Dr. Phillips Community Park

When I asked Alyssa what she wanted to do this morning she couldn't decide between "swim!" and "go to the park!" so I decided to take her to Dr. Phillips Community Park,  a place that offers a little bit of both.

Dr. Phillips Community Park is located about ten minutes from Downtown Disney so it is a great place for both locals and visitors to head to when their children need a place to play. In addition to having a great playground and splash pad it also has a dog park, a sand volleyball court, a basketball court, a baseball field, a large covered pavilion, plenty of grassy areas, and walking/jogging trails so it appeals to a wide variety of people. The playground and splash pad, however, are usually the two busiest areas  and the biggest draws for toddlers.

The playground has both a section for toddlers/younger kids and a section for older kids. They are right next to each other so it is easy to keep an eye on children of different ages as they play but neither section is fenced in so it is important to keep a close eye on little ones that tend to wander.

Unfortunately the playground is not covered by anything so the equipment can get very hot in the Florida summer sun. There is a large covered pavilion full of picnic tables next to the toddler/younger kid's area but there are also several picnic tables scattered throughout the park and a few of them are semi-covered so parents can sit in the shade while they watch their children play. The picnic tables in the toddler/little kid's section are painted bright yellow and are closer to the ground so even though they are not covered, they are a good place for little ones to sit and eat lunch or a snack at.

Dr. Phillips Community Park has a swingset with 2 baby swings and 2 regular swings but the rest of the playground equipment is very colorful and modern.

There is no sand/sandbox but the sand volleyball court is right next to the big kid section of the playground and my toddler enjoys digging in the sand there when the court is not in use.

The entire playground is covered in soft, colorful turf (which can also get hot in the Florida sun so be careful if you have a crawling baby or a toddler or child that likes to go barefoot). In between the big kid and baby/toddler sections there is a large round rock for climbing on. The whole playground overlooks a lake so the view from any area of the park is beautiful and relaxing.

My toddler's favorite areas of the playground seem to be anything that spins. There is a large spinning circle that multiple kids can sit on and spin round and round until they get dizzy. There are also some smaller spinning apparatuses and what looks like a large red bowl that toddlers can climb inside in the little kid's section of the park. My toddler loves it when I spin her around in this thing but she has absolutely no concept of when she is getting too dizzy so be mindful of your little one trying to climb out of it after they have taken a spin. She has lost her balance and taken a spill more than once but luckily the ground turf is fairly soft and she just thinks it is funny.

After we have played in the park for a little while we head over to the splash pad. This park has ample parking and it is an easy walk from the playground to the splash pad, however, the splash pad area has a separate parking lot from the playground and I find it is easier to drive the car over so it is nearby when our time in the splash pad is done. In between the playground and splash pad is a small building that houses the bathrooms if your child needs to change into their swimsuit.

Admission to the splash pad is $1/person regardless of their age and whether or not they are playing (even babies under a year and adults accompanying their children are $1). At certain times of year and sometimes only on certain days of the week admission is free. It was free on the Tuesday in May that we visited. There is info on the Dr. Phillip's Community Park website about admission but it is not always accurate & up to date so I recommend just bringing the $1/person fee and considering it an added bonus if it ends up being free.

The splash pad has 2 sessions, 10 am-2 pm and 3 pm-5 pm (later during peak times). It closes an hour every day from 2-3 for maitenance/cleaning so you will have to leave the splash pad at that time and wait for it to reopen. If you do go back for the 2nd session and they are charging an admission fee that day you will have to pay $1/person once again to get back in.

The splash pad is divided into two sections, an area for bigger kids and an area for smaller kids. My two year old likes to wander back and forth between both. There are shaded areas with picnic tables on both sides for parents to sit at but the tables tend to fill up very quickly. The splash pad itself is not covered or shaded at all but it is completely fenced in so you don't have to worry too much if you have a toddler that likes to run.

The little kid section is more like a traditional splash pad. It has a colored zig-zag path on the ground (much like you'd see on a game board) and water jets shoot up from it. Several of the water jets are arranged on one of the path parts in a circle and my toddler enjoys running into the middle of the circle. Be aware that the jets of water turn on and off and spray higher and lower randomly though because when she was younger she'd often run into the middle of the circle when it was low or off and then become startled when it suddenly came on full force.

The second, bigger kid side of the splash pad is more interactive. It has water gun/cannons you can move, water that dumps down on you, bigger and more random sprays, etc. My two year old especially enjoys spraying the water gun/cannons even though she is still a little too short to reach them. 

The water on this side tends to pool a little bit more so it can be a little more slippery and causes bigger splashes as you run through it. My toddler also enjoys laying down in it and pretending to "swim."

The splash pad is usually least crowded during the week when school is still in session (when it is open at this time, which is not year round). Weekends and after the school day is done it tends to get a lot more crowded and the kids playing tend to be a little bit older. Because Dr Phillips Community Park is right by Sand Lake Elementary it is used by after school groups and some of those kid's parents let them stay a while and play in the splash pad on really hot days. The after school group doesn't otherwise seem to affect the splash pad, but they do use the playground so I do not recommend visiting the playground with a toddler at this time. The splash pad is, however, popular with camp groups during the summer so it does get crowded with older kids at times.

Overall, Dr. Phillips Community Park is a wonderful place to visit with toddlers and hopefully tire them out enough for a good nap time!