Jellystone Lock In Fee

mamcgoron · 04-03-2019, 09:13 PM

I've stayed at two Jellystone's now (Mammoth Cave and Luray VA) and I'm looking at booking another in June. I've noticed they ask if you want to pay an additional $15 to "lock in" your site. They say if you don't pay the fee there's a chance you could get moved to a different site.

I've only stayed at the two locations, but have never paid the fee and have never been bumped from the site I booked. The lock in fee sounds like a total scam to me. I don't understand how they give the site to someone else if you specifically reserve it...

So, my question is... Do you pay the fee? If not, have you ever been bumped from your site?

Teresa CAL · 04-03-2019, 09:33 PM

I wonder if that’s a new thing, but i’ve Never been to Jellystone. I’d be pretty mad if I got moved, it’s part of why you make a reservation, to RESERVE the site.

tomkatb · 04-03-2019, 09:58 PM

We stayed last week up the road from the jelly stone at manmoth.

Singing hills. Plain Jane mom and pop place. No pool. Gravel sites. Nice owners. Far cheaper. Good WiFi. Streamed the Cardinals game plus lots of music. Clean rr. Full service sites.

Our last stay at the jelly stone near St. Louis was not plesent. Kids everywhere. Crazy golf carts. Tiny sites. Gravel. And the train came thru four times a day with a blaring air horn 5 feet away. Crappy WiFi.

We are sort of staying at state parks and mom and pop places. Our fiver works well without sewer and 30 amp service. 4 days easy without a dump.

**ependydad** · 04-04-2019, 02:16 AM

A LOT of campgrounds say they don’t guarantee a specific site even with a reservation. I’ve been moved quite a few times. Sometimes it was OK, sometimes it was not (like we stayed the month of December and reserved side by side sites with friends).

It’s not just Jellystone that does it.

Pay the fee or not- just understand you might get moved if you don’t.

formerFR · 04-04-2019, 04:37 AM

campgrounds and rv parks are different everywhere you go... there's no hard and fast 'industry' rule as to how they design their reservations, or whether they even take reservations - some don't.

we don't use 'branded' campgrounds and rv parks - we mostly use those that have our style of parking - we want quiet and solitude. Each are different, though, in whether a reservation is for a specific site number, or just a date. Sometimes I like to know exactly 'which' site we are reserving, and other times it's not as critical, especially for just an overnight.

If you have specific reasons to want a specific site, then paying for that site is critical, whether it's called a 'lock' fee, or whether it's just built into the overall price you pay. I would suggest that this new 'fee' is just a way to garner more income from some campers who want a specific site choice, versus raising the overall price for every reservation. Many campers are satisfied to just arrive and have the park assign them a site.
It actually makes sense, as the park may be wanting to take an approach that allows some to make specific site reservations, while other may just want the park to assign them when they arrive. The extra dollars are simply to take the time to make sure they have the spot for you for the days you are there, blocking it from others that arrive in the meantime, or making sure that others aren't allowed to continue camping on 'your' site when you arrive. Reservations planning is not as simple as many of us might imagine, it takes a lot of work. Conversely, just assigning campers when they arrive is very easy.

You may find that when you arrive that there are many vacant sites, making you feel like you spent the money without reason, or you may find that when you arrive the park is jam packed, and your money was well spent.

It also sounds like it's a flat fee, not dependent on how many days you are spending there, so paying it for a longer stay might make sense, especially if it is a 'preferred' site that you have stayed at before, or right next to your friends, etc.

**KyDan** · 04-04-2019, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ependydad

A LOT of campgrounds say they don’t guarantee a specific site even with a reservation. I’ve been moved quite a few times. Sometimes it was OK, sometimes it was not (like we stayed the month of December and reserved side by side sites with friends).

It’s not just Jellystone that does it.

Pay the fee or not- just understand you might get moved if you don’t.

This ^^^^^ think about it. You can say they are "just trying to leverage more of your money" and I suppose they are but.... Allowing specific site reservations is a real headache for the CG manager. They are trying to fill as many sites as possible and if you reserve a specific site for 4 days and the previous guy reserved it for 5 days with a 2 day gap in between your stays now the CG has to try and shoehorn someone in there for the gap days.... I stood and chatted with the office manager at Sanibel Island and she had a map of the CG on the wall and it was covered with posty notes and push pins trying to fill in all the blanks.
If you really have to have a specific site pay the man!

tomkatb · 04-04-2019, 07:36 AM

I talked to our last park owner.

