I just got back from Disney! Here are some pics....

Probably some newly planted southern magnolias...

Some magnolia flowers. I was surprised to see them still in bloom...

A nice group of Silver Saw Palmettos at EPCOT

And even more silver, some Bismarkia palms. These looked great, despite the cold winter

Large birds of paradise

There were lots of Dioon Spinulosums in Disney World

The ensetes were looking great! I think they are just summer annuals. Disney replaces a lot of plants (even if they are doing well) from season to season to fit the theme.

Washingtonias are definitely one of the most common palms in Central Florida. I think Sabal Palmettos are the only palms that have them beat when it comes to being common

Succulents do great in the hot Florida weather!

An owl with his head turned from the crowd of people (the next day there was a brown pelican in almost that exact same spot)

There were lots of nice and large Fatsias.

This Norfolk Island Pine was probably newly planted for the newly done Star Tours ride. Hopefully it does well, but I think it should.

Disney really does have a ton of plants that you would expect to see more in the deep south. Live oaks and Crape myrtles are some of those, and Cast Iron plants are another. Here is a cast Iron plant.

A blurry pic of some Ball Moss. They were ALL over the trees!

More healthy bismarkias

I love the birds of paradise. I was disappointed to see that the row of yellow birds of paradise leading up to the Pixar section at Disney Hollywood Studios, was replaced by what I think are boxwoods! I doubt it had to do with the cold since birds of paradise are definitely bullet proof to temperatures in the upper 20s.

Some type of phoenix hybird. I have a guess, but Im not sure so I would appreciate some help with that!

A nice old Staghorn fern. It might have been protected during the cold weather, but either way, it looks great!

A plumeria in the shade. They definitely perfer sun, but this one was happily in bloom!

You can tell this pothos had some dieback, but it did survive and it looks healthy

I dont see how these orchids could have been given any cold protection, so its pretty possible that they saw some very cold weather! They look great!

What looked to be newly planted Anturiums

This kind of looked like a Red Sealing Wax palm!! I hear people having difficulty with this one in places as far south as Miami so if this is a red saling wax palm, I would be really impressed! Can anyone confirm an ID on this one also?

More Pothos

A healthy bismarkia in shade. This one was definitely not protected since it was in a pretty dense forest

A very nice Dioon

Something that a lot of us are farmilar with is a Magnolia seed pod. I remember when I used to think that they were some type of Artichoke.

Some type of lizard. Lizards are all over the place in Disney and probably Florida in general.

I was happy to see lots of Eucs. I even saw a rainbow euc or 2! And on the way to Animal kingdom, there was a whole batch of Eucalyptus in the forest. It reminded me of California a bit

Animal Kingdom Asia. I have to say, its pretty convincing!

More Eucs

I think this is a fatsia, but Im not positive

Lots of large hibiscus around Disney, particularly animal kingdom. The one in this pic is a smaller one, I saw one that was at least 12 feet tall.

Some of the many animals in Animal Kingdom

Healthy Livistonias

I think Queens are number 3 in the most common of palms around Central Florida

When I was little, I used to think that this batch of Queen palms were Coconut palms. I could see why since they are near water and they are graceful. And I guess I was always interested in palms!

Herons??

The ducks were extremely friendly. You can tell that they get fed a lot!

This planting bed was lush like the tropics, but consisted of mostly desert-like plants

Some coonties

Crazy amounts of ball moss on the live oak in Disney. There were probably thousands of them on the ground when I was there during Tropical Storm Fay a few years ago.

Queen palms with Epcot's Fireworks show in the background

Nice looking Crapes! I love the way they were pruned

Not sure what this palm is, Im thinking Butia x Jubaea.

A very old Bottle palm that has seen some life threatning cold the past 2 years. I wonder if it was given protection?

Some type of climbing cati/ Dragon Fruit type of plant (Cerus??)

Some elephant ears! Very common in our northern tropical yards, but still deserving of a spot in a nice climate like Orlando's!

I think this was a Madagascar Palm (not a true palm of course, and actually related to Plumerias and other succulents).

Beautiful Yucca guatemalensis. I also saw a nice variegated alofolia that I didnt take a picture of, but I think it is worth mentioning!

I love Everglades palms! They are a beautiful florida native that has great cold tolerance and wet/drought and heat tolerance as well! A great choice for any yard in Florida, maybe a bit of a challange in the coldest areas of Northern Florida.

A young plumeria doing well (looks like its getting a lot of water)

Some type of Optunia Flower. There were also some old Agaves near blooming size, and a few nice Yucca Rostatas near the Big Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster. I also saw a Yucca Gloriosa. I was surprised that they planted such cold hardy succulents since Orlando has a nearly freeze free climate.

Not sure what species of Cycad this is

An Ixora with some variegrated Hibiscus leaves in the shot as well

Plumeria Pudica

A beautiful White Elephant palm (Kerriodoxa elegans). This is the first time I have seen this palm in person. Im not positive if I have the ID right, but I'm about 95% sure!

Tropical Birds never fail to add to that tropical feel!

Birds and Bismarkia!

Nice Floss Silk Tree

And some type of Heron. They were all over the place and they really are very beautiful birds!

A giant Araucaria bidwillii aka Buyna-buyna Tree. I counted 4 of these trees during my stay, one in Epcot, 2 in Animal Kingdom, and one somewhere else. Nice trees, but not for small yards!

I saw some royal palms in Magic Kingdom. They were damaged and had smaller crowns, but they looked like they were recovering well. Royal palms are used to having to replace there crowns (during hurricanes) so I think it will be fine. Here are 2 royal palms. They were out in the open which did not help them during the cold for sure.

Anyone have an ID for this tree. I used to know the name, but I forgot. They are beautiful trees and they were all over the entrance of Animal Kingdom. I also saw some young Jarcandas that looked healthy.

I know some Bougainvilleas were damaged or maybe even killed in Orlando ( I know that Disney isnt technically in Orlando) during these past few record breakingly cold winters, but this bougainvillea is huge and healthy! I dont see how it could be protected, so I think its safe to say that its a long term plant in the Orlando area

Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed. Any help with the ID of these plants is greatly appreciated!

-Alex