A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of spending a week at the Jellystone in Marion, NC. We really like to stay at Jellystone campgrounds because they always is a ton of kid focused activities. And this Jellystone did not disappoint. There was road construction and it caused us to use a detour to get to the campground. Little did we know our stay was going to start with such a bang. The detour was not created with “big rigs” in mind. My wife almost had a heart attack when at one point during a sharp narrow turn it felt like the Rig and Toad were sliding off the road. So when we arrived our nerves were a bit frazzled.
Check in – Was a breeze. We were meeting out friends from RVFTA and since they had arrived before us, they asked the staff to give us a hard time at check-in. Fortunately for us, they did not honor that request. The first fun thing we noticed was the staff had fun names for each staff member. I think we were checked in by Running Bear. They really made check in a fun experience. We were given all of the information we needed about the campgrounds, activity schedule, etc. Then we were escorted by a staff member to our site. We followed him right to the spot and my wife backed he RV in our spot.
Tip – We arrived on a Monday morning and had our choice of a discounted camping price or FREE VIP armbands. We chose wisely, and chose the armbands!
Our premium site was a very spacious double wide site that had been two smaller sites that they chose to combined into one very wide premium site. We had plenty of space for our RV, toad and to setup our outdoor seating. It was a heavily wooded site, which kept the direct sun off our space and kept it cooler. Only downside, was we were not able to get Directv. Which didn’t matter much.
Key fact to know – This campground is used a lot by local residents.
What to do at the campgrounds.
It was summer and everyone likes a nice pool The pool was nice size with separate fenced in kiddie pool. Nice touch so mom and dad can enjoy the big pool while keeping a safe eye on the little ones. But the star of the pool area was the water slide
Water slide – to me this is a water park level slide. With 2-3 twists and turns. Kids and adults will enjoy the ride. Extra fee or VIP pass needed. It was fast and fun. The boys must have gone up and down the slide for at least an hour straight. Nice touch was there was a staff memeber at the bottom of the slide to ensure the safety of the riders
Other fun kid activities
- Gold mining – kids enjoyed. At $9 fee a bit pricey
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- With the VIP pass you get unlimited use of the following: Kayaks, boats, mini golf and use of water slide.
- Liked Tip and Tales – campfire with Yogi bear. It’s and extra fee but worth it
- Playground was right down by the lake, for nice peaceful setting.
Great, engaged Staff – This staff was not only engaged, but focused on delivering great customer service. We have a bad thunderstorm one night. And the next morning ( not too early) a staff memeber knocked on our door. To Check to make sure we made it through ok. And to tell us about a rescheduled activity that we had paid to attend
There was lots of dust because of campground construction and they are expanding. Building new sites in top of hill that should be awesome. Right now, those upper sites are reserved for seasonal guests
Final thoughts
We had a great time at this Jellystone. It certainly lived up to and exceeded our expectations. The Water slide was awesome treat for everyone. We look forward to going back and checking out the new upper level sites.
Techno -facts – Like in many places in the smokey Mountains, there was very little cell or internet service at the campground. And in our site, we could not use our DirecTv due to the trees.
