Downey Park — Attraction in Alafaya

If I could give it Zero stars I would! My family and I have been going to this park and having Birthday parties here for 15 years now. And never have I been treated as I have today! We were setting up for my Nieces birthday party today when a "park ranger" rode up to us in the golf cart and told us we were not allowed to have our portable tables(1) and camping chairs(2) for our party. Ive hosted plenty of parties here and have never heard of this rule! We were a little upset but we agreed easily and continued to set up and accepted the fact that people were just going have to stand. While we were decorating the 3 picnic tables we picked out he came back 2 minutes later and was immediately rude for no reason asking how many people we were planning to have and I said I wasn't sure at most 40. He got angry and told us that we weren't allowed to have more than 24 people here unless we rented a pavilion. I replied saying we had tried to rent a pavilion 4 months ago but there were none available. He sarcastically replied saying "And that's why you reserve one a year in advance!" I was shocked by his behavior. He then threatened that if we had more than 24 people we would be forced to leave!!!! What!?! He said we weren't allowed to have that many tables because we were taking up the whole park. We only had 3 though. While he was threatening us my sister was wrapping party streamers halfway up the trunk of a tree. Which we've always done at our parties here in the past. He turned his attention to her and got very upset saying we're not allowed to touch any of the trees. I asked what was the problem with having streamers tied around it? We were not using tape so there would be no damage done to the tree. He looked at me like I was stupid and shouted "Because it's a tree!" We agreed to take it down and took it down while he was still there. He left and confused I called the office at Downey Park to ask them what the exact rules were concerning guest numbers, tables, chairs, and tree decorations. After I explained the situation the man in the office told me he didn't know who I was speaking to but we were allowed to have as many people As wanted and the same goes for the number of park tables. He did say that folding tables were not allowed and the trees were not allowed to be decorated. He also said we were allowed to have our own chairs though. While we were in the middle of the party a few of the elderly in our family brought their own lawn chairs(4) because they couldn't get in the tight squeeze of the benches. THE RUDE MAN CAME BACK and told us we weren't allowed to have them. I was beyond done with being yelled at that day and the confusing rules that no one who worked there seemed to agree on. I told him that the man in the office said we were allowed to have the chairs. And he got very upset and raised his voice with me AT A TODDLERS BIRTHDAY PARTY and said who did I talk to because he was the manager of this park and he knows the rules. He kept threatening to show me the printed rule book and fed up I said then show me the rule book. So, upset he left to the office to presumably get it. 40 MINUTES LATER he comes back with a small stack of papers and says he had the rule book, I asked if I could read it and he REFUSED to let me even look at it! He told me that was his copy and if I wanted to read it I could come in the office and pick one up on Monday! Why would he offer(threaten) to show me the rule book and refuse to let me see it when you bring it to me to shove it in my face. This man was so rude and disrespectful and completely ruined my nieces 3rd birthday party. I'm not sure his name but he was a dark man. Jamaican I think. I'm not sure but he did have an accent. I will be emailing the Orange County parks and recreation office and file an official complaint against Downey Park and the "manager." After 15 years with this park I will never host another...

I don’t come here often cause it’s a lil ways from my house but I still will give it 4stars- the park is great for the kids to play and if you ask mines they would say the water 💦 pad is the best we basically go just for that!! I see they also have a dog park I don’t have any dog so I couldn’t say much about the dog park but I can say I always see lots of people with there dogs there, another plus is there is public restrooms and they have always been clean every time we have used them! On the down side and I don’t think it’s the parks fault but there are sometimes homeless people sleeping in the park, but I’m not one to really complain about stuff like this I just mind my own business- cause they really don’t bother anyone, but hey if I’m town you should check it out!! The water pad does have a small fee like a $1 and the entrance to the park is free, you also can reserve the pavilion for a fee as well not so sure about those fees but always see those are filled up with people doing there...

Overall nice park- nice playgrounds, nice splash pad, decent skate park, nice pavilions and picnic areas. The reason for the 1 star review is the complete epitome of rudeness my wife and I encountered from the park rangers working here. We travelled across the country in a converted van, along the way we stopped at 46 different national and state parks for some respite from driving and to clean up a bit and did not have an issue not one single time until Downey Park. The park rangers hounded us from the bathroom entrances and forced us out of the restroom. It was the most bizarre flexing of authority I've encountered in my adult life. The lady park ranger was especially rude to my wife, as if my wife doesn't know how to use a sink. Will definitely be sure to spread the word during our travels to steer clear of this park. Hopefully this isn't a sign of what to expect from Orlando (as this is our...