCOT Behind the Seeds tour is ideal for all ages. Photo by Brett Svenson

Where Is Behind the Seeds?

Find the Behind the Seeds tour in EPCOT over at The Land Pavilion, within World Nature . If you’ve ridden Living with the Land, you’ll recognize the setting of this tour quite well.

Behind the Seeds is returning to The Land Pavilion at EPCOT. Photo by Rich Ramos

Other Returning EPCOT Experiences

Behind the Seeds is just one of several iconic EPCOT experiences set to return just in time for EPCOT’s 40th anniversary. We also look forward to the return of these experiences at The Seas Pavilion:

• EPCOT Seas Adventure – DiveQuest
• EPCOT Seas Adventures – Dolphins in Depth

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Authored by Timothy Moore

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Behind the Seeds

Walt Disney World® Resort

Valid admission required. A theme park reservation may be required based on admission type.

Age Interest

Preschoolers, Kids, Tweens, Teens, Adults

Additional Information - Opens Dialog

Behind the Scenes

Explore the future of agriculture during this up-close and personal backstage walking tour of The Land Pavilion.

See, Do, Learn, Grow!

• Learn about the hybrid striped bass, tilapia, catfish and freshwater shrimp in our fish farm.
• Behold gigantic fruits and vegetables and unusual crops from around the world.
• Discover the latest plant-growing techniques, including hydroponics—look, Ma, no soil!

How to Book

Make reservations online or via the My Disney Experience app . Same-day reservations and walk-ins can be made on a limited basis and are subject to availability.

Learn when advance reservations can be made .

Know Before You Go

• Theme park admission is required, but not included in the price of this tour. Theme park reservations are also required.
• You’ll be on your feet for the whole hour of this walking tour. With that in mind, make sure you wear comfortable shoes.
• Riding Living with the Land prior to the tour will give you a preview of what to expect. Please be aware that the tour highlights listed above are subject to change.
• Please check in 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour at the lower level of The Land Pavilion near the attraction exit.
• There is a 24-hour cancellation policy. Full price will be charged/forfeited if the Guest cancels within one day or fails to show up for the reservation.
• Guests must be at least 3 years of age to participate in this tour.
• Guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult.

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Dig Into The Land’s Behind the Seeds Tour at EPCOT

Seth Kubersky

One of Walt Disney World’s best backstage experiences recently returned for the first time since the pandemic began, and the Unofficial Guide has your complete look at EPCOT’s Behind the Seeds walking tour at The Land pavilion.

The Land pavilion at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT has long been known for its Living with the Land boat ride, which some guests (including this writer) consider even more essential than the Soarin’ simulator it sits beside. Living with the Land’s gentle tour through Disney’s greenhouses is a must-see, even if you don’t have a green thumb. But for anyone with a serious interest in gardening, agriculture, botany, or ecology, the boat ride is merely the beginning.

For the full scoop on EPCOT’s agricultural innovations, you need to sign up for the Behind the Seeds walking tour, which returned to daily operations in October 2022 after being temporarily closed for over two years. Advanced reservations for Behind the Seeds tours are available online , and you’ll want to check in at the desk found near the exit of Living with the Land at least 15 minutes before your assigned tour departure.

To begin your tour, your guide will lead you through a “cast members only” doorway in Soarin’s exit hallway and take you backstage to a facility where helpful insects are bred for integrated pest management. You’ll learn a little about that process—and get to eyeball some bugs—before receiving wireless receivers with amplifying earphones that will allow you to clearly hear your guide throughout the rest of the tour.

Next, guests get to peek into the USDA laboratory visible near the end of the boat ride, where scientists cultivate miniature plants sold as souvenirs.

The bulk of the Behind the Seeds tour takes place inside the large greenhouses, along a pathway visible to Living with the Land riders. The tour begins near the end of the ride, then proceeds backwards toward the start before backtracking to the exit.

Highlights of the greenhouse tour include a close encounter with a “sensitive” fern that curls up in response to touch…

A tasty sample of freshly harvested cucumber…

And an opportunity to feed the fish in The Land’s aquacell.

Near the conclusion, guests can take photos with the iconic Mickey-shaped pepper tree, which is the oldest living plant inside The Land’s greenhouses.

The quality of the experience—a cross between science lecture and Willy Wonka factory tour—depends heavily on the guide’s presentation; our guide, Kelsey, was extremely friendly and energetic, and she did a good job accommodating the wide range of ages in our group.

If reading this review made you eager for more, be sure to watch our complete POV video of the entire Behind the Seeds walking tour:

Have you been on the revived Behind the Seeds tour, or do you plan to go? Let us know in the comments below!

For all there is to see and do at Walt Disney World, check out The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World , or to plan your family’s trip to Orlando, check out The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids . 

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here . Be sure to follow us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Pinterest , and YouTube .

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Land & Seas Tours Returning to EPCOT

Walt Disney World has announced the return of select guided tours in the Land and Living Seas pavilions at EPCOT in 2022. This post will offer a rundown of the returning options from the Enchanting Extras Collection, plus the behind the scenes tours that we’re hoping also make a comeback.

These are the latest behind the scenes offerings to return to Walt Disney World. Earlier this year, a number of tours returned to Animal Kingdom: Up Close with Rhinos, Caring for Giants, Savor the Savanna, and Wild Africa Trek. Over at Magic Kingdom, Keys to the Kingdom returned, which is arguably the  flagship tour at Walt Disney World.

Beyond that, there have been a number of options from the Enchanting Extras Collection to return in the last few months. That includes everything from H2O Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at Magic Kingdom. Now, a trio of tours are returning to the World Nature section of EPCOT…

Here are the official details from Walt Disney World: EPCOT truly offers something for everyone. With the park transforming and preparing to celebrate EPCOT’s 40th Anniversary on October 1, 2022 – it’s an exciting time to experience and explore the park’s pavilions.

There will soon be three more reasons to visit! Additional fan-favorite tours from Walt Disney World’s Enchanting Extras Collection are returning to EPCOT beginning October 2, 2022 as the latest tours returning to the parks.

These experiences offer a glimpse behind the scenes, offering guests the unique ability to experience EPCOT by land and by sea…

If you like the Living with the Land attraction at EPCOT, then you’ll love Behind the Seeds. This one-hour tour of the fish farm and 4 greenhouses that make up the Land Pavilion is perfect for anyone with an interest in gardening or natural sciences.

Behind the Seeds teaches guests about the latest plant-growing techniques, including hydroponics. It also showcases the hybrid striped bass, tilapia, catfish and freshwater shrimp in EPCOT’s fish farm. Along the way, you’ll behold gigantic fruits and vegetables and unusual crops from around the world.

During Behind the Seeds, you’ll take in the sights and smells of unusual crops from around the world while exploring the future of agriculture. Your knowledgeable guide will help you discover some of the latest plant-growing techniques in use at The Land, including hydroponics, and provide ideas you can try at home in your own garden.

We absolutely love Behind the Seeds at EPCOT, and it’s actually the  first Walt Disney World tour we recommend. Read and see more in our  Behind the Seeds at EPCOT Tour Review .

The (Living) Seas with Nemo & Friends is home to more than 2,000 sea creatures representing over 90 aquatic species including sea turtles, angelfish, dolphins, eagle rays and sharks.

With the return of EPCOT Seas Adventures – DiveQuest, guests once again can dive right into this 5.7-million-gallon saltwater environment and immerse themselves into the sea life surrounding the coral reef. This experience offers SCUBA-certified guests guaranteed calm seas, unlimited visibility, no current and incredible marine life.

If you aren’t SCUBA-certified, there’s also an aquatic tour at the Living Seas pavilion for you.

With the return of EPCOT Seas Adventures – Dolphins in Depth, guests can meet the bottlenose dolphins at the Living Seas to learn about their complex undersea behavior and talk with the experts who work with them every day.

These guest-favorite tours return to EPCOT beginning October 2, 2022.

Advance reservations for the tours are available beginning August 22, 2022 on DisneyWorld.com or via the My Disney Experience app. Due to the popularity of these tours, advance bookings are highly recommended. The Behind the Seeds tour requires a valid theme park admission and reservation for EPCOT.

This is a welcome update, and addresses several more of Walt Disney World’s most popular tours among fans. Behind the Seeds, in particular, is beloved–and a great way to spend more time in the Living with the Land greenhouses.

Now that the Merry & Bright overlay is an annual thing that seems to get bigger and better each year, I’d love  to see Walt Disney World offer nighttime Behind the Seeds tours at Christmas-time.

Other tours likely face other impediments to returning (like the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour) or will need to be overhauled prior to making a comeback (like the unDISCOVERed Future World Tour).

While the latter wasn’t my favorite tour that we’ve ever done, I’d love to see the Steam Trains Tour return (since that means the Walt Disney World Railroad would be back in action!), as well as Marceline to Magic Kingdom, Yuletide Fantasy, and a few others.

With that said, Behind the Seeds and Keys to the Kingdom are Walt Disney World’s “biggest” tours from my perspective. Having that duo back plus all of the niche animal offerings in the Living Seas at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom is big win.

