Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses Books September 24 and Holds at $59
The after-dark Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses tour returns to The Land Pavilion at EPCOT from November 27 to December 30, 2026, with departures at 6, 7 and 8 PM and reservations opening September 24. At $59 per person it is the first year the tour's price has not increased, after $45 in 2024 and $59 in 2025.
The Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses tour is back for the 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, and for the first time since it launched the price has not moved. Reservations open September 24 for an after-dark walk through The Land Pavilion's greenhouses running November 27 through December 30, at $59 per person, the same price as last year.
Key Details
- Booking opens: September 24, 2026
- Tour dates: November 27 to December 30, 2026
- Times: 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM nightly
- Price: $59 per person, tax not included
- Length: One hour, walking
- Where: The Land Pavilion at EPCOT; check in on the lower level, near the attraction exit
- Also required: Valid theme park admission, which is not included
Three Nightly Departures, Up From Two at Launch
The 2026 tour runs at 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM, matching the schedule the tour settled into last season. That is one more departure than it launched with in 2024, when it ran twice a night, a small change, but the only lever Disney has on a walking tour with a fixed route and a small group size.
The standard daytime Behind the Seeds tour keeps running alongside it, so the holiday version is an addition to the schedule rather than a replacement. If you have done the daytime tour, the route will be familiar; what changes is the lighting and the framing.
What the Hour Actually Covers
The tour follows the standard Behind the Seeds walking route, four greenhouses and the Aquacell fish farm, with the holiday overlay lit up around you. The hour is built around three things:
- The crops behind holiday food traditions, which is the thread guides use to tie the growing houses to what is on the table in December
- The light displays themselves, seen up close rather than from a boat
- The hydroponics and sustainable growing techniques that keep the greenhouses producing food for Walt Disney World restaurants
The holiday-only details are the fun part. There is a hidden glass pickle tucked into one of the vegetable canopies, a nod to the German Christmas tradition, and themed wrapping paper designed by Walt Disney Imagineering worked into the displays. In past seasons guests have left with a parting gift: a gingerbread recipe card used by Disney's own chefs.
The Overlay Is Older Than the Tour
Living with the Land has carried holiday decoration for years, but Disney only started marketing it as a distinct seasonal offering in 2019, under the name Merry and Bright Nights. That version came back in 2020 and 2021, and in 2022 Disney renamed it Glimmering Greenhouses, the name that has stuck since. Disney confirmed the overlay's 2026 return back in June, as part of the full Festival of the Holidays lineup.
The tour is the newer half of the story. Disney announced the first Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses in September 2024, and it ran nightly from November 29 to December 30 that year at $45 per person. It went to $59 for the 2025 season. Holding at $59 for 2026 makes this the first year the tour has not been more expensive than the one before it, a small thing, but a notable one in a season where most add-on pricing moves in one direction.
The Rules Disney Prints on the Tour Page
A few conditions are worth reading before you book on September 24:
- Check in 15 minutes early, on the lower level of The Land Pavilion near the attraction exit
- 24-hour cancellation policy. Cancel inside one day or fail to show and the full price is charged or forfeited
- Minimum age 3. Guests under 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult
- Valid theme park admission is required and is not part of the $59; a park reservation may also be needed depending on your ticket type
- You are on your feet for the full hour: Disney's own advice is comfortable shoes
Disney also suggests riding Living with the Land before the tour, which is genuinely useful advice rather than an upsell: the boat ride passes through the same greenhouses, so it gives you a preview of the space and the light displays from water level before you walk them.
The Buzz
Glimmering Greenhouses is one of the few holiday offerings at Walt Disney World that sells on atmosphere rather than on a character or a fireworks slot, and the tour is the only way to stand inside it. With a one-hour route, three departures a night and thirty-four nights, the total number of seats for the season is small, which is why the booking date matters more here than the price does.
September 24 Is the Date to Watch
Everything about this tour comes down to one morning. Ninety-something departures across the season at a small group size is a limited inventory, and the prime slots (the 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM departures on weekend nights in December) are the ones that go first. Reservations open September 24, ahead of the Candlelight Processional dining packages on October 14, so this is the first holiday booking window of the EPCOT season rather than the last.
If you are choosing a time: the 6:00 PM departure gets you out in time for a World Showcase dinner, while the 8:00 PM leaves the greenhouses at their darkest. Both cost the same $59, and neither includes park admission.