Jellystone Park Cleveland Sandusky — Hotel in Troy Township

Stayed for a week. Long story short, this place is really great, and I'd recommend it to anyone regardless of their level of camping experience. Running water and electric at all sites. Bathrooms were somewhat maintained daily, but not deep cleaned thoroughly. I saw the same shower stall mud and commode stains several days in a row in a few of the individual room bath houses. That said, however, it wasn't excessive enough to make it uncomfortable, and the existence of the facilities made my stay immeasurably better than to not have them. Our site had a few trees, which was super nice to be able to tie accessories onto, but most sites are just gravel with a little grass. The rock wall was fun for the kids, but only one kid at a time could climb, so wait times were never short. The small pool was nice, though I'm not sure it's actually heated. Not complaining as my stay was during a heat spell, but I can echo previous comments that the pool is a typical 70ish degrees. The "lake" was a really great time. The "Wibits" inflatables really kept the fun going for the group. I'd love to see them expand the inflatables a little further to allow bigger groups of campers to use it at the same time though. The downside to the lake would be the occasional dead fish floating by the play area, green frothy scum passing by sporadically due to no daytime aeration, and mandatory life jackets because no life guards are employed. Boating includes two pairs of paddle boats and kayaks. A canoe would've been nice, but I'm not complaining. The volleyball area needs renovated. The net is nearly demolished, and the rolling grassy hills make ball retrieval a separate event. Until it's fenced and sand filled, I'd skip it. Arts and crafts were nice, but a bit pricey. The kids favorite spot was the playground. It seemed pretty typical. I wouldn't say it's the best place to boast pedal cars, but the kids were temporarily entertained by them until they realized how important leg day is. The RC dirt track looked fun for the couple of people who brought cars. The dog pen was spacious and accommodating for all dog types. The single basketball net was well taken care of, or rarely used... or both, but nonetheless it was useful. Gem mining... rather dirt rinsing to expose cool rocks was a definite highlight. The children genuinely were amazed and excited for that hour. The nature walking path left a little to be desired, but it wasn't riddled with poisonous plants, so that's a plus. The Café burgers and pizza were delicious. The preparation consistency was a little off though. I ordered three burgers and milkshakes the exact same way on three different days, and each time I received the items totally differently from three different staff members (Items on the side, quality of bun, shakes ranged from need a spoon to drinkable through a coffee straw). Overall though, I'd definitely recommend eating there if you are hungry. Camp shop is adequately stocked, and gift shop is more than adequate. Frisbee golf was fun, but I think I missed the course map, which made for a ton of wondering and wandering. Golf carts are a DEFINITE plus, but there's no way I'd pay to rent one. Walking anywhere you need to go is not excessive and rewarding to be able to take in the serenity of nature. While we stayed, Rumpke missed dumpster pickup two days in a row. This made for an eyesore, and creative trash placement. I would not deduct points for this, however, as it was not the camp's fault, and it didn't effect my family. As a matter of fact, the Owner/ operator fired them and hired a local pick-up service who responded immediately.

All in all, this camp really is a wonderfully operated place. Anywhere you go there will be setbacks and shortfalls. They have a few improvements to make, but no deal breakers. All things considered, the benefits of vacationing here far outweigh any cons I've detailed. I hope the staff knows that their hard work has paid off greatly as my family and I thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality...