It’ll be interesting to see whether more Enchanting Extras have return dates announced later this year. I’m somewhat surprised there were no After Hours events in the parks this summer–that had to be a matter of staffing, as it’s hard to imagine Walt Disney World leaving that money on the table by choice. Villains After Hours at Magic Kingdom was starting to gain popularity pre-closure, and an After Hours event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios would do well there given everything that has opened there in the last few years.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews . To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of this news about behind the scenes tours returning to the Land and Living Seas pavilions at EPCOT? Planning on booking any of this? Excited for the return of Behind the Seeds? Would you do a nighttime ‘Merry & Bright’ Behind the Seeds Tour? Hoping more gets announced soon? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

Written by Tom Bricker

Looking forward to trying Behind the Seeds tour as have never done it and my wife is super keen to try it every time we visit The Land. We are returning hopefully before Christmas (from the UK!) and am trying to book this.

Has anyone tried to book it yet? I keep trying via the app but just get a loading spinner overlaid onto another screen where I can see it says bookings are available on the app… Tried on the website too.

Just wondering if there is another way, or maybe I need to call up!

Any idea if they will be bringing back the other dove tour in The Seas, the one that doesn’t require Scuba certification? My 11 year old was disappointed to learn that it hasn’t returned yet and we go in November.

Behind the Seeds is one we really want to take. We did Wild Africa Trek yesterday and it was really fun and exciting. That’s definitely a must. Where else can you get a picture of your feet with 5 alligators beneath them? And don’t worry about that rope bridge they show in the promo material. If you can get across the barrel bridge on Tom Sawyers Island you can do this one no problem.

I love Behind the Seeds, and I might have done it again, but I just checked the price, and at $35 per person I think I’ll pass. The last time I did the tour it was around $20. I know things are more expensive, but that’s a pretty steep jump, and more than I’m willing to pay for a 1-hour tour. I would still recommend it for first timers, because it’s really unique.

DO you know how much these tours will cost?

Another strong recommend on the Behind the Seeds tour (especially for all LWTL fans). You won’t regret it. Personally I think there could a post of favorite scenes in LWTL: I love the “bison” scene.

Hi Tom Any idea when Disneyland will have “A walk in Walt’s footsteps”? We have done the Keys tour and loved it. Wanted to see the difference between the two parks as far as tours go. Thank you

Good news! I loved the Behind the Seeds tour! I am hoping to do the Keys to the Kingdom on my next visit, which will, sadly, probably be a while from now.

You have totally sold us on trying the Behind the Seeds tour — so excited for this to open back up! Fingers crossed for our October visit!

This is great news! Any idea on when these reservations will open up on August 22nd?

done both divequest and behind the seeds. highly recommend both!

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Behind the Seeds Tour at EPCOT Walt Disney World Review

Behind the Seeds Tour is back! With new tours opening back up Oct. 2, we were so excited to be able to make this a part of our most recent trip. Fans of The Land ride will love this tour, which takes you behind the attraction itself! Read on to learn all about the Behind The Seeds Tour at EPCOT.

• 2 The Land Pavilion at Walt Disney World
• 4 Behind The Seeds Tour at EPCOT

The Land Pavilion at Walt Disney World

The Land Pavilion is located in the World Nature Neighborhood of EPCOT park. It is home to the restaurant Sunshine Seasons and one of our favorites, Garden Grill . This building also houses the Awesome Planet show and two rides. Soarin’, one of the most popular rides at EPCOT lives here. And so does Living With The Land. Living With The Land is a favorite to many guests and could be considered edutainment, since the ride offers both fun and some learning opportunities. These learning opportunities are presented in a living laboratory, and that’s where the Behind The Seeds Tour comes in! 

The living laboratory is where the tour takes place. Which is pretty cool, because you can see the ride operating while you’re behind the scenes! 

Behind The Seeds Tour at EPCOT

Behind the Seeds is a one-hour special tour.  One of the more affordable tours at Walt Disney World, in 2022 this will cost you $35 per person. And sometimes discounts are available, so it’s always good to check! We were able to save 10% with our Walt Disney World Annual Pass . It’s super easy to book and can be done entirely online. Like all of the enchanting extras collection , this tour can be booked at midnight, 60 days before the start of your trip.

Behind The Seeds takes you behind the scenes of Living With The Land. You’ll start by being given a headset so that during the tour, you can hear what the guide is saying to the group during periods of loud noise. During this tour, you get a close up look at the four labs that make up The Land. A knowledgeable tour guide will lead you through the facility, explaining their techniques and methods used there. Basically, you’ll get insider access to the living lab. And learn all about their mission! We were fascinated to learn that The Land strives to 95% waste free, and they actually surpass that, being 99.3% waste free! Your tour guide will also teach you about pest control, what they do with everything they grow there, and how they are researching and constantly. You may even have a chance to feed the fish! This tour goes by pretty quickly, but we found it interesting, educational and fun all at the same. 

Is Behind the Seeds worth it?

If you love conservation, plants, or Living with the Land, then yes! It’s one of the more affordable tours, making it well worth it. This tour actually tends to be quite popular for how affordable it is.  At $35 per person, this is one of the most affordable tours you’ll be able to find at Walt Disney World. 

Is the Behind The Seeds Tour good for kids?

Yes! We think curious minds will love this tour. And if you’re a homeschool family , this is a great lesson for the day. And even brings up topics that can later be explored and expanded upon at home. 

Booking a Behind The Seeds Tour

As stated earlier in the post, you can book Behind The Seeds fully online ! You can even apply any discounts you may have online. You can also call (407)939-5277 to book if you’d prefer but online is really much easier. Walk up times are sometimes also available, which makes it easy to fit into a busy schedule. You can always ride The Land, and check the Behind The Seeds counter afterwards to see if they have any openings available for that day. The counter is located right next to the ride exit. 

Overall we loved the Behind The Seeds Tour. Our guide was fantastic! It was educational without being boring and the hour for the tour flew by pretty quickly. If you’re looking for something a little extra to add to your Walt Disney World trip, and love The Land ride at EPCOT, we highly recommend giving this one a try. Have you taken this tour before? Let us know what you thought of it, we’d love to hear!

Melanie Renee

Melanie Renee is a photographer, writer, designer and mom. Visiting Disney destinations since 2010, she is also an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. When she's not creating her next coffee recipe, or designing apparel at Polka Dot Pixie Shop, she's seeking beautiful sunsets and planning her next trip .

• Melanie Renee https://www.polkadotsandpixiedust.com/author/melanniee/ French Quarter Lounge on the Disney Wonder
• Melanie Renee https://www.polkadotsandpixiedust.com/author/melanniee/ New Disneyland Pixar Fest Snacks 2024
• Melanie Renee https://www.polkadotsandpixiedust.com/author/melanniee/ How a Disney Cruise to Europe is different
• Melanie Renee https://www.polkadotsandpixiedust.com/author/melanniee/ 11-night Disney Cruise to Northern Europe on the Disney Dream

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Epcot Behind the Seeds Tour Review

Posted on Last updated: September 27, 2023

Tours at Disney World are a great way to “plus” your vacation if you’ve been to the parks many times.

To get a feel for what to expect on a Disney World tour, I took the Behind the Seeds Tour at Epcot last month.

Read on to learn all about what to expect on this tour and my overall impressions!

The Behind the Seeds tour gives a “backstage” tour of the greenhouses found in the Land pavilion in Epcot’s Future World.

You see these greenhouses on the Living with the Land boat ride and I have been fascinated with them since I was a kid!

Behind the Seeds Tour Times

The tour is offered every day of the week and many times throughout the day. Here is a recent schedule of times the tour is offered:

I registered for the tour 60 days in advance by booking online through Disney’s Enchanting Extras .

I paid for the tour with my Chase Disney Visa to get a 15% discount – click here to learn about this and other perks of having the Chase Disney Visa card in your wallet.  

The total for the Behind the Seeds tour with my discount was $29.75 (regular price is $35).

I checked in at the meeting place for the tour, the Soarin’ desk inside the Land pavilion, 15 minutes prior to the tour and was given a nametag.

Our tour guide met our group of about eight people soon after and whisked us backstage to begin the tour!

I have to go on Living With the Land every time I’m at Epcot, so getting to experience the attraction backstage was a huge treat.

There were several hidden (and not-so-hidden) Mickeys throughout the backstage area, so you never forgot you were at Disney!

We visited four greenhouses and the fish farm during the tour while Brian explained some of the techniques used at the facility.

I think anyone with an interest in the natural sciences or gardening would be fascinated with the content.

I was amazed at how much I learned in this 60-minute tour. I

really appreciated the pace, which was brisk without feeling rushed. The time passed quickly and I was surprised when an hour had already passed.

I also loved the sensory experience of the tour-  not only did we see and listen, but we also touched, smelled, and even tasted!

There were two little ones on our tour (roughly ages one and six) and they did great. I plan on taking my daughter when she is old enough to understand more of the science, maybe around age nine or ten.

