Fort Mellon Park — Attraction in Sanford

I planned my niece’s birthday at Fort Mellon Park, renting out a pavilion on August 12th 2022. Being the first to arrive with some neighbor kids and my 10-month-old son, we took several trips to the car to unload and get ready. When momentarily settling in I started to feed my son a bottle and allowed my neighbors kids to play in the splash pad. A woman started approaching me, telling me I owed her money. This woman was without uniform or identification badge, her approach was extremely unprofessional and her tone was abrasive. At this time, I was not sure if she even worked for this establishment; however, I explained I had already paid for the pavilion over the phone. The woman responded, “That’s fine you paid for your pavilion; you pay me $2 per person to play on the splash park so you owe me $4.” I was unaware I needed to pay for the splash pad separately but I agreed to pay and said “Okay just a minute” as I attempted to finish feeding my baby. I watched her sit under an unmarked white awning with a small table under it towards the front of the park sooooo I figured it was legit?!? I found my wallet and pulled out cash, enough to pay for the small party of 10 expected to shortly join us. To give you an idea of the amount of time which had passed - I had less than one ounce left in the two Ounce bottle I used to get my 10-month-old baby over the hunger hump before this woman was approaching me again. “Are you go gonna pay me” I responded to her that I was feeding my baby but I will be right there. At this time, she walked over to the splash pad and started yelling at my neighbors’ kids telling them to get out! My neighbors’ kids were frightened by the unknown woman yelling loudly at them to leave and motioning them towards her. I got up quickly to greet them and assure them it was okay and to pay this woman so she would hopefully stop harassing us. When I got closer to the entrance this woman's voice raised and she verbally attacked me accusing me of – “running up on her” and “disrespecting her!” OVER AND OVER she yelled at me, repeating herself. I explained I was not disrespecting her and was trying to pay her, showing her the money in my hand. The children are with me now at my side, and my baby in my other arm. She was so loud yelling at me telling me I was disrespecting her and the entire park was staring at us. I thought she was going to get violent with me. I was shaking. Then she yelled at me again saying to stop yelling at her. I was astounded. I assured her I was not yelling as she clearly was. At this time, she allowed me to pay her. I was thankful that I had enough money and no other person in my party would have to encounter her. I thought about calling the cops but I did not want to ruin this occasion. My neighbor’s 8-year-old daughter told me she was shaking. She told me thought the lady was going to kidnap them. She told me she was scared to go back into the park. I told her she did not have to. I was shaking and crying and trying to keep my composure together to get through this event. Our guest arrived and I could not get it together enough to put up all the decorations or organize the meals and birthday plans as anticipated. The woman did not go back to her seat but had other women who she conversed with on the side of the park, yelling and pointing at me saying I was disrespecting her. She continued to tell this to other employees (uniformed) who tended to the park. Again yelling, and pointing at me in a threatening manner. I will never go back to this park nor recommend it to anyone. I can not believe the outrage and combative-like behaviors demonstrated by the employee of this city establishment. I can only hope an appropriate action is carried out and that the city will consider a better system to filter skill sets and provide proper training for customer service. Especially when employing personnel to work within a children’s park...

Don't try to reserve the pavilions for parties, it's not worth the hassle we went through, especially not if you want a big pavilion. My family and I decided to do my son's birthday at the pavilions because we thought it would be great to be best the water and to use the splash pad. Considering I live many hours away, my sister was able to do the reservations for the pavilion. She reserved the largest pavilion because my family is large and we wanted to have room for everyone to sit. Three months before the party the reservations were made and paperwork was filed. Everything seemed fine, until we got there and there were people on our reserved pavilion already having a party under way. My family and guests from out of town arrived to find out there was no place for us. Turns out someone at the office"tried" to contact us, except they never did actually talk to anyone (because the number they took down for contact was a digit off and so they never talked to us directly). Apparently they overbooked the large pavilion and instead of honoring our reservation, they decided to give it to the other party and change us to a smaller pavilion #5, which was not large enough. They the tried to fix it on the spot when we’re trying to bring everything to our reserved spot by saying we could have #5 & 6. That never happened, there was another party on #6. It was a mess and it didn’t get better when it was brought to their attention on Monday. The main office was contacted and let’s just say that their business practices are less than favorable. We will never ever be renting from them again and I don’t suggest...

I recently took my sons to Fort Mellon Park in Sanford, Florida, and they had an amazing time playing on the park's playground. As soon as we arrived, they immediately ran towards the playground area, which was filled with a variety of fun and exciting play structures.

The playground at Fort Mellon Park is large and well-designed, with a wide range of equipment for kids of all ages. My sons particularly enjoyed the slides, climbing walls, and swings. They also had fun playing on the various obstacles and interactive features.

One thing I appreciated about the playground was the overall safety and cleanliness of the area. The play structures were well-maintained, and there were no signs of damage or wear and tear. The soft rubber ground surface also provided a safe landing area for falls.

In addition to the playground, Fort Mellon Park offers a variety of other amenities, including picnic areas, restrooms, and plenty of open green space for outdoor activities. The park is also situated on the shores of Lake Monroe, offering stunning waterfront views and opportunities for fishing and boating.

Overall, I highly recommend Fort Mellon Park to anyone looking for a fun and safe outdoor play area for their children. The playground is well-designed and well-maintained, and the park offers a variety of amenities to keep the whole family...