Name: Monticello Jellystone Park
Address: 22128 IA-38, Monticello, IA 52310, USA, Monticello, Monticello, Monticello, 52310, United States of America
Rating: 6

Air conditioning

Garden

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Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Barbecue grill(s)

Picnic area

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Free parking

Parking

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Playroom

Kids club

Kids

Location

At the hotel

Dubuque Municipal Airport

The Eastern Iowa Airport

Monticello Jellystone Park

Monticello

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

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safe

mini-bar

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wi-fi

kitchen

Was seasonal site for several years and am not going back. Was a great place on the weekends to go until Park was purchased 2 years ago. Since then they have increased the prices for seasonal sites 1400 dollars and have almost doubled the cost of nightly rentals. Only improvements done:  adding a 6 stall shower that runs out of hot water all the time, updated the office to sell more over priced stuff, dug a puddle in the field that is now a mosquito breeding ground that was said to be a "Floating pond" when there is a larger pond already. All the pads for campers are gravel, Roads are gravel causing lots of dust all the time. There is a five mph limit that the staff doesn't even follow causing more dust. The number of people coming has steadily dropped over the last 2 years. They eliminated 25% of the seasonal sites last year hoping to fill all them up this year with nightly rentals that didn't happen. Holiday weekends/Fair week used to be completely full and this year there were several sites available that were never filled. It used to be very family oriented and the staff made it fun. Now it is just a job for them and most of the staff don't really engage with the Kids even though it is a Jellystone campground. There are other things that have happened under the new management that I can not say here but the direction the park is going I don't want to be a part of or fund with my seasonal fees. I would rather take my business elsewhere.

Prices keep going up and no updates to justify increases

We had a wonderful stay and the water park (aka Ninja Warrior obstacle course) was super fun for our entire (24) family!  There are mini-parks throughout the campground. 
 The jumping "trampolines" are awesome.  The outdoor pool said it was 'heated,' and it was NOT.  It was FREEZING.  There is electric, water and sewer.  They even drive by and pick up your trash!  We came on Mermaids and Pirates weekend, and it didn't seem that they carried out the theme very extensively... but the canteen store was incredible!  Lots of great, high quality items for everyone to enjoy.

This place is AWESOME!

We've been coming to Jellystone for the last 3-4 years now and it used to be great because the waterpark was included in the cost of the camp site (which is outrageous enough) and now it's separate and continuously rising.  Last year it was $15 per person, this year $20 per person for the duration of your stay.  We stayed 2 nights ($150 for electric and water only) and check in is late, so you really don't get anything out of the first day/night.  We purchased the wristbands the 2nd day to use for 1 day, which ends up being the same cost as if you didn't camp at all (not much of a perk).  It's really a money trap if you ask me.  It's definitely a once a year only trip and if it continues to increase in price, we won't be back.

Decent campground but WAY overpriced!

We stayed in the Yogi Bear cabin with my brother and his family for a weekend. The cabins were as advertised - the only drawback was that we didn’t find any water other than in the bathrooms which seemed odd to me. We later found a hose on the side of the bath house we used. No grates on the fire pits were provided and there was a coffee pot but no filters. Check in was slick and having visitors wasn’t a problem. 

“Ranger Rick” made his rounds frequently, enforcing the rules that no one under 18 drove the golf carts, and some other made up rules like children cannot walk on top of picnic tables in an otherwise empty pavilion. 

The inflatables were great fun, however, no life guard on duty, only five college aged girls speaking in monotone to list out the rules when donning a (provided) life jacket. The strangest thing to me was the hourly check - bringing all of the children out of the water for the very unorganized task of ensuring each one of them had a parent with them. This said parent had to go stand in an insane line with their child (every hour mins you) or they could no longer play on the water feature. It was such an interruption to everyone’s day. We used the inflatables on a day pass last year and I do not remember that being a part of the routine, so I’m not sure what happened there or who came up with that horrible idea.

The kids enjoyed the gaga ball pit and playground equipment close by. We didn’t use the pool.

The little store there had all sorts of cute overpriced items and there was a food court we didn’t utilize. We did run out of propane Sunday am, and the store was still closed at 0800 without hours posted - so that was a bummer. 