Overall, I was blown away by the quality of the Behind the Seeds tour – I felt like it was worth at least double what I paid! If this tour is any indication, expect to get a great deal of education and entertainment on Disney World tours.

Any questions about this tour or tour in general at Disney World? Please leave a comment below or join the discussion over at The Budget Mouse private Facebook group !

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Behind the Seeds Tour of The Land Pavilion in Disney World’s EPCOT

If you love the Living with the Land attraction in EPCOT , then you may want to take the Behind the Seeds Tour !

Behind the Seeds

You’ll visit four greenhouses (plus a fish farm) in The Land Pavilion during this one-hour tour , encountering insects, fish, and plants along the way.

Plant-growing techniques — including hydroponic soil-free gardening — are shared, making this a great opportunity for at-home gardening hobbyists.

Disney highly recommends that you ride the Living with the Land attraction prior to participating in the Behind the Seeds tour to enjoy a preview of what you can expect from the tour.

Click HERE for our review of the Behind the Seeds Tour!

Check in takes place 15 minutes prior to your tour at the Tour Desk in The Land Pavilion (just outside of the exit to Living with the Land ).

Tours are offered several times daily, typically beginning at park opening with the last tour available at 4:30PM. View available times on the Disney World Behind the Seeds Tour Page .

$39.00 – $45.00 per guest (prices vary by date; tax not included)

Additional Information

• Park admission is required and not included in the cost of the tour;
• No dining component is included with this tour;
• Behind the Seeds is a walking and standing tour of about an hour, so plan to wear comfortable shoes;
• It’s a good idea to ride the Living with the Land attraction prior to your tour to add to the fun and understanding!
• Cancellations are required two days prior to your tour to avoid forfeiting the entire price of the tour.

Booking is available via the Walt Disney World website . Guests may also book Behind the Seeds via the My Disney Experience app .

NOTE: Prices and inclusions are subject to change. Please visit the Disney World Behind the Seeds Tour Page to confirm information prior to booking.

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Behind the Seeds Tour Review – EPCOT

September 4, 2023 by @Modlifeisgood Leave a Comment

Behind the Seeds Tour is one of Walt Disney World’s longest-running tours. The tour lasts just over an hour and is a backstage tour of the Greenhouses that make up the popular Living With The Land attraction.

Living with the Land(originally Listen to the Land) is one of EPCOT ‘s original attractions, although several changes have been made over the years. Today, Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride consisting of a few dark ride components but mainly a tour through the Land Pavilion’s greenhouses. The ride’s focus is on agriculture and how innovations and technology can make it more sustainable.

What is Hydroponics?

The Land might be considered a misleading name for the pavilion. One thing you won’t see much of in the greenhouses is soil. Instead, all plants are grown using Hydroponics.

Hydroponics is the use of mineral-based water to grow plants instead of soil. You could consider all the plants to be “test tube plants.” The staff who work in the Land Pavilion are not your average farmer and are specialist scientists, including your guide for The Behind the Seeds Tour.

Hydroponics might sound like “space age” science, but it actually isn’t anything that new. Unbelievably, hydroponics was first mentioned in the book Sylva Sylvarum , published in 1627 and written by Francis Bacon. While the Land Pavilion might promote this as the future of farming, it is actually reviewing techniques first discussed in the Middle Ages. In recent years, NASA has done extensive hydroponic research.

Today, there are increasing numbers of commercial Hydroponic Ventures. The commercial viability of these ventures has been discussed at length, but successes are becoming more common. Increasingly, hydroponics is used to grow tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers in greenhouses.

How much is Behind the Seeds Tour?

The Behind the Seeds Tour allows you to get a closer look at the greenhouses, see a few backstage areas, and learn more about the innovations used at EPCOT. Guests must be over 3 to tour, but the tour probably isn’t suitable for children under 10.

When Walt Disney World reopened, most of the usual Tours and experiences did not initially return. Slowly, many have returned, but fewer tours are still available in 2023 compared to 2020. However, one aspect that hasn’t been reduced is the price.

Tours now come at a significant premium, with Behind the Seeds costing $35 plus tax, but Annual Pass holders do qualify for a discount. Before the tour was postponed, the tour cost $25 , and not too far in the past, it cost less than $20. There also is no longer a child discount. I do wonder how much the guide received!

Behind the Seeds is still Walt Disney World’s most reasonably priced tour despite the above figures. It is also the cheapest way for you to get into a backstage area unless you are fortunate/unfortunate to get evacuated from a ride. Unlike most other backstage areas, photographs are encouraged while you are on the tour.

What is included in Behind the Seeds Tour?

The tour is in several stages but starts in a backstage area with a short video and several display tanks. This initial part of the tour discusses garden pests and solutions EPCOT uses to control them. In my opinion, this was the slowest part of the tour. After this, guests are given digital listening advice, which they wear for the rest of the tour. The device allows you to listen to the commentary from your guide while exploring the greenhouses.

One of the first stops in the tour is a look into the window of the FDA Laboratory. Although you get a closer look compared to the boat ride, you are not allowed into the lab. However, you do learn more about the research getting done in the lab.

There is a short-tasting spot as you walk through the greenhouses and past the ride boats. On our tour, guests had the opportunity to taste some of the cucumber grown in the greenhouses. Food from the greenhouses can be tasted at several locations, including The Garden Grill at Epcot and Tiffins in Animal Kingdom.

During the walk through the fish farm, there was an opportunity to feed some of the fish reared at EPCOT.

There is plenty of opportunity to take photographs and ask questions as you tour. On our tour, a few guests were keen “amateur growers,” and they dominated the questions a bit too much.

Our opinion on Behind the Seeds Tour

Overall, this was an interesting hour spent looking at a backstage area of Walt Disney World.

Behind the Seeds Tour is the most affordable way to explore backstage at Walt Disney World; therefore, the tour is extremely popular. We don’t recommend the tour for small children and would suggest avoiding the tour if children are under 10.

We recommend the tour as an opportunity to do something different but suggest you book early, especially during busy periods.

Our  Guide to Walt Disney World  is a fantastic place to start your research for a Walt Disney World Vacation.

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Behind the Seeds

Walt Disney World® Resort

Valid admission required. A theme park reservation may be required based on admission type.

Age Interest

Preschoolers, Kids, Tweens, Teens, Adults

Additional Information - Opens Dialog

Behind the Scenes

Explore the future of agriculture during this up-close and personal backstage walking tour of The Land Pavilion.

See, Do, Learn, Grow!

• Learn about the hybrid striped bass, tilapia, catfish and freshwater shrimp in our fish farm.
• Behold gigantic fruits and vegetables and unusual crops from around the world.
• Discover the latest plant-growing techniques, including hydroponics—look, Ma, no soil!

How to Book

Make reservations online or via the My Disney Experience app . Same-day reservations and walk-ins can be made on a limited basis and are subject to availability.

Learn when advance reservations can be made .

Know Before You Go

• Theme park admission is required, but not included in the price of this tour. Theme park reservations are also required.
• You’ll be on your feet for the whole hour of this walking tour. With that in mind, make sure you wear comfortable shoes.
• Riding Living with the Land prior to the tour will give you a preview of what to expect. Please be aware that the tour highlights listed above are subject to change.
• Please check in 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour at the lower level of The Land Pavilion near the attraction exit.
• There is a 24-hour cancellation policy. Full price will be charged/forfeited if the Guest cancels within one day or fails to show up for the reservation.
• Guests must be at least 3 years of age to participate in this tour.
• Guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult.

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DisneyTips.com Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation

These backstage tours are finally returning to epcot.

Posted by: Brittany DiCologero August 16, 2022

Backstage tours are among some of the most popular experiences for fans of Walt Disney World, with tours offering behind-the-scenes looks at attractions, and exclusive areas of Disney Parks not otherwise seen.

Many of the backstage tours at Walt Disney World have returned since they were paused at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Guests have been holding out hope that some favorites would return to EPCOT soon.

This morning, the Disney Parks Blog confirmed a number of returning backstage experiences at the Park that Guests can book for vacations this fall, and we can’t wait to share all of the details!

Credit: Disney

Behind the Seeds at Living With the Land

One of EPCOT’s most popular backstage tours, the Behind the Seeds Tour is set to return to the Land Pavilion. This hour-long walking tour of the Living With the Land attraction and its adjacent greenhouse space is perfect for Guests interested in gardening and natural sciences to learn more about how this iconic ride inspires the future of sustainable agriculture.

In addition to seeing all of the unique agricultural methods at the Land Pavilion, this Disney tour is a great way for Guests to learn some new tips for managing their gardens at home. Behind the Seeds is also one of the most affordable backstage tours at the Walt Disney World Resort , as it is only $35 per person.

EPCOT Seas Adventure – DiveQuest

The Seas With Nemo & Friends is really one of the most underrated areas of any Disney Park. The giant tank inside this pavilion houses over 2,000 creatures from 90 species, including sea turtles, dolphins, eagle rays, angelfish, and sharks, just to name a few.

