Jellystone Park™ Zion — Hotel in Hurricane

This place is what is known as a greedy commercial nightmare. Last summer my family and I visited this resort for the day and had an exceptional time. A true 5 star experience. Because of this great experience we decided to come again (we live about 250 miles away from here). In just the span of a year this resort went from a fun day trip getaway to a greedy nightmare.

To get this review started I want to first mention the parking experience. Last year there was FREE parking right in front of the main gift shop entrance where you pay for entrance. Now you have to pay 20 DOLLARS to park in the same place. WHATS THE DEAL WITH THAT????? Because of this the only place to park without having to spend a fortune is about a 1/2 a mile away from the entrance on the side of a road. So now when you come to this resort if you don't want to pay a 20 DOLLAR parking fee you have to walk 1/2 a mile to the park holding everything you need in 100 degree weather. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Next, last year we were able to bring into the park 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches without the employees blinking an eye. This year we brought a small sandwich bag full of about 8 small Twix candies. When we went through the entrance after we bought our tickets (there is now a complete security system which also did not exist last year) they made us let them check our bags. They found this small sandwich bag of twixes and refused our entry into the park because of this "outside" food. They told us if we wanted to get into the park with this food we would have to buy a FIFTEEN DOLLAR "COOLER PASS". THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!!!!! They basically were valuing 8 twix bars as equivalent to $15 dollars which is absolutely ridiculous. Because of this I had to walk 1/2 a mile to the road I talked of earlier in the 100 degree heat to put 8 singular twixs into my car so I could have entrance into the park.

Next, last year when my family came it costed about ~100ish dollars to let 4 people into the park. I still found this very expensive but was willing to pay that for the occasion. This year I had a 25% off coupon and they charged me $137 DOLLARS FOR 4 PEOPLE. INFLATION THIS LAST YEAR IN NO WAY COUNTED FOR 37 DOLLARS PLUS AN EXTRA 25% AND TAXES! THATS JUST CALLED GREED!!!!

Next, my family wanted to go to the obstacle course also located in this resort. When we decided we wanted to go here we assumed there would be a door (at least a 1 way door) to let us in and out in the direction of the obstacle course. BUT NO instead we had to walk the complete opposite direction to go out the 1 way door and walk ALL THE WAY AROUND OUTSIDE in RV LAND in 100 DEGREE WEATHER about a mile to get to the obstacle course. When we finally arrived after this completely and utterly exhausting journey there were about 70 people on the obstacle course (an overwhelming amount of people) and a line of about 40 people waiting for a stinkin life jacket WITH NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY! WHAT IS THIS PLACE??? FREAKING BUY SOME MORE LIFE JACKETS!!!! So my family exhausted had to walk another mile through RV land and around to get back into the park.

Next, when we arrived my family was not already in our swim suits. (A perfectly normal thing to do) because we assumed we could change there in a changing room! BUT NO. All this resort can "AfFoRd" is a 5 stall bathroom with 1 changing room (always taken) and 3 bathroom stalls without a hanger. So my entire family had to precariously stand in a stinky bathroom stall changing into our swim suits. I this resort can afford an actual changing room when they charge $137 dollars plus another 25% for entrance fee.

Next, to get a tube to ride the slide you have to wait in a massive line Almost every single tube is completely deflated so every single person has to wait for a lifeguard to fill it up. BUY MORE TUBES!

In conclusion, this was a terrible experience, this park has become a greedy corporate nightmare. This park is nothing like what the jellystone cartoon stood for. On top of it, this place is nowhere near to zion...

