Believe me when I tell you I'm familiar with Woodside Ranch.||I've visited the Ranch when it was owned by the Feldmans.||I've visited the Ranch when it was owned by Damon Zumwalt.||I've seen it go through decades of changes and have stayed with family, friends, and different generations of all ages.||||QUICK OVERVIEW||||Woodside Ranch Resort is a cute place in Wisconsin where you can stay in log cabins, ride horses, and participate in several planned (and a few unplanned) activities. It currently offers various packages but the typical one is the "Homesteader" which includes activities and meals (not snacks - anything you buy at the bar is a la carte).||||The groups of employees are wranglers/horse staff (work with horses), front desk (take your reservation, answer questions), cleaning crew, maintenance, bartenders, wait staff and social directors.||||Horseback rides go out at preplanned times during the day in a long line with some wranglers for about 50 minutes. Currently, all rides are "slow rides" so you won't go faster than the occasional trot. If you're 8 and older, you can go on trail rides. You need to "test" before you ride if you're between 8-12 although I recommend if you're a novice of any age, practicing won't hurt.||||Activities can be anything from scavenger hunts to archery to crafts and even a dance.||||There is a bar which also serves snacks that has a game room attached to the back. There is an in-ground pool that starts at 8" (great for children).||||Breakfast is served outside in the woods.||||THE ISSUES||Woodside used to be incredible. Not only was it a unique and more rustic experience, but the way it was structured used to encourage guests to really interact with EACH OTHER as well as the STAFF. I cannot tell you how many times we left Woodside with the phone numbers of new friends and kept in touch with them for many years.||||Something has changed. I'm not one to complain without offering suggestions to fix these issues so here they are:||||- BREAKFAST RIDE - ||||Previously, the "breakfast ride" (going out to the woods on horseback or by covered wagon/hayride and having breakfast) used to be OPTIONAL. Now, if you don't go out into the middle of the woods at 8am, YOU DON'T GET BREAKFAST. ||||There is no reason why breakfast shouldn't still be served in the dining hall if someone physically cannot make it into the woods or simply doesn't want to. A poor child there had a bad reaction to hay and had to skip breakfast since going down by the horses wasn't an option for him. Don't make your guests choose. ||||They also crammed way too many people into one ride, overall. Not just horse-wise. There wasn't room on the wagon to take everyone so some people couldn't go and couldn't get the meal they paid for.||||Once out there, the line took 20 minutes. TWENTY. That's too many people at a time. Open the kitchen again and let those who want to stay in, stay in. Not everyone feels like eating breakfast outside every morning. ||||-- COVID --||||COVID is still VERY MUCH an issue but if you visit Woodside, you'd never know we were in the middle of a pandemic. Their website (which is partially broken) doesn't mention it and there is zero talk of any safety precautions being taken. ||||Indoor meals are still served in cramped conditions and families are forced to sit together at the same table. Outside of a pandemic this is fine, but during one? Not wise. If there is room, spread out the families. The amount of food you prepare is the same. Pretend you care that your guests might want to attempt to remain safe.||||-- THE POOL --||||Fix the pool. Please. The bottom of it is chipping all over the place and pieces of cement are being lodged into the feet of children. Just drain it, patch it, refill it. ||||-- THE SAUNA --||||Why did we get rid of the sauna? It looks like a junk room now! It was so fun to come in from the pool on a cooler day and warm up in the sauna. It was functional for decades. Why let it die now?||||-- LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE --||||Woodside used to offer "limited child care" for children when their parents would go on the trail rides. The Little Red School house used to have a small TV and a number of crafting supplies. Outside, there was playground equipment. Now it just stands there. We don't know if children are even allowed on the playground equipment or what it's for.||||-- MOVIE NIGHT --||||I get that you have a big state-of-the-art movie setup in your Conference building which exists in the middle of a circle of vintage cabins. However, when you host movie night FOR CHILDREN away from THE BAR, parents won't drink. Move movie night back to the Roundup Room. That way, adults can still drink, interact and have fun while keeping an eye on their kids. Very odd that you'd try to separate people on vacation from alcohol thus prompting an early night.