Jellystone Park™ Glen Ellis — Hotel in Bartlett

Wrote an email to management (below) for them to be aware of the drastic changes from last year to this year, within 15 minutes the assistant general manager James called back. He made up a bunch of excuses about it being end of season, lied saying he was at yogicize until 9:30 when the bear drove off at 9:17 (see below) and told us he spoke with his staff who all said we were rude (we weren't, nor would they know who we were). When we requested to speak to GM Michelle because she was pleasant to speak with the 2 times we did at the park, he refused and said she wouldn't be calling us back.

Email: Our family just returned from what has always been our favorite camping trip of the year. For the past three years, we’ve stayed for a week and usually return again for a long weekend because of the fun, energy, and organization that make it worth the $1,200+ price tag. Unfortunately, this year’s stay was extremely disappointing, to the point where our whole group is reconsidering coming back.

The absence of the usual activities director was immediately noticeable, and the entire experience suffered because of it.

Here's what happened (or didn’t)...

The Pirates & Mermaids Pool Party never happened.

The Foam Party at the pool failed — could not get it to foam, we got very bubbly water.

At the Pirates & Mermaids craft, there were only 10 pirate swords, 3 packs of gems, and one empty glitter glue. Instead of staff checking on us, I had to repeatedly leave the table to ask for more supplies: first gems, then glue (was told that was all they had), then I suggested glue sticks (staff didn’t know where they were), and finally I had to ask what the mermaid craft even was. Staff never once came out to make sure we had what we needed.

The Coloring activity was scheduled 4–4:50. We arrived at 4:15 — nothing was set up and no staff present. Only when GM Michelle happened to walk by did stuff get put out, because we asked for it.

Yogicize today Friday August 29th with Cindy Bear was scheduled for 9:15. We arrived at 9:17 and Cindy was already driving away. My cousin, who got there at 9:13, said the pledge had already started when she got there. We were followed by 3 other disappointed families. This was our only chance to see Cindy, and my daughter left in tears.

Around noon on Saturday the 23rd, I noticed vomit near the bathhouse. By Sunday afternoon it was still there regardless of the fact that multiple employees are often found hanging out in golf carts in the area. When I stopped GM Michelle, she said she would take care of it immediately. Within 10 minutes someone sprayed it with water, which only spread it out instead of cleaning it properly.

The pool attendant was consistently rude, greeting us with “quiz” questions about random rules like “How far from the pool with food?” and “Are all the children potty trained?” This felt like harassment instead of hospitality.

The Hayride was advertised to start at 8:00. We arrived at 7:50, and the driver told us it wouldn’t start until 8:15. My daughter was chilly and since we 'had time' we ran to quickly grab a sweater, we returned at 7:58 only to find the hayride already loaded and leaving. Thankfully, one male activities staff member let us on — and he was the only staff member all week who showed enthusiasm and friendliness.

Aside from him, the activities staff overall seemed disengaged and uninterested in creating a fun, memorable experience. Instead of the energy we’ve always loved, it felt like they were just doing the bare minimum.

This trip has always been special because of the enthusiasm and organization that makes families feel welcome. This year, the activities were a mess, cleanliness was ignored, and staff interactions often felt unhelpful or rude. After spending over $1,200, our group left frustrated and disappointed instead of with the happy memories we...

It's a beautiful spot and lots of fun things to do. However, some of the front guest staff were less than friendly and made people wait until the very last minute to register them. The recreation staff are great but it seems that the front desk people are very stressed and take it out on the guests. There was no signage about not doing express registration that day. The park seems to be getting out of control. You can only grow so large before things get out of hand. They seem to be understaffed which I know is an issue for many businesses. The place is starting to get run down and feel kind of "junky."

8/10/23 here are some suggestions but I'm not sure they'll be listened to.

There should be a retractable clothes line inside any cabins that have porches. A dry but breezy place to hang towels and bathing suits. It would be quick, easy and cheap to do this.

The golf carts should have hooks all over them to hang the tubes.

The "beach" which is basically just a big, sandy parking lot, shouldn't be called a beach.

There needs to be more hooks or shelves in the cabin bathrooms.

As mentioned in the review above, there should be signs directing guests to the registration building if there is no express registration that day so that there is not a parking jam.

They are getting very hard nosed about only allowing you to get into your cabins right at 4:00 p.m. I understand they need time to clean, but there should be a system in place where they are aware when certain cabins are completed and send a text to the guest saying that they are welcome to check in. Instead of creating a huge line and traffic jam waiting until the very last second to allow everybody into their cabins.

In short, it seems as if they're trying to scale too quickly and it's really all about the money. The cabins which are nice are extremely expensive and a lot of amenities just seem to be overwhelmed with people. So many things that you have to pay for here. Even just one small load of laundry is over $5. It seems like they're just trying to nickel and dime everyone. Very corporate seeming. Too bad.

*updated

Some of the most rude staff you will ever meet at reception. They close things and don't tell you ahead or time or refund you. The park is dirty and trashy. They obviously only care about $$$ and not having a good reputation. You pay 800-900 dollars for a tiny cabin but have to provide your own bedding a towels, the fire alarm goes off constantly, the bathtub is plugged up, the toilet doesn't work and it's not very clean. How do they get...

The only reason I didn't give this place one star was because my kids liked the Waterpark.

From the minute we arrived, I'd already had enough. It took AN HOUR to get checked in. That means after a 3 hour drive, we spent another hour sitting on the entry road waiting to be handed a pitch number for our tent and a parking pass to hang from the mirror. Why couldn't this be sent through the mail? Simple - because they need to reassign all the pitch numbers for anybody who doesn't pay the additional $40 to guarantee the pitch they preselected. Since we hadn't been before, we didn't care what pitch we had because we had no idea which were good ones.

So once we were in, we went to set up our tents... on a gravel pitch! Tents on gravel?? Come on. I went to check if this was just an unlucky pitch, but nope, there were plenty more.

I asked if we could be moved. Nope, or course not. Should have paid the $40 sir.

It didn't get better. There are no rules in this place, at least that you need to follow. It's an absolute zoo. Despite "no personal motorized vehicles", there were people zipping round on ebikes and scooters, one kid on an electric motorcycle.

"Quiet hours are 10pm to 8am". Yeah, sure they are. Well, unless you don't feel like it, that is. The noise went on all night. One woman was laying outside having a good time on her own at 2am, if you know what I mean. People playing ball games at 1am, shouting, etc. Security was nowhere to be found. I complained at the office, they apologized but did nothing.

Lots of activities for the kids, but of course, most of them you have to pay for despite the already high cost of staying there. I kind of get that in some cases, but when you advertise a "glow stick hay ride," at least provide a $6 box of glow sticks.

Also, the place seems to be staffed almost exclusively by kids. When somebody gave them grief or anything went wrong, it was a disaster. With the exception of Kylee (the one with two E's) the staff manning the events/attractions were not very professional.

My kids did enjoy themselves, but only because they were oblivious to the language, the weed, the inappropriate behavior and drunken nonsense all night. It was just noise to them at their ages. But a bit older and it would have been a pack up and go home problem.

It's definitely not for me, and I don't expect...