Jellystone Park™ Cranberry Acres — Hotel in Carver

Here is my review based on our experience here. We stayed at Gardiner in July & October 2023 so a lot of this will be compared to that park.||The cabin.. we are in a Boo Boo Bungalow. Overall,|I love this cabin. Even more than Gardiner (Hillside Premium Loft Cabin) I liked this cabin better because of the stairs. They were much easier for my kids to get up and down. the cabin felt much roomier overall. The loft had bigger mattress, and wood floors. The bathroom had a lot more storage, and the bedroom had more space and storage. Things I did miss from our cabin in Gardiner.. a regular sized refrigerator, more cabinet space in the kitchen, a third chair and table on the porch, a bathtub & cable. Unfortunately I did not pay the lock fee so we ended up with a cabin much farther away from where I originally requested. Lesson learned, I will pay the fee from now on. We did not pay the fee in Gardiner and did not get switched. So it was just unfortunate luck for us this trip. ||The mini golf course here is beautifully maintained.||Staff was amazing. There are a lot of new staff training but everyone was pleasant and helpful! ||The hours (arcade, ranger station, ice cream) were not our favorite. Most everything opens late and closes early. We were spolied by late night ice cream & arcade time in Gardiner. ||The water park was amazing. It's clean and we never felt crowded. A few of my kids were missing the lazy river but both the activity pool and water zone were top notch. I especially loved the activity pool and how it's big enough for games like tug of war. ||We did not plan on renting a golf cart but after our cabin got moved we eventually got sick of walking. Thankfully they had a golf cart available and they were all in beautiful shape. ||Activities have been decent here. There are some we did miss though. Yogis pizza party (my 3 year olds absolute favorite.. so we were bummed about that) and the golf cart parade. The foam party here was amazing, however I wish it was on a grassy area. My kids were covered in rocks, dirt and pine needles. We discovered showers by the pool before our second foam party so luckily they were able to rinse off there. I will say you need to keep an eye on the activites schedule. Originally pool games were scheduled for today. My kids were looking forward to those but they were removed. Also, the times changed for the foam party & hey hey rides. Luckily I check the schedule religously so we did not miss out on anything. I do wish the app was more detailed on where to sign up on certain things. I had a lot of questions for severeal staff members who were always a great help! The app did say sand art $5 but it really started at $5 or maybe even $6. Two of my kids picked smaller ones that were $6 and the other two picked ones that were $10 each 🤦🏻‍♀️ The sand and tie dye is very organized though! For bear mail there is a QR code in the Ranger Station. ||If you want something extra to do there’s an activity pamphlet in the office that has a scavenger hunt. You go around and find letters to reveal a saying. When you’re done you can bring it to the Ranger Station for a prize. They gave each of my kids the prize!||Due to short arcade hours we did not get to venture in there. ||Bear sightings happen.. but not as frequently as Gardiner I feel like. We have seen Yogi twice (once was him prowling so he only drove by) and Cindy twice. My kids are all disappointed we havent seen Boo Boo. Maybe tomorrow? 🤞 ||The playgrounds are great. One is small but my 2 year old loved it. The other playground is beautiful! So big. Jumping pillow and pad right there. The basketball court is also beautiful. Balls were provided right there. ||I did miss the grass from Gardiner. Theres not much grass here but it’s not a deal breaker obviously 😂 We were also spoiled by trash pick up in Gardiner. You bring it to the dumpster yourself here. ||Campfire Canteen was great with a lot of great food choices. ||Lastly, the fun pass. My kids each had one so I wanted to quickly go over where you redeem each item since I had to ask for some. When you arrive they give you the pass, the popcorn bucket (with a bag of microwave popcorn) a souvenir cup, a glow bracelet and your pucker powder. When you scan the QR code it does specify you get a one time fill in your cup. I asked at the front office and was told we could get icees so we got those from the ice cream place. The bear photo keychain is done at the registration office. It does take a day for turn around so plan ahead. The kids meal is redeemable at Campfire Canteen. You have a choice of chicken tenders, grilled cheese, cheeseburger or mini corn dogs. They all come with fries and a juice. It was good portions of food! Ceramic and Tie Dye you pre purchase in Ranger Station (you also get your shirt there) then head over to the activity tent. You pick your ceramic at the activity tent. There were 6 choices of ceramics with the fun pass. Yogi, Cindy and Boo Boo plus three others. Candy Bar Bingo was done in the activity tent, along with story time with a bear. Gem mining you get the choice between a gem bag or fossil bag. Pick up at the Ranger Station. Gem mining is located near the registration office. The bear sundae is redeemable at the ice cream place. Fun passes were definitely worth it (for us!) ||I did forget to mention people don’t decorate (carts or sites) here like Gardiner for theme weeks which was a bummer! ||I included some photos of our trip! ||Overall, I’d recommend and we will definitely...

We stayed here last year before the construction as you can see from my previous review below!

Fast forward to 2023 Family vacation this time we doubled our group size because of the amazing time we had previous year! I received an email about getting a discount due to “pardon our dust” I called to see what this meant they assured me it was due to not having sod and landscaping being incomplete so I said ok no big deal!

When first arrived there was construction being finished up right around the cabin not safe with little ones.

No water for a couple hours walked down to ranger station CLOSED call the Main # they kept saying 15 mins! water did come back, with no pressure, was cold, water also went out again in the AM on Saturday but we went to the pool for the day and it was back on when we went back to cabin.