||||-- DRINK SELECTION --||||If you have a row of beers sitting at the top of the bar, one expects that those are the available beers. A decent amount of them were fully not available. Solution? Remove the bottle from the top of the bar so people don't order them. I was shocked how many times guests tried to get unavailable beers. Also, the selection isn't great. Maybe offer a few more options? Whatever you have, display it. When it's gone, remove it. Simple simple simple.||||Also, mixed drinks are WAY too expensive here. Have more specials, promote them, make some special "Woodside" drinks you're promoting.||||Staff used to give away free drinks as incentives to participate in activities. They'd throw drink chips in the pool during water volleyball or kids pool games. They'd give them away at dances. As prizes for other events, like pool tournaments and ping pong tournaments. Just a few as a nice surprise for guests. I didn't see this happen once.||||I will say the bar has "secret shots" which were a fun idea. However, not all bartenders even mentioned them. Only the fun bartenders seemed to bring it up and try to get people interested.||||-- FRONT DESK --||||A joke. Sorry if that sounds harsh but they are HORRIBLE. As some of you might know, their website has been done for MONTHS. You cannot find rates online. (More on that below.) You are FORCED to call the front desk to book your trip. They make it SO PAINFUL. ||||First, I don't believe the majority of them have any idea what's going on. The amount of misinformation I received was crazy. "You need to go into Carnegie Hall to sign up for every ride." False. Only if you're not a guest staying there. ||||They said due to COVID that the tables at lunch would be spread out. They weren't. We asked about this. They said to just ask the "Head chef". We asked for a "head chef" and no one was available. They said people with dietary restrictions can be accommodated. They weren't. They said the cabin was cleaned right before we arrived. It very much was not.||||They didn't know the pool hours. The bar hours. When the pony ring was open. If the small corral was being used. If the Little Red School House was open. They knew NOTHING. They were also intentionally difficult. Rude. Cold.||||When we called to ask about rates, they almost refused to give them to us. WHAT? Are you trying to turn people away? I asked about some of the amenities in cabins and they didn't want to tell me. If I didn't know better, you'd think they were trying to discourage people from staying at Woodside.||||Advice? Remove the rude girls. The ones that are friendly, invite them to WALK AROUND THE PROPERTY. Meet the other staff members. Go on a trail ride so they know what it entails. Learn what the buildings are. Go into the bar and play a game of pool. Play a few other games in the back. LEARN WHAT IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR OWN RESORT. YOU are the one that can convince someone to stay and maybe sell them an extra day or two. YOU have that power.||||-- CLEANLINESS -- ||||I imagine it's not easy to clean cabin. However, as I was bringing my bags into our cabin, I dropped a pen which rolled into the corner of the room. The layers of dust on that floor must have been there for months if not years. Also, the huge amount of both LIVE and dead bugs were shocking. Hundreds. Hundreds and Hundreds.||||I get we're right by the woods. I get we're in log cabins. But the difference between SOME bugs and an infestation is the difference between spraying a can of RAID and calling a company. IT'S TIME TO CALL A PEST CONTROL COMPANY.||||Also, I know some cabins were winterized. Some were slightly modernized. I love the newer bed frames (very nice rustic look) but it is not hard to replace the soapdishes that are covered in rust from the 1970s. Don't redo the cabins. Just FIX what is disgusting. The heaters covered in rust. Those soap dishes. The stained carpeting. I'll include some pictures. They're pretty gross.||||-- FOOD --||||The food has never been good. It's family style. They used to set up a small PB&J station for kids and I'm so sorry this went away. Adults used it as much as the children. The food is still not good. Also, someone needs to let the staff know that "fish" is not vegan. Or a vegetable. Or whatever they think it is. Fish is meat.||||People don't go there for the food so I think everyone just deals with it. This time the options were even more limited. Very few sides. It would be nice if at least lettuce and dressing were offered with each sit-down meal. Or bread. Like... rolls? This time if you didn't like the entrƩe, you were doomed. You'll go to the bar and buy a $12 pizza.