Welcome, North Texas Jellystone Park!
Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a series of five news releases about new members of the Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort campground chain.
In less than 10 years, Ronnie Bowyer has transformed a barren piece of property near Miller Creek in Burleson, Texas, into a beautifully landscaped RV resort with hundreds of oak, pecan and pine trees.
But despite recently doubling the size of the resort to 248 sites, adding 37 fully furnished luxury cabins, two swimming pools, various recreation buildings and creating a steady roster of weekend activities and special events, marketing the park to families in Texas and across the country has been challenging, particularly when there are hundreds of parks competing for the same business.
A few months ago, however, Bowyer and his staff came up with a new strategy: Join the Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts chain. The 75-unit franchise network is the second largest campground chain in the country and is widely known for having quality parks and staff.
“We think joining Jellystone will help put us on the map,” said Steve Stafford, park manager at Rustic Creek Ranch. “We’ll also be able to tap into their 41 years of experience serving families across the country.”
The Jellystone Park chain has two other locations in Texas – one in Waller and another in Canyon Lake. Stafford added that the Burleson location, which will be marketed as the North Texas Jellystone Park, plans to invest in additional amenities over the next year including a pedal kart track, arcade and laser tag. A waterpark and sprayground are expected to open by the summer of 2011.
The park is also investing in inflatable climbing structures for children and is ramping up its slate of campground activities to include daily craft classes, family games and hayrides as well as rides on the park’s fire truck, which the park recently purchased. Of course, all these activities have an extra element of fun with Yogi Bear participating. Yogi will be on site daily to greet campers, pose for photo ops and take part in events. The park will also offer Karaoke and movie nights.
“The franchisor, Leisure Systems Inc., has already sent staff to our park for onsite training and guidance,” Stafford said, adding that the park will be hiring additional staff for the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