EPCOT Seas Adventures – DiveQuest allows Guests to enter the 5.7 million-gallon tank to immerse themselves in the world that these creatures call home. The experience is only available to SCUBA-certified Guests, but if you happen to have SCUBA knowledge this behind-the-scenes tour offers an extremely unique look at one of EPCOT’s most fascinating pavilions .

EPCOT Seas Adventures – Dolphins in Depth

Dolphins in Depth offers a backstage tour experience for Guests who are not SCUBA-certified (or simply prefer a more accessible tour). During this experience, Guests can meet the dolphins who live at The Seas With Nemo & Friends up close while learning about these incredible animals and their lives in the wild.

Booking opens for all of the above tours and backstage experiences at EPCOT beginning August 22, 2022. Guests can make reservations in advance on DisneyWorld.com or in the My Disney Experience app for tours beginning October 2, 2022, (right after the 40th anniversary of EPCOT.)

Walt Disney World backstage tours are available in all four theme parks, including Magic Kingdom , Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom , in addition to Disney VIP tour experiences. Information on booking a Disney backstage tour , or spending the day with VIP tour guide is available on Disney’s official website and app.

As you make reservations, remember that valid theme park admission and reservations are required for the Behind the Seeds tour. Book your tour soon, and have a magical time!

About Brittany DiCologero

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Behind the Seeds

• Preschoolers

Valid admission required. A theme park reservation may be required based on admission type.

See, Do, Learn, Grow!

• Learn about the hybrid striped bass, tilapia, catfish and freshwater shrimp in our fish farm.
• Behold gigantic fruits and vegetables and unusual crops from around the world.
• Discover the latest plant-growing techniques, including hydroponics—look, Ma, no soil!

How to Book

Advance reservations are highly recommended, as availability is limited.

Make reservations online or via the My Disney Experience app . Same-day reservations and walk-ins can be made on a limited basis and are subject to availability.

Learn when advance reservations can be made .

Know Before You Go

• Theme park admission is required, but not included in the price of this tour. Theme park reservations are also required.
• You’ll be on your feet for the whole hour of this walking tour. With that in mind, make sure you wear comfortable shoes.
• Riding Living with the Land prior to the tour will give you a preview of what to expect. Please be aware that the tour highlights listed above are subject to change.
• Please check in 15 minutes prior to the start of your tour at the lower level of The Land Pavilion near the attraction exit.
• There is a 24-hour cancellation policy. Full price will be charged/forfeited if the Guest cancels within one day or fails to show up for the reservation.
• Guests must be at least 3 years of age to participate in this tour.
• Guests under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult.

Safety, Accessibility and Guest Policies

Make a reservation, times for behind the seeds.

Review: Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot’s Living with the Land

Behind the Seeds, a backstage tour of Living with the Land at Epcot, focuses on the science of a fan-favorite Disney World attraction.

Basic Info for Behind the Seeds

Behind the Seeds is a one-hour guided tour backstage at Epcot. Attendees learn about the real-life horticulture and nutrition grown inside The Land Pavilion in the World Nature area of the park, specifically along the route of the Living with the Land boat ride. Along the way, guests get to touch, taste, and even feed some of the organisms that grow here.

Behind the Seeds is one of many backstage tours at Walt Disney World Resort. These experiences are branded under Disney’s Enchanted Extras Collection, a catch-all term for tours, private PhotoPass sessions, and other structured, guided add-ons to a Disney World vacation.

Backstage at Living with the Land

Behind the Seeds is the only tour at Disney World to focus on one specific ride. Given the fandom that Living with the Land commands online within the theme park community, many guests may enjoy the opportunity to not only learn more about the attraction, but to simply spend an extended period of time in its calming atmosphere.

Much of Behind the Seeds takes place in walkways adjacent to the ride path of Living with the Land. You may have seen tour groups shuffling through from your boat while onboard the ride.

Because of this proximity — being a “backstage” tour that largely takes place in a guest area — photography is allowed during Behind the Seeds (whereas most Disney tours have a strict no-photos policy). A few minutes into the tour, I realized the unique vantage point we had of many plants and structures I’d never seen so up-close before. Why was my camera in my backpack?! I promptly retrieved it, and spent much of the remainder of the tour snapping pictures. If you enjoy taking photos inside Disney theme parks, Behind the Seeds offers the unique opportunity to practice photography of a familiar space from uncommon angles. I loved taking advantage of this when I realized I could.

You’ll Enjoy Behind the Seeds If …

Behind the Seeds feels a bit like a science class field trip. It’s educational and hands-on in a space that’s not a classroom. If that sounds fun to you, you’ll enjoy this tour. If that sounds boring to you, your hour might be better spent elsewhere in Epcot.

Guests with interests in horticulture, farming, health, or bugs will be over the moon during Behind the Seeds. At the same time, one needn’t be an expert in any of these subjects to enjoy the tour. The information on the tour is presented in a clear, accessible, and fun way.

Visitors with fond memories of 1980s Epcot may also find Behind the Seeds particularly special. Although Living with the Land has changed slightly over the decades, the attraction remains largely the same overall experience that debuted with Epcot in 1982. Incidentally, our tour guide told us much of the attraction’s backstage systems have remained stuck in the ’80s, too. More on that in a moment.

Fun Facts We Learned

Some fascinating tidbits we learned during Behind the Scenes:

• While it’s true that food grown inside The Land Pavilion is harvested for guest consumption at Disney World restaurants, the ratio of this supply is very small compared to the resort’s total inventory of fruits and vegetables.
• Chefs at Disney World restaurants can request specific items be grown in The Land Pavilion for specialty dishes or new menu items. The most frequent “customers” are the chefs at Tiffin’s (at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park) and curators of corporate events onsite.
• Only cast members with special clearance can enter the areas closest to the plants throughout Living with the Land. Anyone without certification is not allowed — including Imagineers. For this reason, the attraction’s horticulturalists are responsible for seasonal theming elements, like the lights during the holidays or the storybook gardens during springtime. Typically these décor-driven tasks would fall to Imagineers instead.

Is Behind the Seeds Worth It?

Behind the Seeds costs $39-$45, depending on the date (same price for all guests regardless of age). This price does not include park admission to Epcot, which is required.

While the bottom line might seem more economical compared to other Disney tours , the proportion of cost-vs.-time is more expensive than some of them. Behind the Seeds is roughly $40 for one hour. In contrast, Keys to the Kingdom (the tour of Magic Kingdom Park and its “underground” Utilidors) is $129-$149 for five hours.

For longtime Disney World visitors looking for something new to experience, Behind the Seeds is an excellent choice to see something you know through a completely new lens. First-time guests or those expecting a look into the history of Epcot and the inner workings of Disney storytelling would probably enjoy a different tour more.

Our tour guide said that much of the technology at work within The Land Pavilion’s real-life application was revolutionary when Epcot opened, but it’s almost all outdated by today’s industry standards. Therefore, seeing it all up close could be either fascinating or depressing, depending on your point of view.

How to Book

Behind the Seeds embarks on a new tour every hour, on the half-hour, 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Guests staying onsite at a hotel in the Disney Resorts Collection can book their spot for Behind the Seeds beginning at 6 a.m. (eastern time) 60 days prior to check-in day. Other guests can reserve a tour up to 60 days before their intended tour date.

Book online here , or call (407) 939-7529. Disney Vacation Club members can call (800) 800-9800. Guests can also reserve Behind the Seeds in the My Disney Experience app. Disney accepts walk-ups too, if space is available; you can check by visiting the desk near the ride entrance to Living with the Land.

While some Disney tours require an age minimum somewhere in the teens, Behind the Seeds is available to any guest age 3 and up (though guests under age 18 need an adult present with them). That being said, it’s hard to imagine a three-year-old enjoying Behind the Seeds. As stated earlier, the vibe is very “science class field trip” and therefore probably best enjoyed by guests ages 8 and up.

Other Epcot Tours

As an alternative to Behind the Scenes (or in addition to it!), Epcot junkies can take a deep dive, literally, during DiveQuest or Dolphins in Depth , two programs offered with Epcot Seas Adventures within The Seas with Nemo & Friends.

The former Undiscovered Future World tour is no longer offered.

Living with the Land Ride-Through POV Video

We leave you with this, a full ride-through video, so that you may truly be living with the land.

If you’re interested in visiting Walt Disney World Resort, we recommend Mouse Fan Travel for a free, no obligation quote and free help throughout your trip.

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Epcot Behind the Seeds Tour Review (2024)

Last updated on Mar 5, 2024 by Adam Bryan . This post may contain affiliate links.

If you love Living with the Land but still want to get even more behind the scenes details about what goes on in the Land Pavilion, then the Behind the Seeds Tour in Epcot is the way to go.

I’ve been eyeing this tour for years and finally decided to go and book it once and for all, and all I can say is that I was not disappointed.

Behind the Seeds Review

How to book the tour, is it worth it.

Before we get started, here’s what you should expect on your tour:

• 1 hour walking tour of the fish farm and 4 greenhouses
• Sample of one of the grown fruits and vegetables
• Learn about the tastes in plant-growing techniques, including hydroponics

And now, here’s a quick review and video of my most recent experience on the tour.

