Where do I start? This is our Second season there as an Annual. The park was in need of love and direction from the park management and Thousand Trails. This year, many of us annuals held our breathe as a new Property Manager was hired and introduced. From the first day opening you can see management and staff members are working very hard to make this park great again. The pools were ready to go Memorial Day weekend, hot tubs are being replaced, store is revamped, and so on. Staff members are always around and willing to help. There is way more staff this season than last year. I know Rome wasn't built in a year so I don't expect this place to perfect by the end of the season, but I haven't run into one annual that is not happy how things are going so far. read more

The hot tubs have been approved and are going back in! (See pic) convention center is next and I've talked to Corey who said next season they will be fixing the roads! read more

O'Connell's RV Campground - New hot tub going in at "boo boo's pool" convention center is next. - RV Parks Near Me - Amboy, Illinois

I have been here for years. just recently they got a new manager named Cory, and I gotta say, ever since he came in the place has been going downhill very fast. at this rate I don't see Oconnells lasting much longer. my expectations are very low for this place since its one of the most ghetto campgrominds, but even with low standards I was extremely disappointed this year. if you plan on going anytime soon, I wouldn't... id maybe give this company some time to try and get their super messy business together. I'm not saying Cory isn't the right person for this job because after speaking to him for a while I see potential, but he needs to get this business together ASAP or we will not be spending another penny here!!! read more

this campground has gone through many phases. It has turned around into a wonderful place if u had a bad time please try again you won't regret it read more

So they have a new manager now Cory. So far very promising. I hope we keep going in this direction. If so we'll be back to the park we all fell in love with all these years. Pools kiddie pools and waterslides were open. The store opened under me management too with lots of new things. They have opened the snack shack again serving wonderful food. Lots of things going on the weekends with themed weekends every time. Hot tubs have been torn out to get new ones. So much more. Hopefully Cory keeps it going and we see this park packed again and sold out like before. Let's go!!! read more

My family and I had the chance to stay at O'Connell's RV Campground. We stayed for 5 days and 4 nights and this is our review. When we first arrived to get checked in we arrived and parked right at the gate but there wasn't anyone at the shack and I had to physically park the car at the gate thus blocking this entry way for everyone. Once I parked I had to get out and walk to the administration building to get checked in, I think. There was no sign or anything, letting us know what to do. (This was all due to short staff.) Once I got into the building, check-in was pretty easy. I told them my reservation name and they took out the map and showed me how to get to my camping spot and gave me the gate code. Other than that no other information was provided to me or my family. This will be very important tid bit of information for later in our review. We stayed during the first week of August and I'm not sure if this was a busy time or not for camping but driving to our site we could tell there was a lot of people there for camping and the amount of golf carts are over bearing to say the least. It was like a small city with nothing but golf carts zooming around. We arrived to our camping spot and setup was a breeze. We had electricity and water in our site and just a word of caution. The electricity and water outlets are right next to each other. We felt this was a bit of a dangerous situation as why someone would put the electricity right next to the water spout. Once we got setup, we had sometime to explore the camp grounds. My first impression is this place is huge! It's filled with RVs, motor homes, small homes, and tent camping which holds a lot of people. There's many activities for the kiddos to do like basketball, volleyball, playgrounds, pools, music stage, paddle boats,mini golf, arts and crafts center, kayak, beach, and fishing. However, I'd like to touch upon on our experience. Remember how I said that the campground was packed with people? Well it was near capcity however, most if not all attraction were closed because of being understaffed. You wanted to do paddle boat? Nope it was closed because there wasn't anyone available to rent the boat for us. You wanted to kayak? Nope not happening because someone wasn't available to rent out the kayak for you. Interested in mini golf? Ha! Good luck because no one was available to rent putters and balls for you. You can see how we were disappointed and dissatisfied with our time at O'Connell's RV Campground. Oh yeah and you know the market and pizza restaurant that's conveniently setup for all guests to use in the campground? It's a great place to grab snacks and ice. Forget about that because you wanna know why? That's right, you guessed it! It was closed. It makes no sense to me why those things would be closed when the campground is packed with people. The listed hours of the store/market don't even correlate and it was just closed. This isn't even the worst part of our experience at O'Connell's RV Campground. The camp ground has a strict quiet hours that begins at 10pm but they neglected to advise us of what was going on at the campground during our stay. Every single night starting at 9pm which ran until about 11:30 pm, people would drive around in thier golf carts like it was a parade. Honking, yelling, screaming, blasting loud music, and causing a scene every night when my kids are sleeping/adults sitting around a campfire. There were lines and lines of golf carts. It was extremely frustrating and we didn't understand why security was not shutting this down because of the quite hours. Turns out that it was decorate your golf cart and have a parade weekend. It was have been nice to know about this prior to checking in or even at check in. Nothing was provided to us and there was no advance warning. Now everything made sense to us but we still should have been told about this well in advance. The kids had fun on the playgrounds and the beach and the fishing was decent. The beach was very clean and a good relaxing time. All was not bad but I needed to give everyone full warning of what went down. We had an OK time at O'Connell's RV Campground but my family and I prefer to be more secluded and on our own. It felt like we were camping at a theme park with none of the attractions being open , it's just not for us. Maybe it is for you and your family. The showers and bathrooms were acceptable but could have used a mid-day cleaning but my guess it was due to understaffing issues and a few nights they closed it down at 10 pm and there was no other signs telling us where we could use the bathroom or shower. We did take advantage of the laundry mat and that was a nice luxury to have. Overall, if we decide to come back to O'Connell's RV Campground, we will not stay on the main road cause it's just too busy and I'll make sure to ask what's going on so there are no more surprises and what will be open and what won't be. read more

