Scatter Joy Acres Inc — Attraction in Plattsmouth

Very disappointed with my personal experience. Kids had a blast, of course. Cute animals, oh so fun. As an adult, this is how it went:

We arrived and parked, walked along some wired fence to what seemed to be the obvious entrance. It had a sign that said something like "ring the bell if no one is at the office". It didn't say where the office was. I didn't know where to get the tickets. Was this "office" where we get the tickets from? Was there where we were "the" office? But if there is no one in there, how will they hear the bell? Anyway, I pulled the rope / shook the bell. Nothing. Kids: me! Me! Me! Sure, go ahead. Kid one rang the bell. Nothing. Kid two rang the bell. Nothing. Kids three and four are older and uninterested and also understood we shouldn't be there ringing bells the whole day. We moved on.

First thing we did was stopping at the closest thing, Jake's pond where we saw a lovely huge tortoise that was very friendly and came to greet us, very curious about us. After that, I spotted someone with a green shirt a few feet ahead, near the cow area. We moved there, and I mentioned how we had just arrived, and I was meaning to understand what to do upon arrival. I told how we rang the bell and that we had not paid yet but that we were gonna try again when exiting. He was very nice and understanding and said it was okay. Then he gave us a brief explanation of the rules.

We kept seeing animals and fell in love with the Central American raccoons. Felt bad for a few of the goats, the kangaroos, and other animals that seemed miserable and desperate trying to find a shade to cool off and to hide from the touch of kids on their faces. The camels and baby cows (?) near them were practically devouring the fan, so hot it was. They couldn't be bothered to move one iota, and I don't blame them.

Now, my heart broke when we saw the reindeer. These Arctic animals are native to freezing northern Asia and Europe. In North America, they are only found in northern Canada and Alaska. They do not migrate. They do not tolerate humidity. They hate warm weather. Now, 90-100F hot Summer Nebraska? Are you kidding me? The animals were hurdled IN A SHIPPING CONTAINER WITH A FAN AT THE "DOOR". Meanwhile, I got home to my A/C after walking on that place during a melting 95F day (on June! It gets way hotter on July! and sat and cried on how better than a reindeer I got it) 😭 I don't remember the part of the song where Old MacDonald had a reindeer. Or three. Or let them in a box with a floor fan.

Surely, those were very big, industrial and strong fans. I experienced a bit of it when near the camels. But still, it was blowing hot AF air. I was hot, and I am a human. And I'm BRAZILIAN. Those are artic animals with thick dense fur meant to stand MINUS SEVENTY DEGREES. Not freaking 95F.

Continuing.

After the horrors, I called the girls and told them how absolutely unexcusable and awful it was to have snow animals on a hot environment without adaptations, and we left. They are kids, so they kind of missed the point, and that's ok, I guess. The two big ones understood, and I'm sure the little ones will grow to understand too.

As we walked towards the exit, we were "greeted" by a green shirt tall blonde woman saying that we "forgot to pay" or something like that. And I said, "Yeah, no, we know we still have to pay. We are on our way out and ready to pay." Then we small talk chit-chat blabla. She escorted us into the place where we earlier rang the bell a couple of times and she told this woman named Dani how we rang the bell. To what she said: "No"... Excuse me?! Ok, I didn't say anything nasty because at that point, I just wanted to leave, so I was like "Yes, we did ring. I did (point to self), she did (point girl 1), she did (point girl 2)" She shook her head again. I just ignored her. Blonde woman in green asked if we liked it and I said "They liked it, they will definitely come back (well, with their parents, not with me)" - yes, I said like that LOL.

I was glad it was over. Kids will like it. Animals don't....

The company is very irresponsible! If your child gets hurt by one of their animals, they do not care! They do not follow up! I can only imagine if my situation had escalated into some sort of bacterial infection… Beware of company.!!!

We went to a public event at Hummel Park the city of omaha had hosted. We noticed a station with a cage about waist high with a bunny and a turtle in it. My daughter asked if it’s OK to pet the bunny… Even though there were already other children petting the bunny. The Man working said definitely. And since the cage was high, and my daughter was only able to barely brush the top of them THEY TOLD HER she should bend down and put her fingers through the cage openings. She used two fingers to try and pet the bunny on its side And the bunny turned and bit her and wouldn’t let go for a second or two. The bunny had ripped a flap of skin open and my daughter was instantly crying of pain and fear, so I quickly escorted her over to the handwashing station in the bathroom. We ran water over it for a solid 10 minutes and then The city of Omaha staff got one of their medics to come and look at it. He recommended we do not put any sort of peroxide on it as it can hurt the tissue he suggested just running the water on it And seeing if we could get that, flap of skin to flap back and close up with some pressure. We got worried unknowingly of what germs are in the mouth of a bunny... so I went back to the station and talked with the gentleman about my concerns and he let me know He didn’t know much about the animals and was just helping a friend. He used to treat wounds back in the army, but knows nothing of animal bacteria.… he then contacted the owner to see if they were updated with all their vaccines and if I should be worried about any sort of bite/Something that could be in her blood now from bunny saliva. … He let us know he talked to the owner and she said they are all up-to-date. I requested she give me a call AND I GAVE HIM MY NUMBER to call me back so I can feel more confident with this and ask a few more questions on if and what diseases bunnies can carry… It has now been over two months and I have heard nothing from the company. My daughters scar is still there But thank God, no...

I surprised my boyfriend and his visiting friend with tickets to goat yoga at Scatter Joy Acres on a Saturday morning. It was supposed to be a fun, lighthearted experience that I had planned in advance. The GPS originally said 25 minutes, but once we were on the road it changed to 45, so we ended up arriving about 10 minutes late.

From the start, the woman working admissions was noticeably rude. Rather than welcoming us, she fixated on the fact that we were late and made it into a big issue. Another couple arrived right behind us and received the same cold treatment, even though they too had driven a long way. I told her we were fine being a little late and even said there was no need to be upset with us. She snapped back with a sarcastic “oh I’m not,” but her tone and attitude said otherwise.

She insisted someone had to escort us to the yoga pen and even started paging for help as if we were trying to sneak into a high-security area. Eventually, she walked us part of the way herself, then abruptly stopped and just pointed to where we should go. It wasn’t far at all, and honestly the way she handled it was over-the-top. It felt like they were guarding a castle instead of welcoming guests to a relaxing farm experience.

Once we got to the yoga area, everything was easygoing and peaceful. The instructor was kind and the experience itself was enjoyable. However, it became clear they were overly strict about separating goat yoga participants from the rest of the animals. After the session, instead of letting us walk back, they made us wait by the pen while a child came to escort us out a side gate and onto the road. It felt strangely controlling for such a casual activity.

The more I think about it, the more disappointed I feel. What should have been a special memory was tainted by strict rules and a staff member who clearly didn’t want us there. For a place called Scatter Joy, the experience was anything but joyful. I won’t be returning and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to families or anyone looking for a warm and welcoming...