You check in at this desk right near the entrance of Soarin’ .

You then grab an earpiece with your tour guide and head backstage.

Our tour guide was pretty knowledgeable and gave us some pretty detailed information about the greenhouses as a whole.

During this portion you’ll walk through all four greenhouses and learn about the growing techniques as well as get a free sample of one of the vegetables to eat.

It was pretty cool to get up close with all this tech that you kinda “blow by” during Living with the Land.

I got too excited and forgot to take a picture but it was a cucumber that was grown in the greenhouse.

We then got to see the older plant there, the Black Pepper tree with Mickey Ears and got a photo.

After that we got to feed some fish, which was pretty cool.

Overall, it was a pretty cool tour that actually went by pretty quick.

The Behind the Seeds tour costs $39 to $45 per person (not including tax)

To book a Behind the Seeds Tour, you can check for availability on the Disney World website here .

Although advance reservations are highly recommended, there is always a slim possibility to book a tour at the check-in desk near the Soarin’ entrance.

If you’re someone that enjoys behind the scenes tours or has an affinity for horticulture, then you’ll definitely enjoy this tour.

It’s not the craziest most fun tour out there, but it is a cool experience to try at least once, especially if you’ve been to Disney World countless times and want to find something new to help keep the magic fresh.

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About Adam Bryan

Hey what's up, I'm Adam, founder of Urban Tastebud Disney and I spend most of my days eating (and researching, but mostly eating) around Disney Parks to create useful travel planning content that will help you maximize your time and money at Disney.

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Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot gives guests interactive walk through greenhouses in The Land

If you are looking for an inexpensive tour at Walt Disney World that takes guests “backstage,” Behind the Seeds at Epcot just might be the one for you! This one-hour experience is a guided tour of the four greenhouses and aquaculture area of The Land and it only costs $25 per adult or $20 per child — 15 percent less if you are an annual passholder, Disney Vacation Club owners or Disney Visa cardholder.

After taking this tour during a recent media event, I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner. I blame that on the fact that I am not a gardener and I wasn’t sure it would really interest me. But trust me when I say you do not have to be someone who enjoys working with plants to enjoy this look into alternative growing techniques used at Walt Disney World. There are several interactive parts, including sampling cucumbers grown in one of the greenhouses and feeding fish (if you choose) in the Aquaculture area. We even had a child along on our trip and she was engaged and asking questions the entire time.

Let’s get started, shall we?

We met at the desk outside Soarin, which is also where you can book this tour the day you’d like go (space permitting) if you do not reserve it in advance. Our tour leader and Disney intern Sara quickly whisked us backstage and gave each person a headset with adjustable volume so we could always hear her. This is common practice on Walt Disney World tours.

Integrated Pest Management

We started our tour in a room displaying how Integrated Pest Management is used in Walt Disney World to minimize damage from pests using the least toxic methods possible. We were shown the example of parasitic wasps that kill leafminer flies. These pests treat plant leaves in the greenhouses as a buffet, but the use of wasps has virtually extinguished the need for pesticides.

Biotechnology Lab for Crop Improvement

Next, we peeked into the Biotechnology Lab for Crop Improvement co-sponsored by USDA-ARS. Here, we looked through the glass and did not enter the lab because they have to maintain completely sterile conditions. The cast members are working on tissue culturing, which “is a fancy way of saying taking cuttings from plants in a sterile environment,” Sara told us. Their goal is to use this method to get the plants to grow for an extended period of time.

Hydroponics: Aeroponics

If you’ve ever ridden the Living with the Land attraction , which is a boat tour through these very greenhouses, you know that a large amount of growing space is dedicated to the practice of hydroponics, or the growing of plants without soil and distributing nutrients through water. The first section of Hydroponics that we encountered was dedicated to Aeroponics, which means the plant roots are misted or sprayed with the liquid nutrients. Plants are suspend from a conveyor belt and attached with Velcro to metal rods for vertical support. Their roots pass through a misting system as they move.

This area also is home to a Mimosa pudica (sensitive plant) named Stanley. We were encouraged to touch this plant to see the effect of the leaves closing. We were told Stanley is not like a Venus Fly Trap, which is a carnivorous plant that eats bugs. Instead, Stanley closes his leaves as a defense mechanism and will reopen them ten minutes later.

Hydroponics: Gro-tank

Then it was time to taste the efforts of Epcot horticultuists. We sampled cucumber slices and were shown how they were grown in an old fish tank — something that guests can do at home. If you’d like to give it a try, we’ve posted the directions from Walt Disney World below.

Hydroponics: Raised beds and lean-and-lower process

We passed by raised planting beds in which cast members were caring for kohlrabi, broccoli and turnups and saw huge drums of the liquid nutrients used to feed the plants. Sara explained that all the plants in the The Land greenhouses receive the same nutrients but in different quantities. We also saw tomato plants being grown with a lean-and-lower process that forces the tomatoes to the bottom of each suspended plant, making harvesting easier with a uniform method for picking.

Hydroponics: Nutrient Film Technique

The Nutrient Film Technique is used to grow vegetables with less water and space. This system creates irrigation with nutrients that runs continuously and is recirculated. Here, it only takes 2 gallons of water to grow each pound of lettuce. In the fields with soil, it takes 12 gallons of water per pound of lettuce. The Land grows 2,000 heads of lettuce with this method, but in places like Japan and China, they stack the trays and grow exponentially more.

Hydroponics: Eggplants and Winter Melons

We passed by the eggplants, which some guests may be surprised to see can br grown long and skinny. Sara explained they are used for stir-fry dishes at the resort, while the more common round eggplants are grown in another part of the greenhouse. The main purpose for the eggplant demonstration, however, was to show us what looks like seed packets hanging from the eggplants. These packets actually each contains 200 mites, which escape through a hole and crawl onto the leaves for pest management. We also saw winter melons, which can grow to almost child-size — no joke — in these greenhouses.

Hydroponics: Passion Fruit

This is the point in the tour where everyone is invited to sit down on a bench and listen to your guide explain how Disney pollinates its plants without the use of bees because of the tourists in The Land attraction every day. This is done through hand pollination. We were shown the beautiful flower of the passion fruit, which has both male and female parts within the same bloom. Interns like Sara are responsible for the process of rubbing the male parts on the female parts to pollinate the flower so it will grow into the fruit. Winter melons actually have separate male flowers and female flowers, which can be a more complicated process.

Growing in sand

Although the passion fruit is being grown on a trellis, other plants in this area — such as fig trees and sugar cane — are being grown in sand. Guests will see more than 100 varieties of plants. “The trick is to get the water and nutrients to the roots of your plant in the sand, so we do that from below the surface of the plant,” Sara told us. “Everywhere you see a plant in the sand, there is actually drip irrigation running underneath it. This is efficient because if you are living in a dry area it will prevent evaporate or runoff of the water and nutrients.”

Aquaculture

Next, we entered the Aquaculture area, which usually prompts excitement from guests on the attraction boats. There are about 200 species of animals that can be grown in tanks of water. At The Land, guests will see many animals, including eels and alligators. In the fish farm, there are bass and hybrid tilapia that are harvested every few days for restaurants in World Showcase. We were given food to feed the fish, if we wanted.

Tropical plants

Finally, we entered the greenhouse where tropical plants are grown. First we saw banana trees and our guide explained that each only grows one stalk of bananas. We saw the largest Mickey-shaped pepper tree and were invited to take exclusive tour photos here. This greenhouse also features foods such as papaya, cacao, rice and dragon fruit.

The Behind the Seeds tour takes place multiple times each day, usually at 10:30 and 11:15 a.m.; noon; 12:45, 1:30, 2:15, 3, 3:45 and 4:30 p.m. To book in advance, call 407-WDW-TOUR.

DISCLAIMER: I was a guest of Walt Disney World for its Behind the Seeds Tour. This did not affect my story; my opinions are my own.

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One Reply to “Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot gives guests interactive walk through greenhouses in The Land”

I just did this tour for the first time last week too! It was a blast. Our group actually included a visiting botanist from another part of the world, which made the tour all the more interesting. I’d long avoided tours due to a preconceived notion that they’d be prohibitively expensive, but I was thrilled with the low cost and huge payoff! I’ve been recommending it for everyone! Thanks for letting me relive it so soon 🙂

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Epcot’s Behind the Seeds tour is a green Experience

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While the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festiva l is in full swing why not immerse yourselves completely in Living with the Land? You probably have taken the relaxing and very educational boat ride inside the Land Pavilion before but have you ever taken the Behind the Seeds tour? At $20 (adults) and $16 (children 3-9) it is one of the most economical behind the scene tours available at Walt Disney World. The tour is great for those with a green thumb and at the same time perfect for the entire family.

Did you know that 30 tons of fruits and vegetables are actually grown annually at The Land Pavilion and served at Epcot’s restaurants? This and much more is what this tour is all about.

