Jellystone Western New York REVIEW

The post y’all have been waiting for!!!! I was a planning on waiting a day or two since I just posted our Jellystone Premiere Villa 2 Bedroom review, but holy smokes!!!It’s crazy! I love my instagram the most when I travel because my notifications literally go off the hook!!! Nothing makes me feel better about the things I share as my fellow travel friends blowing up my feed!!!!! It’s totally awesome!!! But honestly I just wasn’t really expecting THAT with Jellystone.

Not because Jellystones not a totally fabulous camping spot, but because I feel like everyone has been this summer and I was probably the last one to make the Jellystone WNY voyage lol... with all of the crazy travel restrictions due to covid, places like Jellystone & Splash Lagoon have been the IT staycation spots for Western New Yorkers! Boy was I wrong though! My notifications were going off like I was at Beaches Turks & Caicos or some other exotic location. Who knew a campground an hour and a half away from home sweet home would have fellow Western New Yorkers so intrigued!!!

Face Masks

Before I dive into all of the fun stuff, I figured I would cover Jellystone Covid regulations first! Hopefully if you stumble upon this post summer 2021, this whole section will be null in void and covid will be long behind us. Since we are still living in covid hell. Yes! I said what I said lol... Here is the regulation tea!

I was asked multiple times about face mask policies and how strict Jellystone was with enforcing them. The Jellystone Java, NY location policies are legit like every other spot in New York State in stage 4! Face masks must be worn inside restaurants, stores & in and out of recreation areas. You can remove masks once seated or in the water. No need to wear a mask at your own campsite either. This was a ridiculous rumor going around and I was happy to clear that up to several awesome insta followers of mine. As long as you can stay 6ft away, you can be mask free around the resort since it is outdoors!

Jellystone also sanitizes the pool and beach area once an hour. So plan on having your family leave both areas during that time. Good news is sanitation only takes like 10 minutes, so just run to your campsite. Use the restroom or grab a snack and head on back for more fun!

Location

Jellystone Western New York is located in Java, NY. Wyoming County! If you’re in Chautauqua County like myself. Basically drive through Ellicottville and hit up some of the county roads out that directions and you will be there lol....

If you’re looking for a little adventure outside of Jellystone, Letchworth State Park is a few miles away! Makes a good day trip when you leave the resort!

Cabins

We had the pleasure of calling a Premium Villa 2 Bedroom our home while at Jellystone WNY! A master bedroom, bunk bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. Sleeps 1-7 according to the Jellystone website. The cabins also have heat and ac which is always nice in New York since who knows what type of weather the weather gods will be gracing us with! I have a full review on the cabins here if you want a more detailed review!

Cabin Yard

Each campsite includes a picnic table, fire circle & charcoal grill. The fire circle definitely was the hot spot for our crew and got a ton of use on our trip!!! It was also nice not to have to lug a grill with us!

Activities

So many activities for kiddos!!!! So many that it will be impossible to participate in them all! Always a great problem to have on any adventure!!!

Jellystone had chalk art contests! Basketball with Yogi Bear himself! Hide & seek with Cindy bear! We even spotted Boo Boo Bear cruising around to campsites to take photos with the kiddos!!! There was even ice cream being delivered to campsites one evening!!!

I would say if you have a kiddo 6-10, they will be so busy hanging out at the various activities & making new friends that they will literally never be bored! I can’t wait for my daughter to be a tad bit older so she can actually participate in more of the activities!!

Bounce Pad

Tell me the bounce pad isn’t the coolest thing you have ever seen?!?! I would have loved this thing when I was a kid. Heck, I wish there wasn’t a line of kiddos behind us so I could have taken a turn!!!! Zero additional costs too which makes it even better!!!

Water Sports

Kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, the list goes on! The best part?!? Included with your reservation so there is zero additional costs! We definitely took advantage and tried out all of the water sports.

Due to covid they do need to sanitize the life jackets in between use, so you might have to wait a tad bit longer, but better safe than sorry right?!? You can also just bring your own if you happen to own life jackets to avoid any waiting!

Water Park

I’m pretty sure the water park is the main reason so many western New York families choose Jellystone as a staycation spot! With many lifeguards and tables spread out, it’s safe to say we had a blast!

Inflatable Park

The Jellystone inflatable park was our only disappointment. Not because it’s not totally awesome!!! It’s the most epic thing EVER!!! But, due to covid, you have to go down to the beach the day you want to play and make a reservation for your family at 8am! The whole campground heads down there and you can only make a reservation the day of, so we did not get to enjoy the epicness that is the inflatable park.

I am told my veteran Jellystone campers that this is 100% a covid policy due to sanitizing in between families AND that regulations will only permit one family at a time out on the inflatables. Hopefully next year things will be back to normal and everyone can use the inflatable park and not just the ones that ran to the beach the fastest at 8am lol....

Snack & Gift Shop

Forget something at home?!? Need more charcoal?!? More firewood?!? Spending too much time at the pool so you don’t feel like making lunch?!? Good news is there is a delicious snack bar that serves everything from quesadillas, pizza, chicken fingers, grilled cheese, wraps, sandwiches, the list goes on! You can even hit up the Jellystone website and order your food online and have the food delivered right to you!

You can also have firewood delivered to your campsite via the Jellystone website. Y’all do not know how handy that little feature is! When you have been drinking around the fire and realize you’re on your last log, just grab your phone and order some wood!!!

The gift shop also had all the camping necessities one may have forgotten at home along with basic food items like milk, chips, candy, soda, juice!

Opinion

I’m pretty sure y’all can tell that my family had one heck of a time!!!! My hubby is the anti camper of the family. That’s right! Y’all thought I was the high maintenance one and it’s the other way around lol.... I crave adventure and he craves, well the opposite lol....and I can happily report that he is so in love with Jellystone!!! That’s how fun Jellystone is even for non camping folks! So much to do that everyone can find an activity to engage in!!

However, if you are renting a cabin, it can get a tad bit pricy, BUT the cabins sleep so many and include all of the amenities! If you go halves with another family, the prices are no different than a single hotel room!

The campground was pretty well maintained too. This was my biggest concern and I am pleased to report that everything was clean! No trash laying around. Nothing broken just sitting there. I feel like Jellystone takes good care of the place. Definitely not a jumkie campground!!

Pets are also permitted which I thought was pretty sweet! They even have a dog park!!! Love that furbabies can join in on the fun!

I will recommend however bringing a wagon or renting a golf cart while at Jellystone. Since we aren’t camping regulars, I had no idea golf carts are even a thing at camp grounds. I guess most camp grounds rent them and I was so bummed I was left out of this little detail! I will definitely be renting one next time. If you don’t want to shell out the cash for a golf cart, bring a wagon for the little ones so you aren’t carrying them all over the resort! You will thank me later for this little tip.

Will we be back?!?! You best believe it!!!! I really hope to make Jellystone a yearly thing since both my hubby and daughter had a blast! We spend several days at the resort and didn’t even come close to doing everything, so there is so much more for us to explore in the future! So happy we have such a fun campground here in Western New York!