This was our 3rd year camping there. We debated after our 2022 trip with our friends to come back due the price increase. We decided to come again because it is a central spot for us and we heard & saw there was a new big pool which was a huge selling point for us as we have kids of all ages. Well…. It was a disappointing experience as soon as we arrived. We reserved our same spot as the last two years & paid the extra site hold fee they require. When we arrived we were told they cancelled our friends spot next to us and moved them to a different spot behind us due to construction. We were never informed of this decision. Well, there was another camper there at the spot we had booked and they cancelled on us. We learned they cancelled our friends spot and then booked another family after they cancelled us. They did give us a free night” refund”. But we were pretty disappointed right off the bat with all the confusion and displacement. We shook it off as best we could that first night to enjoy our time together…but sadly another disappointment came the next day. We learned the new resort pool was closed and would not be open at all the week we were there. That was a huge disappointment when both families traveled 5 plus hours to this campground and the new pool was now not open….even though it was promoted in social media as open in past posts. The old pool was open but it was dirty and murky. I had to skim it one day as it was obvious it was not cared for at all that day. (hair, leaves and debris floating in it). We only swam in it twice that week and the 2nd time a dead mouse was found by one of our kids in the pool filter area. Gross. We were done with the pool. The Wibits are great. Our kids loved them and they saved the trip for sure. I do suggest bringing your own life jacket for your kids, we found on the weekend it was quite busy and they didn’t have enough life jackets…especially different sizes that you may need for a family. It’s gotten really expensive. Over $100 a night for a family of four to camp there in a camper. There is a lot of construction going on!! And the road into the campground was really rough due to the construction. We were told the bathrooms were not great by some in our group. I personally didn’t use them, but that was mentioned several times during the week. Just a heads up. It is not close to anything. We did day trips into Cleveland, and looked for things to do off site with our kids, but you do have to drive a distance to get anywhere….even the closest town is a bit of a drive. The laundry machines never worked consistently. We tried to do laundry for two days and had issues with both washers and dryers and our first attempt we asked for help, it never came...so we waited for a dryer to open up that was still working. The gem mining water spout was not working. They had a hose at the top so it was not as fun for the kids like they remember in the past. Yet the price to gem mine was the same. If the campground sees this review, one tip I would suggest with the yogi character riding by campsites is to stop and wave and the kids. We had a very excited three year old who would see the golf cart go by several times that week with one of the characters and they would never stop, just drove right by, didn’t even slow down! It happened a couple times & we remember in the past them stopping for a picture or at least slowing down and waving to our kids. Not sure what that was all about that week. :/

We made the best of it however… Just to many things not showing us the value of what we paid to be there. So many things just didn’t work well there and when you pay over $100/night for a campground you have a higher expectation. I am sure it will be nice when the construction is done in a couple years but the price tag is steep to camp there now (increased quite a bit since three years prior) and after our recent experiences we will not be back and are currently looking for a new spot to camp with our...

No longer a fan. Our family camped in the park prior to it becoming a Jellystone Park. Once it became a Jellystone it definitely switched gears to appeal more to weekend guests than seasonals, but it was still fun, clean and friendly and worked for my young family. Until it didn't. In May 2021 Great Escapes Rv and Resorts LLC purchased the park. Since the change in ownership everything about the park has gone downhill. The first thing you'll notice when you pull into the park now will be all the bright beautiful attractions. However, if you look a bit deeper you'll notice the lack of seasonals. That is because we all were told on Father's day this year that we weren't as important to the corporation as the overnight guests who throw hundreds of dollars a weekend at them. We were given the option to possibly stay on as seasonsls, unsure how many spots they would have at that time. Late in the summer we were given our contracts. The contracts included a lot of spelling errors and a huge price tag. Reducing the 100 seasonal spots to 33. Outside of the park. Nearly $1000.00 more. Oh, and while you can't have decks or your own sheds - you can pay an extra $500 to keep your golf cart. It would have been something to consider if the pool hadn't been closed so much this summer due to out of control algae growth and a broken rope dividing the deep and shallow ends. There were so many more issues too numerous to post here. They began charging a price for guests that wasn't even listed on the website. That's just bad, shady business! The website said $10 a guest a day and over memorial weekend with no notification or update to the website they started charging $20.00 a day a person. I had to get corporate involved because that wasn't sitting well with me. Next year though we were notified it will be $35.00 a person, per day. We also were told on Father's Day at the meeting by VP Kelly Jones we had until April to have our things removed from our spots if we were not staying. I asked her twice to be certain we understood that April was the timeframe (All of this is on video, we recorded it as a group so we all had the info) And when we got the contracts, the date to have everything removed was bumped way up to Nov. 1. That is how this company operates. Without integrity or honesty. Good luck to Jellystone seasonals everywhere because you offer no value to them. And if you think they care about overnight guests more, not really. It's not about you or your safety. It's only your money. There was a scary incident with a small child getting his leg tangled in the rope upside down on the lake wibits on the far side where he couldn't be seen from the beach. His head was under water and the fountain was left on so his exhausted cries for help when he lifted his head out were completely muffled. He was only saved because seasonal campers on the other side of the wibits jumped into action. When my husband went to the lake attendant to explain what happened her reply was "Well he had a life vest on!" That was a horrifying and ignorant enough response for me to pull my family from this park for next year. The response from the park on trip advisor says parents are required to be with their children. But 1.) That's not listed at the lake rules and 2.) It isn't enforced. And 3.) Even after this there were many times they forgot to turn the fountain off. A near tragedy wasn't enough reason for corrective action. That's because only your money and photo ops to make more money for them actually matter. I get it's a business. That's what businesses do, make money! However I've been a part of many businesses that cultivate a spirit of community. It can be about more than just the almighty dollar. But not here, not at Cleveland Sandusky...