Florida Guide > Miscellaneous
Downtown Kissimmee Lakeside Park
Just under the arch at Main St off the 192 east is the entrance to downtown Kissimmee. Pass all of the quaint historic buildings until you come to the business district and you should see a sign to the left pointing down to the lakeside park. You can park for free in the car park right beside the lake and then you can have a stroll along the lakeshore and admire the wildlife. Sadly the lovely little pier with a lighthouse that leads into the lake has been badly damaged by hurricanes in 2004 and has not been totally repaired so access may be restricted. However it has become home to lots of birds, turtles and other wildlife that Florida is famous for.
Just at the side of the lake is a lovely children’s play area. Again this was badly damaged in the hurricanes but has now been repaired and the authorities have put a sun canopy over the climbing equipment to keep the children safe in the sun. All the equipment is on safety paving and the swings just to the side are on sand.
There are picnic tables under the shade of the trees and this park is very popular with local families after school, weekends and school holidays.
If you fancy a snack, ice cream or cool drink there is a lovely little ice cream parlour (all wheelchair accessible –up ramps) that is run by an English lady who lives in one of the big houses round the other side of the lake. She’s very chatty and keeps her little cabin spotless.
At the other side of the ice cream parlour there is a small water park for the children. Floridians love their fountains and here is no exception. There are no pools so it is quite safe for little ones. It is fenced off and has seating for the adults and although it does have a non slip floor –I would still buy your child some rubber water shoes to be on the safe side.
It is rumoured that this whole area is under threat of big developers coming in and making way for shops, bars and restaurants-so if you want to enjoy this rustic setting in the midst of busy Kissimmee now is the time to put it on your ‘must do’ list.
We often combine the park with a visit to Susan’s Courtyard Café which is just up from the large Kissimmee Utilities building near the Courthouse. This was an old historic building that has been lovely restored by Susan and her family just a few years ago. It is totally accessible to wheelchairs (and has accessible toilet) and as most of the other historic buildings are pretty inaccessible it’s worth it to have a look.
Susan, family and friends serve good home cooked food at lunchtimes and as it is near the Courthouse she does a busy trade.
If you like to browse in the curio and antique shops you can walk from Susan’s up to Main St and there you will find a huge one that seems to go on forever with lots of interesting bric a brac to look at and round off a perfect day.
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