Instead of the narrated boat ride you will be met by a Cast Member who will take you and a group of maximum 15 guests on a 45-minute tour, on foot, through the greenhouse, a bug room, the actual Living with the Land attraction and more. I really liked to see the boats passing through the attraction while we were standing right inside of it. Disney is usually very restrictive when it comes to taking behind the scene pictures but during the Behind the Seeds tour photography is not only allowed but it is encouraged. I was in heaven!

The state-of-the-art agricultural techniques used by Disney as well as the NASA hydroponic growing units are explained but fear not it is all really interesting and done in such a way that kids and grownups alike feel comfortable. The growing methods used are explained and there is ample time for questions.

I loved the room where ‘good’ bugs were cultivated. The kids in our group were really interested in learning how and why Disney is breeding good bugs that then are released into the greenhouse to eat the ‘bad’ bugs. The kids even received a little jar with Lady Bugs and they were all excited to release them once we reached the greenhouse. I tried very hard to catch the action in a picture – I failed!

I was a bit disappointed not to be able to enter the Biotechnology Lab but understood that it was impossible seen that it is a sterile environment. I would have loved meeting one of the employees though for a little Q & A session about their daily work in the laboratory. At the Acquaculture tanks we got a chance to feed the fish and saw the alligators up close and personal. Some of the fish raised here are actually served at the Coral Reef Restaurant.

Walking through the greenhouse was a great experience. My favorite part was the hydroponics house. Even though I had seen this area while riding the Living with the Land ride, I simply can’t get enough of it. Plants hanging from the ceiling and herbs grown without soil are just an amazing sight. We received a handout with instructions on how to build our very own hydroponic garden and got to taste the most succulent cucumber I’ve ever had.

I recommend this tour highly. The Behind the Seeds tour at Epcot’s Living with the Land Pavilion is educational and fun and the tour guides are very knowledgeable. Tours are offered every 45 minutes from 10:30 am through 4:30 pm.

The tour is not suitable for very small children and first time visitors. There is simply too much to see at Epcot but a return visitor and those with a green thumb will love it. AAA, DVC members, annual passholders as well as active military members are offered special discounts. For reservations call 407-WDW-TOUR (407-939-868). Same day reservations are available based on availability but I recommend you do so first thing upon arriving at the park. The reservation desk is located at the lower level of the Land Pavilion right next to the entrance to the Soarin’ attraction. More information here.

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The Supreme Court Takes Up Homelessness

Can cities make it illegal to live on the streets.

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Katrin Bennhold. This is “The Daily.”

This morning, we’re taking a much closer look at homelessness in the United States as it reaches a level not seen in the modern era. California —

As the number of homeless people has surged in the US —

More than 653,000, a 12 percent population increase since last year.

The debate over homeless encampments across the country has intensified.

It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs. We are not standing for it anymore.

People have had it. They’re fed up. I’m fed up. People want to see these tents and encampments removed in a compassionate, thoughtful way. And we agree.

With public officials saying they need more tools to address the crisis.

We move from block to block. And every block they say, can’t be here, can’t be here, can’t be here. I don’t know where we’re supposed to go, you know?

And homeless people and their advocates saying those tools are intended to unfairly punish them.

They come and they sweep and they take everything from me, and I can’t get out of the hole I’m in because they keep putting me back in square one.

That debate is now reaching the Supreme Court, which is about to hear arguments in the most significant case on homelessness in decades, about whether cities can make it illegal to be homeless. My colleague Abbie VanSickle on the backstory of that case and its far-reaching implications for cities across the US.

[THEME MUSIC]

It’s Friday, April 19.

So Abbie, you’ve been reporting on this case that has been making waves, Grants Pass versus Johnson, which the Supreme Court is taking up next week. What’s this case about?

So this case is about a small town in Oregon where three homeless people sued the city after they received tickets for sleeping and camping outside. And this case is the latest case that shows this growing tension, especially in states in the West, between people who are homeless and cities who are trying to figure out what to do about this. These cities have seen a sharp increase in homeless encampments in public spaces, especially with people on sidewalks and in parks. And they’ve raised questions about public drug use and other safety issues in these spaces.

And so the question before the justices is really how far a city can go to police homelessness. Can city officials and police use local laws to ban people from laying down outside and sleeping in a public space? Can a city essentially make it illegal to be homeless?

So three homeless people sued the city of Grants Pass, saying it’s not illegal to be homeless, and therefore it’s not illegal to sleep in a public space.

Yes, that’s right. And they weren’t the first people to make this argument. The issue actually started years ago with a case about 500 miles to the East, in Boise, Idaho. And in that case, which is called Martin v. Boise, this man, Robert Martin, who is homeless in Boise, he was charged with a misdemeanor for sleeping in some bushes. And the city of Boise had laws on the books to prohibit public camping.

And Robert Martin and a group of other people who are homeless in the city, they sued the city. And they claimed that the city’s laws violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

And what makes it cruel and unusual?

So their argument was that the city did not have enough sufficient shelter beds for everyone who was homeless in the city. And so they were forced to sleep outside. They said, we have no place to go and that an essential human need is to sleep and we want to be able to lay down on the sidewalk or in an alley or someplace to rest and that their local laws were a violation of Robert Martin and the others’ constitutional rights, that the city is violating the Eighth Amendment by criminalizing the human need to sleep.

And the courts who heard the case agreed with that argument. The courts ruled that the city had violated the Constitution and that the city could not punish people for being involuntarily homeless. And what that meant, the court laid out, is that someone is involuntarily homeless if a city does not have enough adequate shelter beds for the number of people who are homeless in the city.

It does seem like a very important distinction. They’re saying, basically, if you have nowhere else to go, you can’t be punished for sleeping on the street.

Right. That’s what the court was saying in the Martin v. Boise case. And the city of Boise then appealed the case. They asked the Supreme Court to step in and take it on. But the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. So since then, the Martin v. Boise case controls all over the Western parts of the US in what’s called the Ninth Circuit, which includes Oregon where the Grants Pass case originated.

OK. So tell us about Grants Pass, this city at the center of the case and now in front of the Supreme Court. What’s the story there?

Grants Pass is a town in rural Southwestern Oregon. It’s a town of about 38,000 people. It’s a former timber town that now really relies a lot on tourists to go rafting through the river and go wine tasting in the countryside. And it’s a pretty conservative town.

When I did interviews, people talked about having a very strong libertarian streak. And when I talked with people in the town, people said when they were growing up there, it was very rare to see someone who was homeless. It just was not an issue that was talked a lot about in the community. But it did become a big issue about 10 years ago.

People in the community started to get worried about what they saw as an increase in the number of homeless people that they were noticing around town. And it’s unclear whether the problem was growing or whether local officials and residents were worried that it might, whether they were fearing that it might.

But in any case, in 2013, the city council decided to start stepping up enforcement of local ordinances that did things like outlaw camping in public parks or sleeping outside, this series of overlapping local laws that would make it impossible for people to sleep in public spaces in Grants Pass. And at one meeting, one of the former city council members, she said, “the point is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they will want to move on down the road.”

So it sounds like, at least in Grants Pass, that this is not really about reducing homelessness. It’s about reducing the number of visible homeless people in the town.

Well, I would say that city officials and many local residents would say that the homeless encampments are actually creating real concerns about public safety, that it’s actually creating all kinds of issues for everyone else who lives in Grants Pass. And there are drug issues and mental health issues, and that this is actually bringing a lot of chaos to the city.

OK. So in order to deal with these concerns, you said that they decided to start enforcing these local measures. What does that actually look like on the ground?

So police started handing out tickets in Grants Pass. These were civil tickets, where people would get fines. And if police noticed people doing this enough times, then they could issue them a trespass from a park. And then that would give — for a certain number of days, somebody would be banned from the park. And if police caught them in the park before that time period was up, then the person could face criminal time. They could go to jail.

And homeless people started racking up fines, hundreds of dollars of fines. I talked to a lot of people who were camping in the parks who had racked up these fines over the years. And each one would have multiple tickets they had no way to pay. I talked to people who tried to challenge the tickets, and they had to leave their belongings back in the park. And they would come back to find someone had taken their stuff or their things had been impounded.

So it just seemed to be this cycle that actually was entrenching people more into homelessness. And yet at the same time, none of these people had left Grants Pass.

So they did make it very uncomfortable for homeless people, but it doesn’t seem to be working. People are not leaving.

Right. People are not leaving. And these tickets and fines, it’s something that people have been dealing with for years in Grants Pass. But in 2018, the Martin v. Boise case happens. And not long after that, a group of people in Grants Pass challenged these ordinances, and they used the Boise case to make their argument that just like in Boise, Grants Pass was punishing people for being involuntarily homeless, that this overlapping group of local ordinances in Grants Pass had made it so there is nowhere to put a pillow and blanket on the ground and sleep without being in some kind of violation of a rule. And this group of local homeless people make the argument that everyone in Grants Pass who is homeless is involuntarily homeless.

And you told us earlier that it was basically the lack of available shelter that makes a homeless person involuntarily homeless. So is there a homeless shelter in Grants Pass?

