A Walt Disney World Resort guest has spoken out after being trapped on a sinking boat on the Living with the Land attraction. Since October 31, three ride vehicles have tipped on the EPCOT attraction, leading to two emergency evacuations, an injury, and compensation for some of the Disney Park guests involved.
Halloween Sinking on Living with the Land
The first incident on Living with the Land occurred on October 31. Two Walt Disney World Resort guests shared videos of a boat tipping forward on the EPCOT attraction, which takes riders on a slow-moving tour through the park’s active greenhouses and other farming facilities.
On November 1, TikTok user @michellewalksdisney shared this video taken from the boat behind the affected ride vehicle, showing guests scrambling out of the vessel:
@michellewalksdisney Current situation. Boat in front of me started to sink and all occupants had to evacuate. We ended up chilling in our boat until cast members escorted us off and out the back. And people say living with the land is boring!! 😆 #epcot #livingwiththeland #wdw #fyp #sinkingship
Hours later, one of the guests on board the boat, TikTok user @finleyfamily, shared this video showing just how much water had made its way into the ride vehicle:
@finleyfamily We were on the ride Living with the Land at Epcot yesterday and it felt like we hit a pot hole but we know it’s on a track in the water. So as we kept going the water up front kept coming in apparently a lot. We were in the back but they loaded the boat heavily upfront we had two rows of empty seats behind us. One of the people in the front was a man who was probably 6.5” we all think it was loaded unevenly. But back to what happened. The people in the second row had about 4 inches of water they were moving there stuff around and it altered us and we could see that the front was so far down/listing…we knew something was wrong so we tried to move to the back of the boat to counter balance it. That didn’t work things started to shift and the boat, because it’s still being moved by the track, started to tilt pretty abruptly and we all felt scared and jumped off of it. Nobody was hurt just scared and wet thank goodness! @MichelleWalksDisney
The guest added that it seemed the boat had been loaded unevenly, with too many adult guests in the front and insufficient weight in the back. Riders reportedly attempted to shift the boat back into place by moving it back and forth, but eventually decided to abandon the vessel as water continued to pour in. Disney cast members seemingly didn’t arrive on the scene until after guests had already climbed out of the ride vehicle.
Guest Shares Their Experience
In response to a report about the incident on October 31, another guest who was on board the sinking with the Living with the Land boat shared their experience. Although initial reporting claimed that no injuries occurred during the incident, this guest confirmed that he hit his head on the way out.
“My wife and I were in the second row of this ill-fated boat,” said Kevin Erickson. “My wife first noticed something was not right about 2/3 of the way through the ride when her bag that she set on the floor was getting wet. There was about 1” of water on the floor at that time.”
Little did Erickson and his wife know that the situation was much worse in the front row.
“That’s when the people in the front row let us know that their floor was completely flooded halfway up to their knees,” he continued. “Several people tried moving around to reduce the weight up front, but it really didn’t help. As people moved around the boat started tipping to the left and to the right, and that made it fill up even faster.”
Erickson confirmed @finleyfamily’s claim that guests decided to evacuate the boat without the assistance of Disney cast members.
“Apparently, I was the captain of this boat though, because I was the last one to abandon the ‘ship’ with a lot of help from my shipmates,” he wrote. “Because I was standing on the seat instead of the floor (because the floor was totally full of water by then), when my shipmates pulled me out of the boat I bumped my head on the roof of the boat. You can see that happen in the video by @michellewalksdisney.”
It’s unclear whether Disney cast members compensated guests for their experience following this incident. However, riders on another Living with the Land boat that sank in November were given new shoes and a Lightning Lane pass to return or experience another EPCOT attraction without waiting in the standby line.
More Incidents on Living with the Land
Another boat sank on Living with the Land on November 18. Water filled the vessel so fast that it soaked many of the guests inside. This time, though, Disney cast members arrived in time to help riders evacuate. In a now-deleted Instagram video, guests on board the boat showed off new Christmas-themed Disney Crocs that Disney cast members had given them.
Then, over the weekend, a third boat started tipping on Living with the Land. TikTok user @beka027mmp shared a video taken from behind the affected vessel, writing that it “looked worse in person.”
@beka027mmp Luckily, they made it! But it looked worse in person. Glad we didn’t have a Titanic situation on our hands. #titanic #livingwiththeland #epcot #boat #overboard
In the comments, several current and former Disney cast members confirmed that the boat wasn’t operating as intended.
Fortunately, the ride vehicle did not sink like the other two, and guests were able to complete the ride without incident.
Despite the recent issues, Living with the Land is currently operating normally at EPCOT. Walt Disney World Resort hasn’t made any public statements about the incidents, and the attraction is currently scheduled to debut its annual Glimmering Greenhouses overlay as part of the International Festival of the Holidays on November 28, 2025.
Has an attraction malfunctioned during your visit to Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort? Share your experience with Disney Dining in the comments!
