Wooton Park — Attraction in Tavares

Update: 10-3-2023 The park is looking really nice. They've done some landscape changing and of course the docks of all been replaced a while back so there is parking for visitor boats, etc. The playground is now finished and looks nice. However, taking out some of the oak trees leaves little shade. For how much space there is here for the playground. They've could have added a few more features for the kids as I can't see that it's going to hold the interest of children as long as the old wooden park did, but I understand why that had to come down. That being said, it's still be nice if they would uplit the trees because that was a really nice feature in the evening. All in all, it's a great place to walk and the volleyball sand courts are really nice and it's a lovely lake front park with wildlife to view. Wish some of the restaurants were a little better quality.

Original: Nice waterfront park. Parking available, but limited during events. Centrally located near the tour train and several Waterfront restaurants. The park is a nice size with some nice pants on it and they are expanding it further and once that is done it'll be even better. The reason it did not get 5 stars is because they used to pipe music in through the speakers which they no longer do, and they used to light up all the huge oak trees. It would be even better once they get all the docs back in place that got tore up a year ago during the hurricane. So there is limited boat parking. There are some restrooms at the park and they are usually in very good condition. There's also a little kitty Water Park area that runs...

A cute little area for kids to play. The splash pad is $2 per person, CASH ONLY. Minimal parking right by the park, though there is additional parking for the area nearby, might fill up on the weekends.

The closest ATM is across the street by the city hall. The entire area is enclosed, with only one entrance/exit and it closes between 12-12:20 for cleaning. The main attraction is the slide in the middle, which is suitable for toddlers and up. There were kids of a variety of ages when we went on a Monday, though it may feel small for older children. There are benches all around to sit at. No food permitted inside (a mother was asked to take her children outside to eat). The attendants the day we went were reasonably friendly, but were mostly there to enforce rules.

The park does seem in need of upkeep - some of the water spray things are a little wobbly, and the netting is torn on one side leading to the park.

The playground (separate and free) was also quite popular and shaded, but similarly has areas that are a bit worn down. There's a set of baby swings and a set of normal swings.

There is also a walking path which we did not go down off to the side, a little tucked away. It is by the water and near the sea plane docking area so we saw a sea plane take off and another land in the hour or so we were...

The park itself is massive. They've been expanding further from the original spot of Wooton Park all the way down to the jail. They've recently redone the entire playground section. Since the recent redo, kids and teenagers have already broken some of the items and stolen bits and pieces. Although things are broken, it's been nice to see things not absolutely vile like they used to be. The water park has been a great addition. The water park area they added a while back has gone through a few remakes and it currently seems to be back under another remake now since it hasn't opened around its normal time to open the park. The piers are nice and new especially after a few years back after Irma completely demolished them and left it on the shoreline. You can also go on seaplane rides from within the park territory as well as go to any of the number of restaurants just barely away from the park.

This place still needs improvements to the playgrounds and some fixing, but overall, the entire park from the playground to near the jail is definitely a huge improvement from when I...