He advises folks that he reserves the right to rearrange spots as he sees fit to accommodate the most folks. I have been rearranged several times before we arrived. Part of the game. The park is a business.

But, not after you get there.

We have stayed in state parks without reservations and changed spots almost daily. Our choice.

**KyDan** · 04-04-2019, 07:40 AM

Think of it as a $15 discount if you DON'T lock in a specific site!

mamcgoron · 04-04-2019, 08:48 AM

Thanks for the replies everyone! I was trying to wrap my mind around how they could justify moving someone when they had reserved a specific site. Makes sense now that they could just be trying to align your stay with another campers so there's no gap in the bookings. Makes sense. Now I feel more comfortable paying the fee, or not, and now I understand why I would be moved.

For the Jellystone naysayers... If you don't have little ones, I totally understand why a Jellystone would be so unappealing. It's very busy with unsupervised golf carts zooming all over, bratty kids, and since it's pricy it seems like everyone has $100k rigs with $60k trucks. My combine setup is $14k...

With that said, I have 4 kids from 10yo-4months, and they LOVE staying at Jellystones. They have tons for the kids to do, and are generally very nice. We have been trying to work in a Jellystone with our big summer trips. We try to stay at a state park for 4-6 nights and find a Jellystone on the way home for a couple nights.

Draggo · 04-04-2019, 09:29 AM

The campground we usually stay at in Old Forge, NY, started doing that this year with the "lock in" fee if you want to guarantee a specific site otherwise as was previously mentioned, even though you sign up for a certain one they aren't guaranteed. There are only a handful of campsites at this place that we really like, some of their sites are a little crowded. So to me, being that we are going to be there for a week, I'd rather pay the extra money ($30 I think) to know I am getting where I want to be rather than get stuck in one of the more crowded areas. Sure I'd rather save the money but if I was really interested in saving money I wouldn't own a trailer and take it places

Thurman · 04-04-2019, 10:47 AM

I've only been bumped from a reserved site once, just once. This was an ADA site which we had reserved about two months in advance to get the ADA site. The ranger came by to tell me that we were being moved as they had no other site that would accompany a large motor home, and they were not ADA qualified. We choose the ADA site at this campground as it is really close to the bathhouse and my GF has bad hips and cannot walk far (another story as to why she doesn't want hip replacement). I defied the Ranger to move me from this spot for someone who was not ADA compliant. He got the head Ranger there to tell me that IF I did not move he would evict me from the park. I told him that IF he did I would call the local police so they would at least have to write and incident report for my attorney. The man with the MH came over and heard the conversation and was concerned that the park employees may be breaking an ADA law so he offered to just move on to another park. I mentioned that I paid an extra fee for the ADA site and didn't want to move for my GF's problem and I would be loosing money. The MH guy then offered to pay me for my fee's for this site IF I would just move to another site. I thought about that for a few seconds and agreed. The MH guy paid me in cash money so I started packing up. When we were all packed up the Ranger offered to escort me to the new site and I assured him that I knew the way home and that was where I was going rather than move. IF, I repeat IF, the MH guy had someone with him with a handicap more serious than my GF's I would have gladly worked with them. But the park Rangers wanted me to move so his huge MH would fit in that space. We went home and I wrote a letter to the State Department of Recreation about this incident. I received a very nice apologetic letter from the State which included a statement that they had contacted the staff at all State Parks to inform them of ADA compliancy. They even sent a hand-signed letter from the State DR giving me free three night's stay at any State campground for one year.

JS Stanley · 04-04-2019, 10:58 AM

I think that is not good customer service. A reservation should hold a spot. That's what a reservation is. The more people accept that a reservation is not a reservation, good luck getting any spot in the future whatsoever.
I will be crossing them off my list of places to stay.

MOODMAN · 04-04-2019, 12:46 PM

Total scam I say. If you arrive on time, then whoever arrives before you should not have the right to take your space.

Scheinin · 04-04-2019, 03:11 PM

I think it is a scam. Most people don't reserve a site with a gap in the middle. Most would rent for 1 night, 2 nights, a week, 2 weeks. Usually, when I reserve a specific site, they ask for a deposit. No problem. To charge extra to "really" reserve your site is ridiculous.

