Butterfly World Visitor Guide: Hours, Tickets and Directions from Fort Lauderdale

Butterfly World in Coconut Creek opens daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, with tickets sold only in person at the gate (operator).

The clock that matters at Butterfly World is earlier than closing time. Admission closes with last entry at 4:00 p.m., the operator recommends arriving by 3:00 p.m., and the butterfly area and Lorikeet Encounter close at 4:30 p.m. before the park itself closes at 5:00 p.m. (Butterfly World). The park is closed on Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Tickets for Butterfly World are sold only in person at the Coconut Creek gate, with no pre orders or reservations (Butterfly World). The operator shows its admission prices only as a poster image on that page, not as text, so the figures could not be checked on October 15, 2026; a day pass can be upgraded to an annual pass only on the day of purchase (Butterfly World FAQ). Through Saturday, October 31, 2026, the operator is taking $10 off adult and $5 off child admission when the offer is mentioned at the gate (Butterfly World home page).

Discounts at Butterfly World are limited to three groups: active or retired military get 25 percent off for the whole party, AAA members get 15 percent off up to 6 tickets, and school employees from Broward, Palm Beach or Dade county get 25 percent off up to 6 tickets with a school ID (Butterfly World FAQ). There is no senior, student or Florida resident discount, and discounts cannot be combined. Cash, Amex, MasterCard, Visa and Apple Pay are accepted; personal checks are not. Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Butterfly World website.

Butterfly World sits about 10 miles north of Fort Lauderdale at 3600 West Sample Road in Coconut Creek, reached from I-95 Exit 39, Florida Turnpike Exit 69 or Sawgrass Expressway Exit 19 (Butterfly World directions).

On the operator's I-95 route, drivers from Fort Lauderdale leave at Exit 39 and head west on Sample Road for about 3 miles; the turn is a left into Tradewinds Park, followed by a third of a mile on the park road to the Butterfly World entrance (Butterfly World). From Florida's Turnpike (SR 91) at Exit 69, drivers turn left onto Sample Road, keep to the left lane, and turn left into Tradewinds Park within about a quarter mile. From the Sawgrass Expressway (SR 869), Exit 19 at Lyons Road leads south about 2 miles to Sample Road, then left on Sample Road and right into the park.

The City of Coconut Creek lists the same 3600 West Sample Road address for Tradewinds Park (City of Coconut Creek), and the operator says some GPS devices send drivers to other areas of the park. The operator warns that Apple Maps has been sending Butterfly World visitors to the wrong side of Sample Road: a driver who sees horses is at the north side stables and should turn around, go back to the traffic light at Sample Road and go straight ahead (Butterfly World). The City of Coconut Creek confirms that the Tradewinds Park stables, with guided trail rides and pony rides, are on the north side of the park (City of Coconut Creek attractions). Anyone lost can call the Butterfly World office at 954-977-4434.

A 2000 profile in the AFA Watchbird journal placed Butterfly World at the same address, 3600 West Sample Road, about 10 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, and said it opened in 1988 (AFA Watchbird, 2000).

Butterfly World visitors park inside Tradewinds Park, a Broward County park, and the gate fee of $3 per vehicle applies on weekends and county observed holidays (Butterfly World).

The Tradewinds Park gate fee posted on the Butterfly World page, marked as updated January 1, 2024, is $3 for a vehicle with 8 or fewer occupants and $20 for a vehicle with 9 or more (Butterfly World). The note names no fee for other days. The fee note is almost three years old, so the gate itself is the final word.

The operator FAQ explains the split that confuses first time visitors: Tradewinds Park is a Broward County park on Sample Road in Coconut Creek, and Butterfly World is a separate private facility on the south side of it (Butterfly World FAQ). Pavilion rentals and park questions go to the county park at 954-357-8870, not to Butterfly World. Picnic areas sit just outside the Butterfly World gate in Tradewinds Park, useful because outside drinks other than water are not allowed inside.

Butterfly World says it keeps 20,000 butterflies on display (Butterfly World FAQ), and the City of Coconut Creek lists open air aviaries of butterflies and tropical birds, a research facility, an insectarium and a Lorikeet Encounter among its exhibits (City of Coconut Creek attractions).

The Coconut Creek attractions page lists the exhibits: the butterfly aviaries set as a South Florida tropical rain forest, a research facility where all stages of the butterfly life cycle are on daily display, a vine maze, the Butterfly Museum and Insectarium, a live Bug Zoo, the Lorikeet Encounter where visitors hand feed small parrots, a swinging suspension bridge, botanical gardens and outdoor cafes (City of Coconut Creek). The city says the gift and plant shops are open to the public, and the operator says its gift shop and garden center are open seven days a week (Butterfly World FAQ).

The Butterfly World FAQ says up to fifty species can be seen flying at any one time and more than 150 species over a year, and that the count of 20,000 holds year round because its South Florida location leaves the number unaffected by seasonal changes (Butterfly World FAQ). A butterfly in the aviary lives about fourteen days on average, against about seven in the wild, while species such as the zebra longwing can live up to ten months.

The Lorikeet Encounter at Butterfly World opens at 10:30 a.m. (11:00 a.m. on Sunday), and the last feeding is at 4:15 p.m. with nectar at $2 a cup, cash only (Butterfly World). The operator suggests two to three hours for an unhurried walk, and many visitors stay all day (Butterfly World FAQ).

Butterfly World is mostly outdoors, so lightning closes the aviaries temporarily and cool days under 60 degrees keep most butterflies perched, which is why the operator asks visitors to call 954-977-4434 when the Coconut Creek weather looks doubtful (Butterfly World).

The Butterfly World weather guide is specific: heavy rain and thunderstorms mean little flying and a high chance of early closing, especially in the afternoon; drizzle means smaller butterflies rest while larger ones still fly; sunny days above 60 degrees bring the most activity (Butterfly World). Because the operator rates the chance of a storm closing highest in the afternoon, a morning arrival from Fort Lauderdale is the safer plan. Rain checks are issued at the operator's discretion after extended bad weather and expire one year after the visit (Butterfly World FAQ).

House rules at Butterfly World: outside drinks other than bottled water and infant feeding liquids are not allowed, only service dogs are admitted and they must be declared at the gate, costume masks are not allowed for guests 12 and older, and tripods and monopods are banned throughout (Butterfly World FAQ). Butterfly World says it is fully wheelchair accessible and rents wheelchairs at $5.00 plus tax for up to two hours, first come, first served (Butterfly World).

Butterfly World opened in Coconut Creek on March 28, 1988, the work of founder Ronald Boender, who had moved to Florida in 1968 and started a commercial butterfly farm before building the park (Butterfly World history page).

The operator's history says Ronald Boender set up MetaScience Co. in 1984, producing up to 1,000 butterfly pupae a week for universities and zoos, then traveled to England in 1985 to meet Clive Farrell of the London Butterfly House; the two became partners in Butterfly World (Butterfly World). The operator describes Butterfly World as the first butterfly house in the United States and the largest in the world (Butterfly World).

Butterfly World also runs the Bring Back the Butterflies campaign, launched in 1988 to hand out free regional butterfly gardening guides, and credits its work with a University of Florida laboratory for help with the endangered Schaus Swallowtail (Butterfly World). The host city leans on the connection: Coconut Creek calls itself the Butterfly Capital of the World (City of Coconut Creek).