Well, it sort of depends on the standard that you’re using. So there is no public low-barrier shelter that is easy for somebody to just walk in and stay for a night if they need someplace to go. Grants Pass does not have a shelter like that.

There is one shelter in Grants Pass, but it’s a religious shelter, and there are lots of restrictions. I spoke with the head of the shelter who explained the purpose is really to get people back into the workforce. And so they have a 30-day program that’s really designed for that purpose.

And as part of that, people can’t have pets. People are not allowed to smoke. They’re required to attend Christian religious services. And some of the people who I interviewed, who had chronic mental health and physical disabilities, said that they had been turned away or weren’t able to stay there because of the level of needs that they have. And so if you come in with any kind of issue like that, it can be a problem.

That’s a very long list of restrictions. And of course, people are homeless for a lot of very different reasons. It sounds like a lot of these reasons might actually disqualify them from this particular shelter. So when they say they have nowhere else to go, if they’re in Grants Pass, they kind of have a point.

So that’s what the court decided. In 2022, when the courts heard this case, they agreed with the homeless plaintiffs that there’s no low-barrier shelter in Grants Pass and that the religious shelter did not meet the court’s requirements. But the city, who are actually now represented by the same lawyers who argued for Boise, keeps appealing the case. And they appeal up to the Ninth Circuit just as in the Boise case, and the judges there find in favor of the homeless plaintiffs, and they find that Grants Pass’s ordinances are so restrictive that there is no place where someone can lay down and sleep in Grants Pass and that therefore the city has violated the Eighth Amendment and they cannot enforce these ordinances in the way that they have been for years.

So at that point, the court upholds the Boise precedent, and we’re where we were when it all started. But as we know, that’s not the end of the story. Because this case stays in the court system. What happened?

So by this point, the homelessness problem is really exploding throughout the Western part of the US with more visible encampments, and it really becomes a politically divisive issue. And leaders across the political spectrum point to Boise as a root cause of the problem. So when Grants Pass comes along, people saw that case as a way potentially to undo Boise if only they could get it before the Supreme Court.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We’ll be right back.

Abbie, you just told us that as homeless numbers went up and these homeless encampments really started spreading, it’s no longer just conservatives who want the Supreme Court to revisit the Boise ruling. It’s liberals too.

That’s right. So there’s a really broad group of people who all started pushing for the Supreme Court to take up the Grants Pass case. And they did this by filing briefs to the Supreme Court, laying out their reasoning. And it’s everyone from the liberal governor of California and many progressive liberal cities to some of the most conservative legal groups. And they disagree about their reasoning, but they all are asking the court to clarify how to interpret the Boise decision.

They are saying, essentially, that the Boise decision has been understood in different ways in all different parts of the West and that that is causing confusion and creating all sorts of problems. And they’re blaming that on the Boise case.

It’s interesting, because after everything you told us about these very extreme measures, really, that the city of Grants Pass took against homeless people, it is surprising that these liberal bastions that you’re mentioning are siding with the town in this case.

Just to be clear, they are not saying that they support necessarily the way that Grants Pass or Boise had enforced their laws. But they are saying that the court rulings have tied their hands with this ambiguous decision on how to act.

And what exactly is so ambiguous about the Boise decision? Which if I remember correctly, simply said that if someone is involuntarily homeless, if they’re on the streets because there’s no adequate shelter space available, they can’t be punished for that.

Yeah. So there are a couple of things that are common threads in the cities and the groups that are asking for clarity from the court. And the first thing is that they’re saying, what is adequate shelter? That every homeless person situation is different, so what are cities or places required to provide for people who are homeless? What is the standard that they need to meet?

In order not to sleep on the street.

That’s right. So if the standard is that a city has to have enough beds for everyone who is homeless but certain kinds of shelters or beds wouldn’t qualify, then what are the rules around that? And the second thing is that they’re asking for clarity around what “involuntarily homeless” means. And so in the Boise decision, that meant that someone is involuntarily homeless if there is not enough bed space for them to go to.

But a lot of cities are saying, what about people who don’t want to go into a shelter even if there’s a shelter bed available? If they have a pet or if they are a smoker or if something might prohibit them from going to a shelter, how is the city supposed to weigh that and at what point would they cross a line for the court?

It’s almost a philosophical question. Like, if somebody doesn’t want to be in a shelter, are they still allowed to sleep in a public space?

Yeah. I mean, these are complicated questions that go beyond the Eighth Amendment argument but that a lot of the organizations that have reached out to the court through these friend of the court briefs are asking.

OK. I can see that the unifying element here is that in all these briefs various people from across the spectrum are saying, hello, Supreme Court. We basically need some clarity here. Give us some clarity.

The question that I have is why did the Supreme Court agree to weigh in on Grants Pass after declining to take up Boise?

Well, it’s not possible for us to say for certain because the Supreme Court does not give reasons why it has agreed to hear or to not hear a case. They get thousands of cases a year, and they take up just a few of those, and their deliberations are secret. But we can point to a few things.

One is that the makeup of the court has changed. The court has gained conservative justices in the last few years. This court has not been shy about taking up hot button issues across the spectrum of American society. In this case, the court hasn’t heard a major homelessness case like this.

But I would really point to the sheer number and the range of the people who are petitioning the court to take a look at this case. These are major players in the country who are asking the court for guidance, and the Supreme Court does weigh in on issues of national importance. And the people who are asking for help clearly believe that this is one of those issues.

So let’s start digging into the actual arguments. And maybe let’s start with the city of Grants Pass. What are the central arguments that they’re expected to make before the Supreme Court?

So the city’s arguments turn on this narrow legal issue of whether the Eighth Amendment applies or doesn’t. And they say that it doesn’t. But I actually think that in some ways, that’s not the most helpful way to understanding what Grants Pass is arguing.

What is really at the heart of their argument is that if the court upholds Grants Pass and Boise, that they are tying the hands of Grants Pass and hundreds of other towns and cities to actually act to solve and respond to homelessness. And by that, I mean to solve issues of people camping in the parks but also more broadly of public safety issues, of being able to address problems as they arise in a fluid and flexible way in the varied ways that they’re going to show up in all these different places.

And their argument is if the court accepts the Grants Pass and Boise holdings, that they will be constitutionalizing or freezing in place and limiting all of these governments from acting.

Right. This is essentially the argument being repeated again and again in those briefs that you mentioned earlier, that unless the Supreme Court overturns these decisions, it’s almost impossible for these cities to get the encampments under control.

Yes, that’s right. And they also argue they need to have flexibility in dealing actually with people who are homeless and being able to figure out using a local ordinance to try to convince someone to go to treatment, that they say they need carrots and sticks. They need to be able to use every tool that they can to be able to try to solve this problem.

And how do we make sense of that argument when Grants Pass is clearly not using that many tools to deal with homeless people? For example, it didn’t have shelters, as you mentioned.

So the city’s argument is that this just should not be an Eighth Amendment issue, that this is the wrong way to think about this case, that issues around homelessness and how a city handles it is a policy question. So things like shelter beds or the way that the city is handling their ordinances should really be left up to policymakers and city officials, not to this really broad constitutional argument. And so therefore, the city is likely to focus their argument entirely on this very narrow question.

And how does the other side counter this argument?

The homeless plaintiffs are going to argue that there’s nothing in the lower courts’ decisions that say that cities can’t enforce their laws that, they can’t stop people from littering, that they can’t stop drug use, that they can’t clear encampments if there becomes public safety problems. They’re just saying that a city cannot not provide shelter and then make it illegal for people to lay down and sleep.

So both sides are saying that a city should be able to take action when there’s public disorder as a result of these homeless encampments. But they’re pointing at each other and saying, the way you want to handle homelessness is wrong.

I think everyone in this case agrees that homelessness and the increase in homelessness is bad for everyone. It’s bad for people who are camping in the park. It is bad for the community, that nobody is saying that the current situation is tenable. Everyone is saying there need to be solutions. We need to be able to figure out what to do about homelessness and how to care for people who are homeless.

How do we wrestle with all these problems? It’s just that the way that they think about it couldn’t be further apart.

And what can you tell me about how the Supreme Court is actually expected to rule in this?

There are a number of ways that the justices could decide on this case. They could take a really narrow approach and just focus on Grants Pass and the arguments about those local ordinances. I think that’s somewhat unlikely because they’ve decided to take up this case of national importance.

A ruling in favor of the homeless plaintiffs would mean that they’ve accepted this Eighth Amendment argument, that you cannot criminalize being homeless. And a ruling for the city, every legal expert I’ve talked to has said that would mean an end to Boise and that it would break apart the current state that we’ve been living in for these last several years.

I’m struck by how much this case and our conversation has been about policing homelessness rather than actually addressing the root causes of homelessness. We’re not really talking about, say, the right to shelter or the right to treatment for people who are mentally ill and sleeping on the streets as a result, which is quite a big proportion. And at the end of the day, whatever way the ruling goes, it will be about the visibility of homelessness and not the root causes.