All in all we had a fun time. I think our time and money is better spent elsewhere for future trips though.

Fun weekend with a few drawbacks

1st time visitors.
Campsite had no trees-this is a deal breaker for me typically, but I gave it a chance because we were very close to a park and gagaball pit.
My biggest issue was with customer service and management. We purchased bracelets for the lake activities on site. When we got in line to get life jackets, we were told they were at capacity and qould have to get back in line to try again in an hour-or wait in line for an hr to be sure we got in. I decided, with 3 kids, we weren't going to send in the sun, in line. That's not the "relaxation" we came for. We tried to return the bracelets, 15min later-(4 @ $20 ea.) We  had obviously not used them yet, as we were still dry and in our swim cover-ups. We were told that they were not taking refunds, and the manager was not available to speak with me. I requested the manager call me when she returned, as they were very expensive tickets and we weren't going to get to use them to their potential. I received no follow up from the manager.
When we had purchased the bracelets we were not told that they were at capacity and we would not be able to use them all the time. I also found out they sell day passes, and campers are not given priority.
This is one of the more expensive campgrounds I've stayed at, with the least amenities. The bathrooms near us were porta potties.
The fireworks Saturday were good.
We will not be returning customers.

Jellystone Monticello, IA

Expensive! Crowded, Hectic! Not for a laidback stay. More so for families with kids.  Need better site amenities like concrete pads. Too buggy near their "new lake" yuck! Ice, wood, etc. was outrageously priced. Aldo, charging for early entrance was off putting!

Ok stay

First stay with grandkids in the middle of the week to avoid the crowds.  

Pros
Inflatable toys were great for  the kids.  Life jackets are provided as part of the cost.￼
Two playground for the kids kept them busy￼.
Shower house and bath house were very clean￼.
Staff that helped with the lifejackets were very helpful.￼
Treasure hunt was fun for the kids￼.
They have characters travel around the campground on four wheelers which the kids really liked seeing.￼

Cons
The staff in the store were slowest we’ve ever seen. Extremely slow like a 20 minute wait.  Not the happiest or friendliest staff either￼.
Pool could’ve used a good cleaning￼.
Kids jumping pad was under inflated￼.
Two of the items on the inflatable work under inflated dramatically. I stepped in one and went down about 2 feet snapping my knee.
Laundromat is way too small￼.

OK campground with stuff for the kids to do

We just visited last week with my husband and our kids (14, 11, 7).  Our cabin was in good condition and we didn't have any issues.  The management had just changed hands and we were told that the pool was closed...after we got to the pool.  It would have been great to know this via email before we arrived, or even at check-in.  The kids loved the obstacle course; just wish there was an easier way to get in the lake.  There was supposed to be construction going on so our Wibit/water activities wristbands were comped, which was a nice surprise.  We are used to many more "Jellystone" activities based on experience with other Jellystone/Yogi Bear campgrounds so this was a surprise that there wasn't much going on beyond a simple craft - it had been stated that activities would happen at the sports field but we never saw anyone there.  Staff seemed very unenthusiastic.

Family Camping

Monticello Jellystone is our favorite campground in this area.  This campground offers so many terrific activities for the whole family.  The inflatable obstacle course in the lake is amazing with so many fun adventures and well maintained.  The swimming pool is kept very clean.  Activities are well planned and most are free.  Those that cost are very inexpensive.  Terrific snack bar and the only place I've seen with rides on a firetruck.  For only $5, you can rent a tube and tube down the Maquoketa River right next to the campground.  You will not go wrong visiting this place!!

Awesome campground!  One of the best!

Just pulled in, our first time camping here.  I made reservations over the phone, I let the Management know it was our first time camping here, looking for some grass and trees for our dogs, (that was my request), we called in advance to make reservations.  Arrived and our spot is all grass with one tree that isn’t even near the camper.  Looks like we are segregated away from the campground.  Right next to us our backyards to people that live in Monticello.  I feel like I pulled into someone’s back yard to camp.  Of course we can’t get a different spot because they’re all taken for the weekend.  So it’s over 90° we are in the direct sun with our dogs.  Unfortunately not my type of camping, I guess I could go visit the neighbors that live in Monticello we are basically in their backyard maybe I could use some of their shade.

Monticello Jellystone Park

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