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Mascotte is young. The median age here sits around twenty-eight, which is remarkable by Florida standards and means an unusual concentration of households with very small children in them. Roughly six thousand six hundred people live in a city established in the late 1800s, incorporated in 1925 and named after the S.S. Mascotte, a ship with its own place in Spanish-American War history.
Anyone raising a 2-year-old knows the particular difficulty. Most family attractions are pitched at children who can already read, wait in line, follow a route and sit through something. Toddlers need the opposite: nothing timed, nothing loud, nothing that has to be explained before they will enjoy it, and permission to lose interest halfway through and wander off.
That describes us fairly precisely, an hour east. Under-2s come in free. The rest is $18 a head from age 2. Cattle graze at a comfortable distance while alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits come right up to the rail for the optional feed sold at the gate or online. The ground is flat and shaded, there is a Tractor-Drawn Wagon Ride when they want one, and a playground under the oaks when the fence stops holding their attention.
Coni and Bob Keyes established Green Meadows in 1988 on shaded ground in Kissimmee. Through almost thirty years it served as the place children across Central Florida first stood alongside livestock, arriving with school groups, for birthdays, or simply because somebody at home wanted them outdoors. Then it closed its gates, and seven years went past before it came back.
It works again at Lancaster Ranch Park, with the City of Kissimmee behind it, and the reopening safeguarded the original rather than reimagining it. Cattle, alpacas, donkeys, pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits all sit within a small child’s reach. The wagon ride still winds its way around the pasture. The old oaks still temper the heat. Broader ground beneath, the same idea above.
We are at Lancaster Ranch Park, 1881 Jack Calhoun Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34741, roughly forty-five miles and about an hour east of Mascotte, typically along SR-50 to US-27 and across to the 192 corridor. It is a long enough run that a weekend visit works better than a midweek one, particularly with young children in the car.
With toddlers the timing matters more than anything. Our gates are open 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Wednesday through Friday, and 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays, with Mondays and Tuesdays closed. Last admission is 1:00 PM from Wednesday to Friday with 2:00 PM on weekends. From Mascotte that means leaving around nine to arrive at opening, which lines up well with most morning routines and gets everyone home in time for an afternoon sleep. Wednesday brings Grandparents Day, one grandparent free with each paid general admission.
Pack for small children specifically. There is no cafe on site, only vending machines, so bring a proper picnic, plenty of water and whatever snacks keep a 2-year-old reasonable. Shaded picnic tables are kept for it. Hats, sunscreen and closed shoes throughout, and be aware the ground is pasture rather than paving, which sturdy strollers manage but small-wheeled ones manage less happily.
Then drive east. Tickets go online beforehand or over the counter on arrival. Entry is $18 per person from 2 years upward, free below, and we take every major credit card and no cash at all. Groups between 10 and 19 pay $15 a head, and 20 or more pay $12 a head on a reservation, with one free admission for every 20 paid. Animal feed is an optional purchase at the gate, or added to your tickets online, and with very small children it is the single thing most worth buying.
Plan Your Visit
Fall opens the Pumpkin Zone and it becomes the busiest thing on the farm. Clear from the start: this is not a pumpkin patch and we grow no pumpkins here. Every paying guest chooses one from the Zone and takes it home free with admission — and since under-2s come in free, a family with a toddler pays for very little of the morning. The Zone is open every day we are open through the season rather than on set weekends. The Candy Hunt is on 2 weekends either side of Halloween.
Birthday parties suit this age group especially well, since nothing needs planning. A tent costs $450 and covers up to 25 guests, further guests at $15 apiece, with four available each day on Saturdays and Sundays and tables already out. Choose a date and time, pay ahead, and your tent is reserved for your celebration. Everyone invited ranges across the whole farm, so the animals, the wagon ride and the playground carry the entertaining. Decorating and catering are yours. Please tell your guests: pony rides and lettuce for the animals are optional extras, bought at the gate or added to your tickets online, and the whole celebration is outdoors.
Group visits work well from this distance, and we welcome preschools, playgroups and church families on the rates above. Easter Egg Hunts arrive in spring with other 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, which matters a great deal when a good share of that party is under five.
We are at Lancaster Ranch Park, 1881 Jack Calhoun Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34741, roughly forty-five miles and about an hour east of Mascotte. SR-50 across to US-27 and down toward the 192 corridor is the usual way over.
With young children an hour is worth planning properly. Leaving around nine puts you here for opening, which is when the animals are liveliest and the air is coolest, and gets everybody home before the afternoon falls apart. Weekends give four hours at this end rather than three. Check your maps app before setting off.
It is genuinely one of the better options for that age. Children under 2 come in free. Nothing here is loud, nothing runs to a timetable, and nothing has to be explained before a very small child enjoys it — an animal walks over and takes food, which requires no introduction at all.
Practically, the ground is flat and largely shaded, there are picnic tables for feeding and changing, and there is no route to follow, so wandering off mid-visit is entirely fine. A sturdy stroller handles pasture fine; a lightweight one with small wheels will struggle. Weekday mornings are quietest of all if you can manage the timing.
Entry is $18 per person for everyone aged 2 and above, with children under 2 free, which for a young family often means only the adults are paying. One ticket covers the whole property, meaning all the animals, the wagon ride and the playground, with nothing further charged inside and no parking fee. Carry a card, as no cash is taken.
Larger parties pay less each: $15 apiece from 10 to 19 guests and $12 apiece from 20 upward when reserved, plus one free admission per 20 paid. An annual pass covers unlimited visits across a year, which suits families with a toddler who wants to come back repeatedly. Animal feed is an optional few dollars at the gate, or added to your tickets online — and it is worth every cent at this age.
Not at Green Meadows. We are a petting farm, not a pumpkin patch, and no pumpkins are grown on the property. The Pumpkin Zone is our fall version, and every paying guest chooses a pumpkin from it and takes it home free with entry.
Mascotte is a young town with a great many small children in it, and this suits that age better than most outings do. Under-2s are free, the pumpkin is included, and there is nothing to line up for. The Zone is open every day we are open rather than on a handful of weekends, and the Halloween Candy Hunt runs on 2 weekends around Halloween. Dates appear on our Special Events page and go out first on Facebook and Instagram.
We do, and they work particularly well for younger children because nothing requires organizing. Confirm your date and time, pay in full, and your tent is reserved for your celebration. It costs $450 covering up to 25 guests, further guests at $15 apiece, with four running each day on Saturdays and Sundays, tables laid out ready.
Because every guest ranges over the whole farm, the animals, the wagon ride and the playground do the entertaining between them, which spares you an activity schedule entirely. Tents arrive undecorated, so styling and food are your call. 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 celebration is held outdoors from beginning to end.
A full picnic, more than you think, and plenty of water. There is no cafe here, only vending machines, and with small children in tow that matters more than it would otherwise. Shaded picnic tables are kept precisely for this, and lunch outdoors with cattle beyond the fence turns the visit into a proper morning.
Otherwise dress everyone for a farm rather than a day out: closed shoes, hats and sunscreen throughout, plus a change of clothes for anyone likely to need one. Mature oaks shade most of our ground so it stays cooler than the forecast suggests. If the weather looks doubtful before you leave Mascotte, call (407) 994-2775 first rather than driving an hour with a car full of children.
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