**KyDan** · 04-05-2019, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scheinin

I think it is a scam. Most people don't reserve a site with a gap in the middle. Most would rent for 1 night, 2 nights, a week, 2 weeks. Usually, when I reserve a specific site, they ask for a deposit. No problem. To charge extra to "really" reserve your site is ridiculous.

Calling the reservation policy a scam is pretty harsh. If an optional fee is spelled out in plain language, it's not a scam. It's an up charge.

What if the guy who was on "your site" left 2 days before your arrival? What if the next guy isn't arriving until a couple days or one day after you leave??
It's gonna be hard for them to fill those gap days. Chances are they will loose a day in there somewhere that could have been filled IF they had the option to move folks around they have a much better shot at filling all the days.

Some of the CGs we go to don't allow you to reserve specific sites. You get a reservation for a site on your days but not a site number until you arrive.

Scheinin · 04-05-2019, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KyDan

Calling the reservation policy a scam is pretty harsh. If an optional fee is spelled out in plain language, it's not a scam. It's an up charge.

What if the guy who was on "your site" left 2 days before your arrival? What if the next guy isn't arriving until a couple days or one day after you leave??
It's gonna be hard for them to fill those gap days. Chances are they will loose a day in there somewhere that could have been filled IF they had the option to move folks around they have a much better shot at filling all the days.

Some of the CGs we go to don't allow you to reserve specific sites. You get a reservation for a site on your days but not a site number until you arrive.

That's the cost of doing business. If I got bumped from a site I reserve, I would be on all the travel forums denouncing the campground.

Ejs4029 · 04-05-2019, 12:13 PM

Before moving to NC from CA one of are favorite campgrounds was Pismo Coast Village if you were luck enough to get reservation months out it was never for a specific site....You could request a certain site or area but that didn't mean you were going to get it or come close....One of the first questions they asked is what size rig are you driving or pulling and it was based on that.

A 45ft Diesel pusher could only fit in certain sites there same with a 40ft 5th wheels so about a 28ft RV was the cutoff if you were smaller then that they could put you anywhere and it was easier getting a reservation.....Kicker is all the sites were the same price so if you had a larger rig you typically had a larger site

So when I arrived and went to the office they told me which site I was in and from staying there so many times I knew if it was one that I would like or not like and always tried to move if I could to a more desirable spot if it was available

cstreu1026 · 04-05-2019, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mamcgoron

Thanks for the replies everyone! I was trying to wrap my mind around how they could justify moving someone when they had reserved a specific site. Makes sense now that they could just be trying to align your stay with another campers so there's no gap in the bookings. Makes sense. Now I feel more comfortable paying the fee, or not, and now I understand why I would be moved.

For the Jellystone naysayers... If you don't have little ones, I totally understand why a Jellystone would be so unappealing. It's very busy with unsupervised golf carts zooming all over, bratty kids, and since it's pricy it seems like everyone has $100k rigs with $60k trucks. My combine setup is $14k...

With that said, I have 4 kids from 10yo-4months, and they LOVE staying at Jellystones. They have tons for the kids to do, and are generally very nice. We have been trying to work in a Jellystone with our big summer trips. We try to stay at a state park for 4-6 nights and find a Jellystone on the way home for a couple nights.

We've stayed at the Jellystone in Quarryville, PA a couple of times which is owned and operated by the same company as Luray. When we made our reservation for our trip last year I had to pay a fee to lock in the site. I didn't care for it but we also loved that particular site and were already paying a little over $100/night so what's another $15 spread over a week?

We too love the Jellystone parks for all they offer for kids. The one we visited in PA had a LOT of pop-ups and small travel trailers. I figured it was the close proximity to the east coast and limited storage options for those folks.

RacerRalph · 04-17-2019, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teresa CAL

I wonder if that’s a new thing, but i’ve Never been to Jellystone. I’d be pretty mad if I got moved, it’s part of why you make a reservation, to RESERVE the site.

Bought a couple United airline tickets last week, $895 each for a three hr trip. They had an additional $29 per leg per passenger to "guarantee" my wife and I could sit next to each other. I love her dearly, but it's not worth the extra charge to sit by her.

Scheinin · 04-17-2019, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RacerRalph

Bought a couple United airline tickets last week, $895 each for a three hr trip. They had an additional $29 per leg per passenger to "guarantee" my wife and I could sit next to each other. I love her dearly, but it's not worth the extra charge to sit by her.

Very good.

You may also like: