Carolina Adventure World — Hotel in Winnsboro

Full, Thorough Review ! Read it all if you’re a first timer. We booked our stay at CAW for the weekend of Thanksgiving. We came in on Wednesday 11/27/24 and checked out Sunday 12/1/24. The cabins: We rented Frog Haven and Beaver Shack cabins, and boy were we surprised. First, we came in at night and couldn't even find them because we were searching for single cabins (see the map provided) and these are not "private" cabins as shown. It's two separate rooms in one building. So, know this when booking. We never saw this advertised ! It’s quite deceiving. The trails : Trails were great ! The views are lovely ! Weather was AMAZING. I'd say if you ride hard, you can ride this place in a day. If we ever come back, we will only do 2 days max. 3 days had us riding the same trails repeatedly. But, we did get to know the park really well. So for our first run, it was still enjoyable. The only downside to the trails is the amount of trash in some places. This is no fault of the park, as it's the riders who trash the place. But, I really really hate that. So that's disappointing. The maps: ehhh... the map wasn't entirely accurate but we managed to navigate once we had our bearings. But, I did appreciate the color coding system and clear trail markers as you're driving. Florida could take notes in this area. The Amenities: ok, so here's the thing. When booking- You pay for your room ONLY. Nothing else. This includes the ability to WASH OFF YOUR EQUIPMENT!!!! They literally charge you extra for water, and firewood is $1 a stick. So, come prepared. We asked someone who was washing his 4wheeler and he said that it was $1 but that only turned on the water for about 1 minute ! So, $1/1min for washing time !?! That's ridiculous. Also, there is a bar/restaurant on the property- this part was laughable. We were told that it's "open till 5pm" and had read online that it was open every single day. Well, I went in at lunch time, and some kid was in the kitchen area but even when I approached he didn’t even speaks, and no one was at the bar. Noted. After a long ride, my guys wanted to go have a drink and I said I'd just order something from the kitchen. It was 4:16pm. The blonde at the "service desk" informed us that the kitchen had closed at 4pm (nice- no idea they weren't planning to be open till 5:00 as advertised) and that the bar doesn't open until Friday (this was on Thursday) and Saturday nights at 6pm because they "give everyone time to get off of the trails"- while I totally understand this concept. Why do you advertise that it's open till 5:00 and open every day, when none of this is true. This place just didn't have very clear info on their hours. That's aggravating when you're wanting to come in and relax for a minute, have a drink and chill out. We never went back and wasted our money. We also didn't pay for water. But, we did buy a bit of firewood because I wasn't lugging 4 nights of it all the way from Florida. But, enjoying a fire every night was the perfect ending to our days. Finally, The Staff: If I was basing this review off of the maintenance guy, 5 stars ! That guy is amazing. The blonde girl inside the bar/welcome center left much to be desired in her approaches to nearly anything. And the check-in/after hours shack was good when we came through but totally missed/ignored my cousin when he came in, which left him sitting at the gate for a few moments at 10pm because no one came out to help him. We went up there to meet him and find the check in guy. Basically, the staff left much to be desired - except the maintenance guy !!!. If they could have everyone be trained by the maintenance guy on how to engage customers, this staff would be AMAZING. Over all- we had a wonderful time. Would we come back ? Sure. But, we will stay for a shorter stay and now we know which cabins to avoid (beaver shack, loblolly inn, frog haven and shady rest). If you're looking for a family friendly place to hang out, ride, and get away -this is a really nice park to consider. While you’re here, definitely EAT AT THE...

Do NOT PLAY, STAY OR RENT here!!!

We were renters. We planned to go to Hatfield trails but couldn’t find two-seaters, stumbled on CAW. Mistake #1. Left VM w/ scenario and was contacted by Jillian through email to say they could accommodate our group of 4 couples (mentioned on VM we wanted two seaters for specific date.)

BOOKING Entire process should have been red flag NOT to book. We booked rentals for four couples, thinking two seaters based on plenty of availability on the website. Got the rental contract agreement which required us to PAY IN FULL for our rental almost 3 mos prior to our reservation. I had never heard of a full deposit before but this was for group of people so we obliged.

Come to find out they booked us for 4 four-seaters. When I contacted Jillian to inquire, she said they didn’t have any two seaters bc they were wrecked by a previous group. After explaining I wouldn’t have booked w/ them or canceled our AirBNB in Hatfield trails she said she would try to get us the two seater price. Which she did. But the fact was that we really didn’t want four seaters.

ARRIVING: Getting into the gate was a mess. The girl asked if we had already paid. After verifying so many details, said she could only let four of us in because we signed waivers, even though we ALL did at the time of paying in full AND a few days before arriving. Fine, no problem.

Then we asked where do we go? She asked if we were renting (we didn’t have any ATVs hooked to our vehicles and we had just gone over the rental contract with her), she gave us the most vague instructions… “go up and take the driveway on the right and then park at the welcome center”.

