This park is charging a base rate during holiday weekends and during the summer plus a charge of 7 dollars per person per night for the first three nights of your stay in order for you to use the new waterslide and water park they put in as well as some bouncy inflatable things, mini golf and gocarts...none of which any of our family members were planning on using during our stay. The base rate for RV sites range from $32.00 to $43.00 per night during the week and $44.00 to $57.00 per night during the weekends and the cabin rates range from $73.00 to $170.00 per night for either weekday or weekend use....add on that 7 dollar per person between the ages of 3 and 60 per night for three nights, makes these camping rates in my opinion outrageous when you don't even want to utilize the the things they want you to pay extra for. They won't even budge on the policy...she said this is how their customers wanted it set up...once I heard that, I understood then...it's what the monthly customers want because they only have to pay $21.00 extra in order to use those facilities for an entire month...so, the transients and those not interested in the waterpark and etc., are the ones that end up getting screwed.

What a shame...this park is very beautiful and well worth the base rate, but it's not that good and worth the stay to add on the extra charge.

BBear:

I agree with you that the rates at this park are ridiculous.Unfortunately, this is the way the industy is headed. We are, more and more, staying at parks that charge $50 or more per night when all the extras are added and, frequently, down the street, we find a nice motel for $10 to $15 more per night. Doesn't make sense. I guess that we need to stop patronizing these exoorbitant parks and perhaps they will learn to stop gouging us.

One of the wonderful thing we have here is to be able to make choices. If we stop at a park that wants more than I want to pay, I don't see any point in debating the price. It is their park and they can charge what they want. How ever they can't make me stay there.
From the way you have describe the place it is as much an amusement park as a campground. It is probably easier for them to charge a flat rate than to police who is use the fun stuff. If you don't like their program why go there?

I agree wholeheartedly with the previous posters. The beauty of a market-driven economy is that businesses who price themselves out of a market don't survive very long. If the campground in question finds enough customers willing to pay their prices, good for them. For me, there must be very compelling reasons to pay more than 40$ per night to camp, and an amusement park I'm not going to use is not one of them, but an exceptional view or a very special location might be. In many places I can get a decent motel for only a few dollars more, and some of these motels have a free breakfast included. (Ex: Super 8 in Pulaski, NY, 47$ for two with unlimited continental breakfast including waffles in November 2006) So, the choice is ours, if we don't need an amusement park included we don't have to go there.

I can't see why they just can't give those cheap wristbands to the people who pay for the extras...you don't have a wrist band, you don't get to use the extras.

As for why we want to go there, my sister who is mentally and physically challenged loves Yogi Bear and we try each year to take her to one of the Jellystone Campgrounds so she can see the characters and all the Yogi oriented stuff in the park...this is the only Jellystone Park in the area where we were planning on going.