Sat we did the Glow ride which was supposed to start at 7:30 didn’t start till 8 no big deal kids had a few melt downs but ultimately there was no glow about this party since it was still light out and we got scolded for having too many people when we were told one parent per child can ride it all worked out there was plenty of room!

The pool and NEW splash pad was fantastic for both kids and adults very clean we did get a cabana the second day which tip the ones closer to splash pad are cheaper the line gets very big on Sat AM so get there early if you want a good spot it was a mad dash. The bathrooms were disgusting! No lifeguards on duty but two young kids sitting at the gate entrance laughing at guests!

Pool party last year incredible we told all the people we took this year how much fun we had. Fast forward to this year it was supposed to be at 2pm we asked one of the kids who then pointed out to an employee standing next to a JBL clip Speaker which you can barely hear! We decided to go over and make the party we got her to play a couple songs and a few Christmas Songs that’s we requested since she was just standing there for 20 mins before she said “well that’s it I have to move on to next assignment! We made our own fun by doing the electric slide and Cupid shuffle people were looking at us crazy cause no one had a clue that she was SUPPOSED to be the party!

Pizza Party Time 3:30pm we were told YOGI would be that all the kids were so excited for a pizza party that was non existent! We got there we were the only ones for the so called party no characters when we asked the attendant at the food truck she was unpleasant and told us to go to the ice cream stand I go there the attendant tells me hold on I don’t know what this is I was like it’s the ticket to the pizza party 10 mins goes buy tells me to have a seat they will call my name waited almost 40 mins for some frozen slice of pizza that we paid $8.25 each where are the balloons, decorations characters that’s a pizza party!

Our family in the other cabin ordered a golf cart that was non-existent they had none available even though it was paid for.

Went to the do the mining at 7:30pm since the kids had their kits only to be rudely be kicked because it closed at 7PM everything closes at 7pm no staff after 7 except on the weekends!

Monday morning woke up to a skid stead outside my window running along with other very large construction equipment

The cabins are beautiful and are stocked with all plates, pans, glassware, toaster blender, cooking utensils, grilling utenstils and all silverware, strainer cutting boards Pyrex pans dish soap and hand soap all you truly need is sheets and personal items and food! We did not know what to expect so we did over pack!

I hope they bring back trees, and their staff really needs some customer service training! RUDE

They should have definitely postponed opening day since it’s def not ready to be open or worth $1,300 for 3 days!

2022 review Just stayed 2 nights at sites U and V it was fantastic!!! Everything was very clean staff was wonderful adults and children enjoyed the wet and wild hay ride! Cant say enough good things about our stay. We will be...

Someday but not yet.

This is not intended to disparage the facility but instead to set expectations of potentially unsuspecting guests like us.

The Facility is Not entirely as advertised. Be aware it is not "pardon out dust" it is more we are under heavy construction.

They have only just recently become a Jellystone Franchise.

We planned our vacation in February looking forward to staying in the woods in a new cabin that we paid extra to reserve.

We were notified two days before that the landscaping was not up to their standards and they were going to offer us a 25% off credit or refund, but we thought how bad could it be?

When we arrived our hearts instantly sank to dread. It was terrible, all the trees were removed and instead an active construction site, dirt covered, and sun drenched camp ground was what we got. We definitely felt like we were victims of a bait and switch along with everyone else and that they should have probably cancelled everyone staying in a cabin.

We tried to make the best of it but here are a list of problems that haunted us the entire trip, we received general customer service responses and reasons.

Heavy construction equipment, supplies everywhere. Clearly overwhelmed or burnt out staff in the ranger station. -Young staff were complaining about guests right in front of me in the ranger station as I was waiting to playing-golf. A sense that everyone is figuring out what they are supposed to be doing. Poor overall presentation Poor ranger station amenities plan for everything you will want or need. No trees in the cabin area. No cable TV as was described in the brouchure instead a WiFi TV that won't connect to WiFi. The Camp told us to call the tech company to access the TV then the tech company told us to call the TV maker for help. The camp finally sent someone up to fix it and it broke again later that day. We didn't get our selected cabin even though we prepaid a special fee The playground was in full sun. We reserved a golf cart and when we tried to pick it up, they had to search the property and weren't sure if they would have one for us. They ultimately did find one for us. They emailed the entire campground everyone's email address instead of blind when trying to communicate a bear alert . The pond was not what was pictured and is definitely only for fishing and kayaking. The gem panning was not exactly what was pictured. The beach is not a safe place to wade with all the tackle and lines being broken. On day three we had no water pressure of hot water. No mop to clean up the dirt that inevitably was tracked in despite our best efforts in the trailer. Didn't see Yogi for a photo op the entire trip. Wouldn't rent us a tandem kayak when they were clearly visible. WiFi and Mobile signal spotty at best. 5MB or free Wifi when working. Couldn't really find what felt like a hiking trail as golf carts were riding everywhere. No lifeguards even though there were four Staff teens in the pool area chatting, IDK what they were doing. Then an adult came along and dispersed them to posts around the pool area.

Pros based on our trip: The cabin structure is fantastic The spalsh pad and pool is amazing Playground was large and new The mini-golf is very nice The Ice-cream was good The fish are definitely biting There are tons of turtles The view of the cranberry bog is nice The people are friendly and the General Manager is highly visible and approachable. The central laundry My 3 year old loved it and played in the fresh loam outside our cabin

In summary, we're going to give it 5 years for the park to grow nice grass and landscape, work on getting trees back, clean up the property, work out their new process and the people have a chance to relax into their roles. Maybe then we can arrive with an experience that feels like a vacation camping experience were looking forward to...