Thursday February 26th 2026

The latest cold spell in central Florida is over, but not without leaving more evidence of its presence. On my visit to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Wednesday there were a lot of plants with wilted green or brown leaves. The Disney gardeners had managed to put up the usual “pardon are appearances …” signs, but hadn’t started cutting things out. Seeing the damage drives home the difference in the winter cold impact this year. I do not recall having seen evidence of a freeze at Disney any other winter. I am used to seeing flower blossoms year round. Any damage is usually mitigated or repaired very quickly. I don’t think standard techniques worked this year.

Animal Kingdom was busy Wednesday, but people departed as the afternoon progressed. There were plenty of animals visible, just not very active. On the safari many animals were sitting in the sun well back from the road. The few that were moving seemed to have blocking the road in mind. A couple of Giraffes, an Ostrich and a pair of White Rhinos all slowed down our safari truck. That is actually a good thing. It gives you a chance to take better pictures unless you get stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I enjoyed about 4 hours in the park. Then I paid for it getting home. The rush hour traffic turned a normally little over half an hour drive into an hour and a half drive home.