Every year we try to bring something new to the park… Offer a new amenity, purchase new equipment for our guests to use or enjoy. This year is no different…
With that being said, we are finally working on the building that is next to us. The back end will have an indoor Laser Tag arena. We will continue to have the outdoor arena for Laser Tag but we will now have an indoor laser tag arena! No more cancelled games due to rain or for the arena being too wet, not to mention Mosquitos! We also have new laser tag equipment coming as well – 24 guns! That is more guns/taggers than we have had before. With this equipment we will be able to have different games and easier to operate as well.
The Bears have been invited to a Wedding at the campground! This year our favorite youngest daughter, Kylie is getting married. This is something new for us, having never experienced this before. We will be welcoming a new son into our lives! His name is Jimmy and the big day will be on September 7, 2019. For this reason, we are completing the back half of the building that is attached to our property. This area will become the NEW – The Barn at the Resort – South Haven. This Event Center will have 3500 square foot area that will accommodate about 240 people. It will not be completely done with it this year, as in the outside finishing touches but the inside will be done in time for the summer of 2019. We have a half moon barn with original wood showing thru that is perfect for the wedding ceremony. So far, the first person that will use The Barn at the Resort will be our favorite oldest daughter, Katie. Katie will be graduating from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC on May 18th. There she will receive her Doctorate in Pharmacy! Katie will be having her graduation party at The Barn at the Resort in June. We are extremely proud of our girls and wish them the best with the new chapters that they are starting.
As some of you may know, there is a gas pipeline that goes through our property and they will be working on the back side of the property. We will have to wait for them to complete their work before we can add the Paintball field. Unfortunately the timeline for them to work has changed and they will not be able to complete their project until the middle of June. With that being said, if there is no delays, that starts to become a busier time at the campground and hoping we will be able to start the Paintball field. So cross your fingers and hope that 2019 will be the year to complete paintball arena! **Please note that this is not our doing but something that the pipeline must do to be compliant with the federal government. They will be working hard to not disturb our guests. They will not be working during the Memorial Day Weekend, as well as taking Saturdays off during the time frame that they will be there April-June. The pipeline will be working at the Northeast corner of our property, beyond the current laser tag field.
The next improvement you may or may not notice is new software, sorta behind the scenes… Once in place you will be able to register and schedule for Birthday Parties or Bear Appearances at any register and hopefully online. This will also allow you to book your laser tag games through out the park, as well as online. We hope that the software will be easier to use, as well as allowing our guests and families, a more Cashless system. This will allow you (the parents) to put money on card for the little ones to use. This will also allow us, South Haven Jellystone, to keep track of your purchases to make sure you get the proper credit for your Jellystone Rewards. One of the changes with this that you may notice, is in the bike area. If all goes according to plan, our Jr Ranger will be able to scan the wristband and then scan the bike to check the bikes in and out.
Staff training continues to be of utmost importance and this year we are starting a new software to assist us with that. Being a seasonal business that starts slow makes it difficult to train. With this program, we will be able to make sure that every team member receives that same training, regardless of when they start. As always at this time of year, we are busy interviewing and hiring Great Team Members to assist our guests!
There has been some updates to our reservation software, allowing us to truly have an express check-in. We will be trialing it in the spring, hoping to decrease time in line. As long as you sign prior to arrival, you will be all set for express check-in. We will have more on this later.
We have a couple of new crafts coming your way… These are for our Teens and Adults…. Leather craft is one and the other some metal stamping… We found a new vendor for some cute ceramic magnets coming this year and they are a little cheaper too! We continue to add more to our activity schedules on a daily basis, making sure to keep everyone busy. Hopefully you notice some new theme weeks this year, as well as moving some of the favorites around. My favorite is the two weeks of our Egg Spectacular Weekends in April!