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Frostproof carries one of the better town names in Florida, and it was earned rather than invented — groves on this stretch of the Ridge came through freezes that wiped out plantings elsewhere, and the name stuck as a piece of local boasting that happened to be true. Weather has always mattered here in a way it does not in towns that only ever consume it.
It matters at our end too, because there is no indoor part to what we do. Every paddock, every path, the wagon ride, the picnic tables and the playground sit under open sky and mature oak. When the weather turns we are simply a wet field, and we would rather tell a Frostproof family that plainly than have them drive an hour to find out.
Planned well, it is a fine morning. Cattle across the pasture; alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits at the rail waiting on the optional feed sold at the gate or online. A Tractor-Drawn Wagon Ride through the trees. Entry is $18 for anyone 2 and older, free below, covering everything on the property. Come early, come on a clear day, and call us first if the sky looks unconvincing.
Green Meadows began in 1988, established by Coni and Bob Keyes on shaded land in Kissimmee. Across almost thirty years it served as the place children throughout this region first stood alongside livestock, arriving with classes, for birthdays, or because somebody at home wanted them out in the air. Then it closed, and seven years passed with nothing filling the space it left.
It works again at Lancaster Ranch Park, assisted by the City of Kissimmee, and the reopening safeguarded the original rather than reinventing it. Cattle, alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits all remain within a child’s reach. The wagon ride still tracks across the pasture. The old oaks still temper the heat. Broader ground, unchanged idea.
We are at Lancaster Ranch Park, 1881 Jack Calhoun Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34741, some forty-eight miles and roughly an hour north of Frostproof, generally up US-27 the whole way and across to the 192 corridor. Nearly all of it runs through grove and ranch country, which is a fair preview of where the road ends.
Weather first, since everything else follows from it. The farm is wholly outdoors. If the forecast looks poor, call us at (407) 994-2775 before leaving Frostproof and we will tell you honestly whether to come — at an hour each way we would far rather lose the visit than waste your morning. Mornings run cooler and calmer than afternoons, and arriving at opening is the single best decision available to you.
Then the day. Gates open Wednesday to Friday, 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM, closing Monday and Tuesday. We stop admitting at 1:00 PM midweek with 2:00 PM on weekends. Midweek that leaves three hours after an hour’s drive, so weekends work distinctly better from here. Wednesday brings Grandparents Day, one grandparent free with each paid general admission.
Then everything else. Carry a picnic and plenty of water, since there is no cafe on site beyond vending machines, and use the shaded tables kept for it. Closed shoes, hats and sunscreen throughout. Entry is $18 per person from 2 years up, free below, purchased online beforehand or at the gate, with all major credit cards taken and no cash at all. Parties of 10 to 19 pay $15 apiece, 20 or more pay $12 apiece with a reservation, carrying one free admission per 20 paid. Feed for the animals is optional, bought at the gate or added to your tickets online.
Plan Your Visit
Fall opens the Pumpkin Zone and it becomes the fullest part of our year. Worth being direct: we are not a pumpkin patch and we grow no pumpkins on this land. The Zone means every paying guest chooses one and carries it home, included with admission. It is open every day we are open across the season instead of a short weekend run. Our Halloween Candy Hunt is held on 2 weekends close to Halloween.
Birthday parties ask very little of you, though from Frostproof they do ask for a weather eye. A tent costs $450 and covers up to 25 guests, further guests at $15 apiece, with four running each day on Saturdays and Sundays and tables already out. Pick a date and time, pay ahead, and your tent is reserved for your celebration. Every guest ranges across the whole farm, so the animals, the wagon ride and the playground handle the entertaining. Decorating and catering are yours. Do pass on to guests: pony rides and lettuce for the animals are optional extras, bought at the gate or added to your tickets online, and the celebration is outdoors from beginning to end, so guests should dress accordingly.
Group visits are worth arranging from this distance. Rates run $15 per person from 10 to 19 guests and $12 per person from 20 upward with a reservation, including one free admission per 20 paid. Easter Egg Hunts arrive in spring with further seasonal events across the year, all published to our Special Events page and shared first through Facebook and Instagram. Paying beforehand clears a larger party through the entrance considerably faster on the day.
We are at Lancaster Ranch Park, 1881 Jack Calhoun Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34741, some forty-eight miles and roughly an hour north of Frostproof. US-27 runs almost the entire way before you cut across to the 192 corridor.
It is a straightforward drive, if a long one, and the traffic is generally kinder than routes through the middle of Orlando. Weekends give you four hours at this end rather than three, which an hour each way rather calls for. Have a look at your maps app before leaving, as US-27 changes considerably with the time of day.
We are entirely outdoors, so poor weather genuinely does affect the visit — there is no indoor alternative to retreat into. The best thing you can do from an hour away is call (407) 994-2775 before setting off. We will tell you honestly what the sky is doing over the farm, which is frequently different from what it is doing over Frostproof.
Beyond that, mornings are your friend. Arriving at opening gives you cooler air and the calmest conditions of the day, and it puts you back on the road well before the afternoon has a chance to change its mind. Fall and winter mornings are the most dependable stretch of our year and worth aiming for if you are coming this far.
Entry is $18 per person for everyone aged 2 and over, with children under 2 free. One ticket takes in the entire farm — every animal, the wagon ride and the playground — and nothing further is charged inside or for parking. Carry a card, as we take no cash at all.
Groups pay less each: $15 apiece from 10 to 19 guests, $12 apiece from 20 upward when reserved, plus one free admission per 20 paid. An annual pass runs a full year of unlimited visits from the date of purchase, which at an hour’s distance suits families intending to return for more than one season. Animal feed is an optional few dollars, available at the gate or included when you book online.
Not at Green Meadows. We are a petting farm rather than a pumpkin patch, and nothing is grown on the property. Each fall the Pumpkin Zone opens, and a pumpkin from it goes home with every paying guest, free with entry.
Frostproof was named for getting the better of the weather. We make no such claim — everything here happens outdoors and the day is entirely at the mercy of the sky. What is reliable is the Zone itself, open every day we are open rather than on set weekends. The Candy Hunt falls on 2 weekends either side of Halloween, with dates on our Special Events page and announced first on Facebook and Instagram.
We do, gladly. Pick your date and time, pay in full, and your tent is reserved for your celebration. It costs $450 and holds up to 25 guests, with further guests at $15 apiece, and four run each day on Saturdays and Sundays with tables already laid out.
Because guests range over the whole farm, the entertaining sorts itself before you plan anything. The animals, the wagon ride and the playground share it out. Tents come undecorated, so styling and the menu are entirely yours. Do tell guests that pony rides and lettuce for the animals are optional extras, bought at the gate or added to your tickets online, and that the whole celebration is outdoors — which from Frostproof is worth mentioning to anyone driving up in their best clothes.
Most families spend 2 to 3 hours, which fits a weekend window neatly. The first stretch nearly always goes on feeding the animals, then the wagon ride, then the playground, with a picnic somewhere in the middle at one of the shaded tables. Nothing runs to a clock here, so you leave when your children have finished rather than when a schedule says to.
Coming from Frostproof, arriving at opening is the way to get the full value of it. The animals are livelier early, the paddocks are quieter, the air is cooler, and you are back on US-27 before the afternoon builds. A 10:00 AM Saturday arrival leaves four hours available, which sits far better against an hour’s drive than a rushed midweek visit.
Know Before You Go
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