||||This place doesn't have to offer artisan options. We know there is a cookout 2-3 times a week which is fine. But maybe have better food options for lunch and dinner in the dining hall? Pizza? Sandwiches? Nothing expensive or difficult. Just... not gross.||||-- WEBSITE --||||Did you know this entire summer the website has been broken? Never mind the fact that it's confusing: if you try to pull up rates, IT DOESN'T WORK. It says to contact the Front desk and if you've read this much, you know how undesirable that is.||||The world has changed and people want to book things online. No one wants to talk to a human. FIX THE WEBSITE. ||You used to be able to pick the number of adults, older kids and younger kids AND pick your own cabin to compare various rates. BRILLIANT. FIX THIS.||||-- SOCIAL MEDIA --||||Have a stronger social media game. If your staff is unqualified, have someone do it. Get pictures up on Instagram, tweet on Twitter and post on Facebook. Post pictures of events, horses, guests, staff, etc.||Comment on the pictures of others. ||||If former guests tag Woodside, get on that! Respond! Say hello!||Have you been hashtagged? GREAT. SAY SOMETHING. Repost it! Let your customers know you appreciate them mentioning you!||Make it interesting!||||Use Social Media to get new customers! Come on now.||||And whomever is DELETING things off of your Facebook and Instagram page... not wise. Other people have returned to show your posts around and for some reason, you just killed them. Unless they're offensive, keep them out there. More is more online. ||||-- BRACELETS --||||If you pay for the Homesteader Package, you're forced to wear an ugly paper bracelet the entire time. It leaves an awesome tan line. I don't know how many walk-ins they get off the street, but one would think the person paying WAY MORE to stay there wouldn't be forced to wear an itchy bracelet the entire time. Perhaps think of another way to do this?||||If you're tied to bracelets, why not those rubber Lance Armstrong ones that everyone liked a decade ago? Change the color every year so people don't wear them year after year. Put "Woodside Ranch" on it. Make it like a cute souvenir and allow me to REMOVE IT when I'm swimming, sleeping, and showering. If people wear it after they get home (since it's a functional bracelet), cool. What a great conversation starter for your guests to bring up your resort.||||- STAFF INTERACTION - ||||The social directors are truly awful. They are children. They're immature, they're disorganized, they mess things up, they roll their eyes when guests are talking, they do nothing to encourage you to participate in ANYTHING, and I heard them making fun of guests behind their backs. HORRIBLE.||||They forgot what they were doing in the middle of announcements and their announcements seemed like they were screaming at the guests. I was embarrassed for them. They wouldn't tell you what the activities would be - not clearly anyway. They forgot to pass out breakfast ride tickets. They brought up a goat for a cookout and never said why. A bunch of children ran into the jail with zero explanation. I'm fully aware of how Western Day used to work and this seemed to be a small attempt to pay a tribute to that, but anyone who wasn't a guest 25 years ago would have no idea what was going on. And they didn't. Other guests turned to us to ask us if they could leave and if the goat was going to do tricks. FACE PALM.||||Back in the day, Western Day and the Dances were HUGE. They were so much fun and all the guests participated. Same with Guest Rodeos. Talent Shows. Volleyball games. Hayrides. Adult hayrides! Boat Races. Softball games.||||Why? The social director CARED to really talk to the guests and get people interested. Adults. Kids. And not only that? They involved OTHER staff members to really hype up the activities. ||||Wait Staff used to come in from the UK for the summer, as well as a few other countries. When they weren't working, you could find them around the property talking to guests, sharing stories, and participating in activities. They would be dancing at the dances! Helping kids string necklaces during crafts. Assisting with s'mores assembly. ||||The wait staff this year looked BORED TO TEARS. They wouldn't smile. They rolled their eyes. You never saw them outside of meals and you would think they were being forced to work there.||||Don't get me wrong. There were some good employees and since I feel like they're an asset to Woodside, I'm happy to list their names. Interestingly, all of them but one works on the "horse" side of things, although two also were bartending: Adam, Carly, Brian, Lisa, and Petric. These employees actually SPOKE with guests at their own free will. Told them stories. Sat with kids. Made people feel welcome.