Yeah, I think that’s right. That’s really what’s looming in the background of this case is what impact is it going to have. Will it make things better or worse and for who? And these court cases have really become this talking point for cities and for their leaders, blaming the spike in encampments and the visibility of homelessness on these court decisions. But homelessness, everyone acknowledges, is such a complicated issue.

People have told me in interviews for the story, they’ve blamed increases in homelessness on everything from the pandemic to forest fires to skyrocketing housing costs in the West Coast, and that the role that Boise and now Grants Pass play in this has always been a little hard to pin down. And if the Supreme Court overturns those cases, then we’ll really see whether they were the obstacle that political leaders said that they were. And if these cases fall, it remains to be seen whether cities do try to find all these creative solutions with housing and services to try to help people who are homeless or whether they once again fall back on just sending people to jail.

Abbie, thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Here’s what else you need to know today. Early on Friday, Israel attacked a military base in Central Iran. The explosion came less than a week after Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend and was part of a cycle of retaliation that has brought the shadow war between the two countries out in the open. The scale and method of Friday’s attack remained unclear, and the initial reaction in both Israel and Iran was to downplay its significance. World leaders have urged both sides to exercise restraint in order to avoid sparking a broader war in the region.

And 12 New Yorkers have been selected to decide Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, clearing the way for opening statements to begin as early as Monday. Seven new jurors were added in short order on Thursday afternoon, hours after two others who had already been picked were abruptly excused.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment made to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign. If the jury convicts him, he faces up to four years in prison. Finally —

This is the New York Police Department.

The New York Police Department said it took at least 108 protesters into custody at Columbia University after University officials called the police to respond to a pro-Palestinian demonstration and dismantle a tent encampment.

We’re supporting Palestine. We’re supporting Palestine. 1, 2, 3, 4.

The crackdown prompted more students to vow that demonstrations would continue, expressing outrage at both the roundup of the student protesters and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

Free, free Palestine.

Today’s episode was produced by Olivia Natt, Stella Tan, and Eric Krupke with help from Rachelle Bonja. It was edited by Liz Baylen, fact checked by Susan Lee, contains original music by Will Reid Pat McCusker Dan Powell and Diane Wong and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Katrin Bennhold. See you on Monday.

• April 19, 2024   •   30:42 The Supreme Court Takes Up Homelessness
• April 18, 2024   •   30:07 The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial
• April 17, 2024   •   24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
• April 16, 2024   •   29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin
• April 15, 2024   •   24:07 Iran’s Unprecedented Attack on Israel
• April 14, 2024   •   46:17 The Sunday Read: ‘What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise’
• April 12, 2024   •   34:23 How One Family Lost $900,000 in a Timeshare Scam
• April 11, 2024   •   28:39 The Staggering Success of Trump’s Trial Delay Tactics
• April 10, 2024   •   22:49 Trump’s Abortion Dilemma
• April 9, 2024   •   30:48 How Tesla Planted the Seeds for Its Own Potential Downfall
• April 8, 2024   •   30:28 The Eclipse Chaser
• April 7, 2024 The Sunday Read: ‘What Deathbed Visions Teach Us About Living’

Hosted by Katrin Bennhold

Featuring Abbie VanSickle

Produced by Olivia Natt ,  Stella Tan ,  Eric Krupke and Rachelle Bonja

Edited by Liz O. Baylen

Original music by Will Reid ,  Pat McCusker ,  Dan Powell and Diane Wong

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

Debates over homeless encampments in the United States have intensified as their number has surged. To tackle the problem, some cities have enforced bans on public camping.

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about whether such actions are legal, Abbie VanSickle, who covers the court for The Times, discusses the case and its far-reaching implications.

On today’s episode

Abbie VanSickle , a Supreme Court correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading

A ruling in the case could help determine how states, particularly those in the West, grapple with a rising homelessness crisis .

In a rare alliance, Democrats and Republicans are seeking legal power to clear homeless camps .

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Fact-checking by Susan Lee .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Katrin Bennhold is the Berlin bureau chief. A former Nieman fellow at Harvard University, she previously reported from London and Paris, covering a range of topics from the rise of populism to gender. More about Katrin Bennhold

Abbie VanSickle covers the United States Supreme Court for The Times. She is a lawyer and has an extensive background in investigative reporting. More about Abbie VanSickle

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2024 NBA playoffs bracket, scores, results: Thunder hold on vs. Pelicans as home teams go 8-0 in Game 1s

The nba playoff bracket is set with 16 teams in the running for the larry o'brien trophy.

The 16-team bracket is set in the 2024 NBA playoffs, and the first round tipped off this weekend. It was a good weekend for home teams. Every higher seed defended its home court in Game 1 of each of the eight first-round series. The Celtics, Clippers, Bucks and Thunder were all winners on Sunday, and they joined the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Knicks and Nuggets as the teams with 1-0 series leads.

The Thunder's win over the Pelicans was the closest game of the weekend as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came up with a clutch shot in the final minute to help OKC notch the win. Damian Lillard also had a big day Sunday in his Bucks playoffs debut, scoring 35 first-half points against the Pacers.

The first round of these NBA playoffs will run through May 5.  Here's how CBS Sports experts are picking their brackets .

Sunday's NBA playoff scores

• Celtics 114, Heat 94 (Celtics lead 1-0) --  Box score
• Clippers 109, Mavericks 97 (Clippers lead 1-0) --   Box score
• Bucks 109, Pacers 94 (Bucks lead 1-0) --  Box score
• Thunder 94, Pelicans 92 (Thunder lead 1-0) --  Box score

Below a look at the complete playoff bracket.  You can see the full playoff schedule here .

2024 NBA playoff bracket

First-round scores, series schedules

(All times Eastern)

Celtics vs. Heat Sunday, April 21: Celtics 114, Heat 94 Wednesday, April 24: Game 2, 7 p.m., TNT Saturday, April 27: Game 3, 6 p.m., TNT Monday, April 29: Game 4, TBD Wednesday, May 1: Game 5*, TBD Friday, May 3: Game 6*, TBD Sunday, May 5: Game 7*, TBD

Knicks vs. 76ers Saturday, April 20: Knicks 111, 76ers 104 Monday, April 22: Game 2, 7:30 p.m., TNT Thursday, April 25: Game 3, 7:30 p.m., TNT Sunday, April 28: Game 4, 1 p.m., ABC/ fubo Tuesday, April 30: Game 5*, TBD Thursday, May 2: Game 6*, TBD Saturday, May 4: Game 7*, TBD

Bucks vs. Pacers Sunday, April 21: Bucks 109, Pacers 94 Tuesday, April 23: Game 2, 8:30 p.m., NBA TV/ fubo Friday, April 26: Game 3, 5:30 p.m., ESPN/ fubo Sunday, April 28: Game 4, 7 p.m., TNT Tuesday, April 30: Game 5*, TBD Thursday, May 2: Game 6*, TBD Saturday, May 4: Game 7*, TBD

Cavaliers vs. Magic Saturday, April 20: Cavaliers 97, Magic 83 Monday, April 22: Game 2, 7 p.m., NBA TV/ fubo Thursday, April 25: Game 3, 7 p.m., NBA TV/ fubo Saturday, April 27: Game 4, 1 p.m., TNT  Tuesday, April 30: Game 5*, TBD Friday, May 3: Game 6*, TBD Sunday, May 5: Game 7*, TBD

Thunder vs. Pelicans Sunday, April 21: Thunder 94, Pelicans 92 Wednesday, April 24: Game 2, 9:30 p.m., TNT Saturday, April 27: Game 3, 3:30 p.m., TNT Monday, April 29: Game 4, TBD Wednesday, May 1: Game 5*, TBD Friday, May 3: Game 6*, TBD Sunday, May 5: Game 7*, TBD

Nuggets vs. Lakers Saturday, April 20: Nuggets 114, Lakers 103 Monday, April 22: Game 2, 10 p.m., TNT Thursday, April 25: Game 3, 10 p.m., TNT Saturday, April 27: Game 4, 8:30 p.m., ABC/ fubo Monday, April 29: Game 5*, TBD Thursday, May 2: Game 6*, TBD Saturday, May 4: Game 7*, TBD

Timberwolves vs. Suns Saturday, April 20:  Timberwolves 120, Suns 95 Tuesday, April 23: Game 2, 7:30 p.m., TNT Friday, April 26: Game 3, 10:30 p.m., ESPN/ fubo Sunday, April 28: Game 4, 9:30 p.m., TNT Tuesday, April 30: Game 5*, TBD Thursday, May 2: Game 6*, TBD Saturday, May 4: Game 7*, TBD

Clippers vs. Mavericks Sunday, April 21: Clippers 109, Mavericks 97 Tuesday, April 23: Game 2, 10 p.m., TNT Friday, April 26: Game 3, 8 p.m., ESPN/ fubo Sunday, April 28: Game 4, 3:30 p.m., ABC/ fubo Wednesday, May 1: Game 5*, TBD Friday, May 3: Game 6*, TBD Sunday, May 5, Game 7*, TBD

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