Anyone besides me smell a rat with the recent Jellystone Park reviews? Since the 12th when the moderators returned from vacation, there have been several reviews posted about Jellystone Parks in different states. Yes, I know it's the summer and prime RV'ing time and all, but it seems strange to me that there is a sudden "cluster" of reviews about a particular chain of parks all over the country. Not only that, but with the exception of one review, all of the new Jellystone Park reviews were 8's or 9's. Yes, it's possible that the parks are really all that good, but combined with the proximity of the reviews, it seemed to me that somebody connected to the parks might be trying to "fix the vote," as it were. Feel free to prove me wrong, if you can. I'm certainly willing to be shown the error of my ways, if in fact it exists.
Mr. Cranky: I can't speak for other reviewers but I did the recent favorable review on Hagerstown Jellystone Park in Maryland. I don't give out many 8s, 9s, 0r 10s, as readers of this site will attest, and I can assure you it was accurate. One of the other positive reviews was for Jellystone Park in Williamsport, MD., which is the same as the Hagerstown Park. This site lists it under both cities. I did not do that review but agree with it. I don't think there is a rat at all, but just a really good park that received some well-deserved recognition!
Beastdriver, Thanks for the update on the two listings, they have been merged together with the actual city as Williamsport according to their website address. Cranky, I assure you that the reviews have come in from different users with different IP addresses Webmaster
I was just beginning to think that Jellystone must do a better job of choosing potential franchisees than KOA. Their campgrounds have been around just as long as KOA's and target the same family audience. They have the same challenge of maintaining and updating older facilities. Pricing is often comparable. Obviously several of these folks are doing an excellent job satisfying their customers needs.
We stayed at the CG at Natural Bridge Va before it was a Jellystone. They were a nice CG but they had to do Capital improvements before they were allowed to be a Jellystone. I have not stayed at any Jellystone that was not top rate either on the east coast or west. I can not say the same about KOA and I bet that they will start to loose there better franchisee to Jellystone sooner or later. I will say that most KOA's underwhelm me while Jellystones have all been great. John S. Northern VA. Foretravel
Webmaster: Thanks for your reply. In it, you cleared up something that I was wondering about. You said that the recent Jellystone Park reviews all came from different IP addresses. I wondered if you kept track of things like that. I'm very happy to hear that you do. Every once in a while, I read a review that causes me to wonder if it was written by someone connected with the camp in question. Tracking the IP addresses at least helps to stop that kind of "stuffing the ballot box" and I thank you for caring enough to go to that trouble. Like I said in my original post, I didn't have any concrete evidence that the Jellystone Park reviews were "hinky," beyond my suspicions based on the way they seemed to suddenly appear and were (almost) all very positive. I am glad to be set straight. As others have said, this site performs a very valuable service. Please keep up the good work.
Beastdriver: I wanted to thank you, too, for clearing up my question about the influx of positive Jellystone Park reviews. I appreciate you telling me that you were the author of one of them, especially since reviews on this site are normally anonymous. Thanks a lot.
I don't smell a rat. Perhaps more people are going to Jellystone Parks and actually liking them hence the high ratings...I know the ones that I have been to have been very nice parks. I don't think it's strange as to the amount of reviews made...it just shows me that Jellystone Parks are gaining popularity.
I stay at a lot of Michigan state parks and have posted some great reviews for them. I have no affiliation with them nor do I even live in Michigan, but I keep going to their state parks because they are so nice. I can in turn find it very likely that someone would stay in more Jellystone Parks if they have good experiences there. As a webmaster and former IT manager I can say that tracking IP addresses really is about the best that one can do to make sure there is not "ballot stuffing", but it is very easy for a user (especially one that is travelling cross country) to get different IP addresses. Is it worth it to see your favorite campground on top...doubtful IMHO. Not a presidental election here. And you have to remember that in general - campers are one of the more honest groups. Otherwise you wouldn't leave your chairs and coolers outside when you head in to town.
I don't know what the Jellystones are like now, but when my children were younger we enjoyed staying at them. If there was one available at our destination, we would usually chose it over any other. That was, of course, before I found this site! :lol:
Crankymediaguy, Since I posted two reviews of Yogi Bear Parks during August I'll give you my reasons for rating both parks rather high. Until this August I had never stayed at a Yogi Bear Park in my life. I went to camp at Indiana Beach Camp Resort. When I got there it was hot & they had no pool. Right next door was a Yogi Bear Park with a beautiful pool. We spent two days at the park & found it to be a very clean, well run facility. Because I had a positive experience I looked for other Yogi Bear parks on my route & found the one in Hagerstown, MD. We stayed at that one and found it as nice & even better than the one in Indiana. Other chains, such as KOA, should learn from this and see that people will patronize a chain if they are good! Yes we paid a little more at the Yogi Bear parks but felt it was worth it. Hope this helps relieve your suspicions.................. Steve Country Coach
Yup, you've all convinced me. Maybe it's because I'm originally from New York City (or maybe I'm just a jerk) but I was suspicious when I saw what looked like a sudden rash of reviews of Jellystone Parks (especially when they were almost all very positive). Hey, I could understand if an owner of a park or parks wanted to post good reviews of their own place(s). I'm not saying that would be right to do--it wouldn't--but it wouldn't be hard to understand, would it? Anyway, I very much appreciate people posting to this discussion and explaining the reasoning behind their reviews; it reinforces the faith I've had in the information on this site.
So far I have stayed at two Jellystone Parks, the first (several times in the past two years) in Ashland, NH (nice place) and the second in Sturbridge, MA (which I posted a review about). I just booked into a new one in East Wareham, MA (I'll post a review following my stay which will be Oct.22-24). I do not believe that there is any particular standard for being affiliated with Jellystone Park for these campgrounds, if there were, the campground in Sturbridge would have been stripped of that affiliation long ago. It is a real shame that CG's like that are allowed to bring down the rest of the decent places. As far as my reviews being "hinky", I can assure you that they are not, they are based upon my real experiences in these places. Regards, Paul