When I first came here I set up for long term, as in staying for a year. I got here on the evening of the 28th. I had my dog with me every time I came here to set things up, who is a service animal, with paperwork from a doctor that I presented to them. They gave me a military discount and said my monthly bill would be $708 a month that includes my taxes and everything as I was quoted when I first called in and talked to a guy named Joe. It was a mess. The first day I came I was here for a few hours while they tried to figure out how to make the reservation. They couldn’t figure out how to put my service animals on there so they just kept him off of it After several calls talking to someone to help them. Unfortunately, it was the same way upon check in. But hey, it is a newly opened business so I chalked it up to growing pains. I ended up with an emergency and left for 4 nights. I let them know what was going on at the front desk and the guy at the desk asked me to just give them a call on Monday and let them know what was going on before my charges went through on autopay for the month because I didn’t want to pay for a full month if I wasn’t going to be here. I did call on Monday and let them know that I would be moving for awhile. The young lady I talked to said no problem, she would prorate everything based off of what I pay monthly. Now, any business I have ever ran you operate on a 30 day month regardless if there’s 31 days. But you do not charge that person on months that there’s 31 days for an extra day. I got back on Wednesday and called the office on Thursday to find out how much I owed after the prorate was done. The lady I talked to started out at $279 for six additional days. Mind you, This is 3 April that I called and she’s trying to charge me for six extra days. My plan was to leave on Saturday the 5th, for some reason they had me down as Friday so she fixed that and added another day on there. Now I’m really confused because it’s well over $200. When you divide $708 by 30 days you come up with $23.60. She then told me the system charges double taxes, I was charged taxes after my discount instead of before, I was charged the wrong rate and she just started changing everything! I finally told her “I’ve gotta go, figure you it out and I’ll pay you before I leave.” She brings Emily the GM to my door the next day and is showing me I should have been charged taxes on the full amount and then divide that by 30 days which put it at 24.60 yesterday, but that day she told me it was $27 and some change! Then she said I was only put down for a 30 day stay and not a year like I claimed, I also have a dog that I failed to tell them about so she needs to go back and add that charge in! They had me down as arriving the 26th instead of the 28th. So I was being charge for the 26th to the 30th in February (February only had 28 days in it) and then the 4 days in April when I was leaving. And rather than prorating on my monthly like I was told would happen they were charging me the daily fee because I wasn’t long term like I claimed. UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE AT THIS PLACE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING!!! No one communicates with each other here. I can’t tell you how many times I had to ask them to please put notes in so if I talked to someone else they knew what was going on. The place is AMAZING, I won’t deny that other than the wind here in Hurricane it would be in a great setting too, but the wind doesn’t stop blowing here. It blows so hard it rocks my 45 foot Toy hauler 5th wheel! If you put anything outside, you better make sure it is strapped down somehow because it will blow away. Even my 70 pound terra-cotta planter gets blown over and that is no exaggeration. I just don’t know if the Amenities are worth dealing with the conundrum of the other issues that the GM Emily has created by not properly training on how they are supposed to be doing things. It’s not fair to the employees and it’s definitely not fair to the patrons! I had every intention on coming back here, but I have rethought...

The Good: The camping grounds were clean and well-maintained. Hookups were convenient and worked well. The dog park was absolutely beautiful and clean. There are lots of fun, free activities for kids (foam party, jump pillow, sports courts, tractor rides, etc.). The water park and in-water obstacle course are included with your stay and offer unlimited access. Access to the pool and hot tub is available in the evenings exclusively for campers, which was a nice touch. The playground and activity areas were fairly clean. You’re allowed to bring in unopened bottled water, which we appreciated. Weekday stays are much less crowded — a huge plus!

The Not-So-Great: Bathrooms have no access code and are shared with day visitors — often dirty and poorly maintained. Quiet hours aren’t enforced. It was loud late into the night. Many lifeguards seemed young and didn’t interact well with younger children or even adults. “Paid” activities (like tie-dye, laser tag, glitter tattoos) were pricey regardless of payment method. The laundry facilities only accept phone or card payments. The on-site store is extremely overpriced (not unexpected, but still steep). Food trucks are convenient, but feeding a family of four for under $50 is nearly impossible. Depending on your campsite location, walking to the pools, playground, or dog park can be a long trek — especially hard when you’re wet or it’s dark. You can’t bring food in unless you pay $15 per day to bring in a cooler — this felt excessive.

The Ugly: We arrived a day late due to our truck breaking down. I called ahead to let the staff know, and they said it would be fine. When we arrived, I waited at the check-in desk for several minutes while four staff members stood talking. No one acknowledged me until one employee asked if I “needed something,” then turned back around to continue chatting. Another staff member eventually helped me, but not before one of them sarcastically said, “I was helping her, I just needed to finish my story first.”

This rude behavior was just the beginning.

On our last day, we had a deeply upsetting experience at the water obstacle course. After swimming with our kids for a bit, my husband and I got out and watched from the shore. That’s when we witnessed one of the lifeguards use his floatation cushion to shove our son down into the water. Twice. The first time, our daughter later told us, he had actually kicked our son in the stomach. She was calling out and asking him to stop, but he ignored her and laughed with another lifeguard.

We immediately tried to speak with someone, but the initial response was complete silence. Eventually, a lifeguard ran to get the others off the course — leaving the area completely unguarded. We followed up with a manager and were assured it would be addressed, but we were never given a direct explanation or update.

To make matters worse, later that day, we saw the same lifeguards laughing and pointing at our family while sitting with another staff member — it felt like mockery and a total lack of concern for what had happened. I cannot overstate how heartbreaking it was to see my kids feel so dismissed and unsafe after what should have been a fun memory.

I understand that accidents and misunderstandings happen, but the way this was handled — from the lifeguards’ behavior to the dismissive management — left us with serious concerns about how much this park values guest safety and respectful service.

Despite all the fun features, the staffing and customer service need major improvement. For the cost of this trip and the emotional impact it had on our children, we will not be returning. I truly hope the park takes guest concerns more seriously...