A Chicago-area Jellystone campground franchisee reversed its decision to disallow pop-up campers and tents after pressure from the big bear.
The Millbrook Jellystone affiliate cited a “vision of a resort that is exclusive to Travel Trailers, 5th Wheels, Motor Homes, Cabins and Park Models” on February 13, and promptly faced a major social media backlash. Originally, Leisure Systems, the franchisor for Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts, said it couldn’t influence the policy of a private franchisee, but a Facebook statement from the Millbrook campground indicates that corporate pressure reversed the policy.
“The franchisor believes that the policy conflicts with the Jellystone Park brand promise of providing families with the opportunity to camp ‘their way’ at locations filled with great amenities, fun activities, and Yogi Bear™,” the post said. “In accordance with their directive, we will be offering a limited number of tent and pop-up camper sites.”
It’s was not made clear why only certain campsites can accommodate a pop-up RV, and we have confirmed that the campground will only be offering three sites for pop-up RVs and tents.
After the initial announcement, many commentors accused the owners of the campground—national mobile home park proprietor Zeman Homes—of classism, saying that the location has had issues with rowdy campers in the past, and is using the value of the RV as a litmus test for the quality of the guest. Other Zeman-owned campgrounds also announced the policy in February, and have not overturned it.