There were several buildings, one which looked like a restaurant and we never saw any signs to direct us or said welcome center.

We drove around wasting time and finally went back to the restaurant. Maybe it should have been obvious, but the lackadaisical instructions were off putting.

WELCOME CENTER Walk into largest building straight into bar. There’s a small counter to the left where a girl was sitting and a guy was standing there talking to her. They continued talking which was just shooting the bull, never having ever acknowledged us. In fact, she looked at us like we were the biggest inconvenience to her and just asked what we needed. No “Welcome!” No “How can I help? Are you renting?” Nothing.

We introduced ourselves and asked her name (Katie) and explained we had reservations and she just said I need your drivers license and credit card. Zero enthusiasm. Then she proceeded to HAND WRITE all of our information down.

I’m looking at this as time is money already spent. We had already spent 20 minutes at the gate just proving w/ the QR code that we had 4 rentals and all waivers done.

The rest of our group finally shows up after going through the same gate issues, and they start their license and credit card process.

When she was finally done hand writing everything (even though we offered to help), she gave us quick instructions on basically “you do this, you buy the vehicle… you do this, you buy the vehicle, etc”. So a $2500 security deposit PER VEHICLE doesn’t cover anything. Oh, and 3/4 of trails were closed.

She made sure we knew that there was a group that wrecked all of their 2 seaters and now CAW is suing them since they can’t lease anymore.

She casually pointed us over to where we would get our units and helmets outside across the way to another building. No thank you/have fun/nothing.

UNITS / HELMETS I’m here to tell you they do not clean these helmets. Units are trashed, unsafe and not maintained.

Cody said they clean helmets but no cleaner in sight. Went to Katie and she got attitude quick. Ended up cleaning them ourselves.

10min after hitting unkept trails, one unit alarm w/ a “turn off engine now”. Called for service. waited. They brought a unit that started smoking immediately after turning on. Later, a back left wheel came off a different unit. Trails are horrible and unsafe. DO...

If I could give this place less than one star after today, I absolutely would. To start with, my husband, myself, and our friends have had great times at CAW for a few years now. Today, their indisputable greed lost them our business.

Yesterday, my husband and two of his friends took our side by side down to CAW for the day. As luck would have it, shortly before 2:00 (this is important to know for later), a drive belt broke and they were stranded on a pretty muddy trail. In an attempt to save $200 (yes, $200 per CAW) to be towed back to the trailer, they called another friend to come and try to pull them out. Unfortunately, his ATV was not enough to get them out and they realized the belt would have to be replaced. At that point, they were told that CAW stops towing at 2:00-mind you, they stay open until 6:00 during the Winter months. I guess people don't get stuck after 2:00-oh wait, yes they do. Anyway, my husband unsuccessfully tried many other possible solutions before finally deciding that he would have to go home for the day and come back tomorrow with a belt. As he was pulling out, he told the person at the entrance about his situation and that he would be returning tomorrow. He also inquired about having to pay again just to come in, put on the belt, and drive his ranger home. He was told that he shouldn't have to pay and when he returned, to ask to speak with Vinny.

Fast forward to this morning-my husband pulls in and speaks to the young lady at the fence, telling her that his side by side is located on their property and that he and his friend are simply there to get to it, fix it, and take it home. He also had his four wheeler with him as his ranger was located on one of the farthest trails possible and he needed a way to get to it. He mentions that he was told to ask for Vinny in regards to not having to pay another drive/ride fee. The young girl calls Vinny, who then shows up in his truck but never comes to speak to my husband himself. He tells the cashier that he will go speak to Lisa and call her back to let her know. After waiting a few minutes, the young girl takes a phone call in which Lisa tells her that my husband does have to pay again as a driver and that his friend, who is there to help him-after working all night, trust me, he wasn't there to play-would have to pay as a rider. They then changed to say that his friend would have to pay as a driver as well since he would be driving the four wheeler back to the truck after the ranger was repaired. Neither of the adults in this situation had the backbone to actually talk to my husband and tell him this in person. Instead, they put a 16 year old (at most) girl on their front line to be the messenger-can we say cowards? So, $80 later, my husband was able to go in and retrieve his ranger and bring it home. I'm going to assume that Lisa made the final call on whether or not he would have to pay, since Vinny made it see like she had the final say-shame on you, Lisa. Your greed for your business or the business you manage lost longtime and faithful customers. That's poor business and that's being a poor example of a human. My husband was already frustrated at the loss of his day yesterday because of a broken belt, then on top of that, he had to spend an unexpected $225 on a belt, and then you just kicked him when he was down and made him shell out $80 more, for what? Do ya'll need the money that bad? Well, honestly, you may if that's how you treat your customers. I'm a firm believer of having to pay to play and trust me, my husband and I do not own things we can't afford to take care of in emergencies. But that $80 fee today was...