Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens
Garden · Florida
This Sanford zoo threads themed plant collections, a butterfly garden, and a health and wellness herb garden around its animal habitats. Every October the grounds add Zoo Boo Bash on select weekends, with trick-or-treat stations set along the paths for costumed kids.
Don’t miss
Plan your visit
Peak: December 2–December 6
Color builds from November 19 · mostly bare by December 29
Method: daily ERA5 temperatures drive a photoperiod + chilling phenology model, sampled at Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens’s own coordinates and elevation (10 m) rather than a regional average. Estimates, not promises — check locally before you plan a trip around it.
Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens on the map
More things to do in Florida
Halloween Horror Nights
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks December 5
Universal's after-hours haunt takeover has run every fall since 1991, filling the Orlando park with a rotating slate of maze houses and scare zones built around horror franchises, typically running from late August through the first weekend of November.
Don’t miss: Held since 1991 · Multiple haunted houses and scare zones · Runs into November
Ghosts & Gravestones St. Augustine
Ghost tourColor nearby peaks December 2
A nightly 80-minute narrated trolley tour of the oldest city in the country, stopping at Tolomato Cemetery, the Old City Gates and the Old Jail, which the operator calls the town's most haunted building. Boards at the San Marco Avenue welcome centre.
Don’t miss: Tolomato Cemetery and the Old Jail · Chamber of Horrors at Potter's Wax Museum · Runs nightly, all year
Amazing Grace Family Farms
Corn mazeColor nearby peaks December 1
A Clay County farm on State Road 21, about 30 minutes south of Jacksonville, that opens a crop maze and pumpkin patch each autumn alongside a cow train and other farm attractions. The farm also runs a sunflower festival earlier in the year.
Don’t miss: Crop maze and pumpkin patch · Cow train and farm attractions · Half an hour from Jacksonville
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
Haunted attractionColor nearby peaks December 2
Busch Gardens' after-dark Halloween takeover, billed as Tampa Bay's most terrifying event, fills the animal-and-coaster park with haunted houses and roaming scare zones on select nights. The 2026 run is September 11 through November 1; gates open at 5 p.m. and the frights start at 7.
Don’t miss: Haunted houses and scare zones after dark · Coasters run into the night · Select nights, Sept 11-Nov 1
Plan from a city
Frequently asked
- When does Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens peak in 2026?
- Peak color is predicted for December 2–December 6 (best estimate December 4). Color starts around November 19 and is mostly bare by December 29.
- What is Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens best for?
- A garden walk with Halloween trick-or-treating built in.
- How do I get to Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens?
- The closest city is Orlando, about 20 mi away. It's part of Florida's fall lineup.
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