I think the key is "large". We went last wednesday june 3 and brought in a stroller for our 2 year old. We were able to place a soft side cooler in the basket underneath that held 12 waters for us. We did go through security, and we along with other people who had small coolers, opened it up so security could see inside, and were allowed through no problems. We also had a beach bag that had snacks in it that were examined no problem. We didn't bring actual meals with us though as we had pizza for lunch at seaport pizza and ate at dine w/shamu for dinner (which was excellent food by the way)!