Mont Cascades — Attraction in Cantley

We were really looking forward to visiting Mont Cascade but unfortunately never got to experience the water park. We travelled from Toronto, planning our end-of-summer trip around this park as my kids, who have never been to a water park and are a bit nervous about rides, were excited to give it a try. Two weeks before our trip, I called the park to ask about ticket purchases and whether we should buy online or at the park. I mentioned we would be coming on Monday, August 26th, or 27th, depending on the weather. The staff assured me that any weather-related closures would be posted on their website the morning of our visit.

Fast forward to Sunday night the 25th: we arrived at our hotel in Ottawa, and I checked the park's website, debating whether to buy tickets online. I decided to wait. Monday morning at 7:30 AM, I checked the website for any alerts—none were posted, so we were set. The weather was beautiful, and we were all excited as we headed to the park, arriving just before 10 AM.

When we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed only two other cars there, which seemed odd. As we were getting ready to head in, another family came back to the parking lot and told us the park was closed. We were shocked! We went to the ticket window and were informed that the park was closed because their staff had returned to school that day. The staff pointed to the website, and said that it said they were closed. So, I jumped on my phone to show otherwise as I had tripled checked just two hours before. I open the website, only to see a new big red banner saying they are closed and the hours had indeed been updated—but again, that happened sometime between 7:30 AM and 10 AM.

The most frustrating part was seeing some staff members using the water slides while our kids and a few other families watched in disappointment. Despite the presence of some staff, the park didn't open any slides, even though I suggested we’d still be willing to pay full price for limited access, or just a single slide. We ended up at Camp Fortune, which was okay, but considering our entire trip was planned around Mont Cascade, it was a huge letdown. If staffing was an issue due to school schedules, it should have been managed and communicated well in advance, not just an hour before opening. We weren’t the only ones fooled, while in their parking lot searching for something new to do many other cars arrived to disappointment and agreed that the website was only updated sometime closer to 10 AM.

Travelling from Toronto to Ottawa for Mont Cascade proved to be the worst water park...

I have been to Mont Cascades in the past and we have had a great time. Today, however, was a completely different experience. We live about an hour and 15 minutes away and have a 3 and 8 year old. When trying to purchases tickets yesterday morning, the website would not go past the "quantity" section. I waited until this morning, went on the site and same thing. Despite that, we loaded the car and drove down for 10:30. When we got there, a couple of gentlemen manning the lot told us that the debit and credit machines along with the ATMS were down. We were advised that tickets were reduced- $20 for both adults and $14 for the kids. We thought that was a great price and my husband drove 7 kms back to the nearest gas station to take out cash. Meanwhile, I brought my kids over to the line up. While waiting, a man advised a group of us of the debit/credit issue AND told us that they were also having mechanical issues. Only 3 "attractions" were open. The small wading pool, 1 waterslide and the kids waterpark. I continued waiting as I thought $34 wasn't a terrible deal. After overhearing 1 couple talk to the employee, I now understood the price was ACTUALLY $20 per adult and $15 per chikd. $20 for a wading pool and 1 waterslide? It would cost me $15 for each of my kids to go into a splash park and wading pool as my 8 year old wasn't tall enough for the one slide that was open. No notice on their website or signs around the parking lot. We decided not to stay as we could just bring our kids to a similar splash pad/park combo close to where we live FOR FREE! I am absolutely disappointed in the lack of customer service towards those who travelled far with kids. No manager to address the situation. Mixed messages from all the employees. 1 disappointment...

My husband and I visited Mont Cascades two weeks ago. In order to rent skis, we had to give them an ID. When we returned our skis, we discovered that they GAVE MY HUSBAND'S ID TO ANOTHER CUSTOMER. For context, they take your ID, paperclip it to your rental form and put it in an accordion folder which was a complete mess. The entire rental shop is completely disorganized. At the end of the day it is complete chaos when everyone is returning their equipment and it is not surprising that they made a mistake returning his ID to the wrong person. When discussing the situation with the manager, Dan said "I WISH I COULD SAY THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED, BUT IT IS NOT." They do not verify if they are returning the right ID to the right person. We watched the guy returning IDs to other people, and he did not check to see if it was the right person. We did receive photo confirmation that they managed to get my husband's ID back from the other person. However, it has been TWO WEEKS, AND THEY STILL HAVE NOT MAILED IT. WE HAVE CALLED AT LEAST TEN TIMES, AND NO ONE HAS TAKEN RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS EGREGIOUS ERROR. Some of the employees have been nice, but management has failed to rectify the situation. During these two weeks, my husband has been UNABLE TO DRIVE AND THIS PUTS HIM AT A HIGH RISK OF IDENTITY FRAUD. At this point my husband will have to take time out of his day to go to the RMV and spend money to replace it. We have asked for a refund due to this error, and they have not gotten back to us. THIS TYPE ERROR IS UNACCEPTABLE AND THEIR RESPONSE TO THEIR MISTAKE SHOWS A LACK OF URGENCY THAT DOES NOT MATCH THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION. DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR ID. YOU MAY NEVER...