||||That's the reason so many guests return year after year: the family feeling of the ranch. ||||Seeing the "dance" nearly brought me to tears. There was no encouragement getting people to participate. Guests were laughing at it. The stage is so cluttered, I don't see how any staff members can stand on it to teach line dancing or call square dancing! There was no twist contest. No limbo. No adult dances. No REAL line dances (I don't know what they were doing back there). It was over within an hour. They used to easily run WELL after midnight. Adults would go back and forth from the bar to the Roundup Room (where the dances are held) for hours and hours as their kids danced and drank slushies... It's like the magic is gone.||||-- SOLUTION --||||The "program director" boy has to go. Keeping around a teenager social director who mocks your paying customers to other guests is a liability. The girl can stay on but she needs to work for someone who knows what they're doing.||||Get a primary social director who is nice. Outgoing. Good with kids and adults. Likes to TALK. Likes to sit with guests in their spare time. ||||This person should be the main contact person and they should also know everything there is to know about the ranch. If they don't have answers, they should be able to tell you who will. Have them take responsibility.||||Hire two younger kids under that social director to assist with activities.||||Use the MICROPHONE instead of screaming at guests. That way, the program director can speak at a normal tone and ALL of the guests know what activities are happening and where they should be.||||When meals and activities happen, RING THE BELL. It wasn't used once. People were late for activities and meals because no one rang the dang bell.||||GET ORGANIZED. Nothing was put together well. Those two kids were scrambling so whomever takes over needs to be organized and responsible. If something goes wrong, they need to think on their toes to correct the issue. ||||This might sound crazy, but remember, the guests are on vacation. Many people on vacation like to let loose and (gasp) drink. As long as it's controlled, the staff should be able to drink with them (age permitting). ||||It takes a while to find someone like this so in the meantime, bring someone back to TRAIN YOUR STAFF. This isn't as hard to do as it sounds. There are plenty of former employees that could pop back in and help restore this resort to its former glory.||||Embrace people with a passion for their job there - that know what to do, that care about the guests and care about the guest experience. It's word of mouth and returning guests that have made this place so special and to see such a decline in the service is heart breaking. I hate that bad management has caused this decline but that is exactly what happened.||||||THAT SAID, if you're a new guest, you might love it.||There were some great high points.||||Like I said, Lisa, Petric, and Carly behind the bar were great. Talkative, warm, entertaining... ||Adam and Brian by the barn were wonderful too and extremely knowledgeable. They care enough to talk to you on their own time. Let's get more of that!|| ||The breakfast ride is still great if you're into that kind of thing.||||Love the pool. Besides the shards of concrete in your feet, it's in the best location and is wonderful for both kids and adults. Did you know there's an outdoor window where you can order drinks from the pool? There is. It's awesome.||||Game room. So wonderfully attached to a bar. Great plan for families. I wish all of the games were in working order (cough cough, if it breaks, call someone to fix it) but what a great family feature.||||Cabins with fireplaces. There's something just magical about staying at a resort where you have your own cabin. Did I like killing 800 bugs? No. Did I like the cabin? Yes.||||The "petting zoo" for kids. It's more of an area where you can just walk and see animals and rip some grass out of the ground and hope for the best. There are scheduled feedings but when the social directors don't say a word about it, it's a crapshoot. Very cool for kids to get to hang out with a llama and donkey up close. ||||I'm torn about the elimination of fast rides. Did I like them? Yes. Was I scared someone might get hurt? Yes. I feel like it might be more of a liability but they were fun.||||Would I go back? It's up in the air. I'm happy to go back there and help train the staff and show them how a family resort should run their activities. :)||||I didn't see a manager there the entire time I was there. Are you guys looking? Give me a call. I've done this before and I can do...
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