Green Meadows petting zoo

Visiting this “tourist farm” near Disney World, you can’t just stroll around the various corrals. You have to be led, in an annoying tour format that last 2.5 hours and doesn’t start nearly as often as you’d like. What would be better is an option to self-guide, perhaps via a handout or guide book. On our visit, our tour was told to catch up with an ongoing tour, which meant we had little time catching chickens and no pony ride at all. Not a good way to impress your visitors!

It only gets busy around here during holiday periods, though, so if you’re coming away from that point, you should do much better. That said, if it’s a hot part of the year (aka, most of the calendar in Orlando), watch out for flies and bugs. And duck poop. I wouldn’t wear any open-toed shoes, actually.

And there’s always that flight restriction. Airlines and customs always wants to know if you’ve been on a farm in the last 90 days. With this visit, you’ll have to answer YES, so think carefully.

But if you can get past all that, and the somewhat expensive cost, this farm is reasonably cute for kids the right age. The train is poky and slow, but fun. The playgrounds are not elaborate, but let kids burn off energy. The animals are not prize-winning, but they are pretty darn varied. Where else can you personally milk a cow? Catch a chicken? Pet a duckling and a soft chick?