If I could give this place a -1 I would. The campground used to be a nice place years ago. The owners have let it deteriorate badly. The "regulars" have basically taken over and wanted it their way or no way. Ownership allowed them to do this over the past few years. If boats need to be replaced, the "in crowd" says no. Costs too much" These are senior citizens who line these so many months of the year. The owners do what the regulars want. So only two row boats were operable out of about 12. This is the case with the entire campground. The last time we were there, my wife and friend left in our golf cart. The old man who owns the plot across from where we were renting for the weekend chased her down cutting her off. He waked up and said" oh, excuse me, I thought you were the kids I saw over there. We have a lot of trouble with kids." My wife laid him out. She got off the cart and got in his face. She told him if she ever caught him chasing down kids just because, she would personally shove his cart in the water with him following the cart. He didn't come out of his triler the rest of the weekend! So this is enough to show what this place has turned in to. Go some where else!! read more

BULLET HOLES IN MY AIRSYTREAM. Yes, you read that correctly. I had 4 bullet holes in my Airstream and to date, O'Connell's has NEVER RETURNED ANY CALLS OR EMAILS regarding this incident. A police report was made, photos were taken, and still nothing. Thousand Trails should be aware of this, but I'm guessing they are not. What if your kids were playing outside? My neighbor had a bullet hole in her shed and he also posted about it. O'CONNELL'S IS DANGEROUS, stay away from the new "Premium" lot section. I paid extra for this? We camped at O'Connell's RV Campground in a Travel Trailer. read more

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O'Connell's is DANGEROUS! By dangerous I don't mean just the high schools kids and adults driving around in overpacked golf carts with open beer containers blasting music all night, but physically unsafe. I had a bullet hole in my shed and my neighbors Airstream had bullet ricochet marks and an actual bullet lodged in it. police were called and a police report was made. What would have happened if my kids were playing outside. To date, O'Connell's has ignore any attempt to communicate with them regarding this. STAY AWAY FROM THE NEW SECTION OF THE CAMPGROUND AND O'CONNELL'S ALL TOGETHER. read more

Where do I begin? The park is very out dated and in need of repair. The RV spots are in great shape but that's as far as it goes. The pools and the bathroom facilities adjacent to them are dirty. Weeds around the pool, missing tiles in the bathroom is a short list. Garbage disposal consists of large open dumpsters throughout the park which were full to the max. Broken glass and debris was present around all of the dumpsters. The park seemed very short staffed. Landscaping and housekeeping was being done but no one was attending to the pools which seemed like a free for all. No supervision of children or even unruly adults. Then there are the flies. I have never seen so many flies and I grew up on a farm. I asked maintenance and they couldn't explain to me why there were so many. Maybe because of all of the open dumpsters. Very poor way to run a business. My family and I full time rv and we have never been so disappointed. We ended up leaving after a day. read more

We just got back from staying here. As a person that has camped here for 33 years I will no longer come back. When it was Yogi Bear it was an awesome park. Even last year we tried it put even though the Yogi name went away and we had so much fun. They still had activities every hour on the hour and they went all day the park was nice the cabins were nice. We just got back and they had a few activities a day that's all. The cabins weren't even cleaned but charging the same as last year when there was things to do and the cabins were clean. The staff is very rude. You ask a question and you get snapped at, ignored, or they don't know the answer to the question. The whole park is very run down and not very well run. I am very sad as this park was so good at one time and it was so packed you had to book a year out. Now you can book the day before you go because they are so empty. I would find a better campground if you are thinking of staying here. read more

As a former annual here, I am ashamed of how this park is run. The manager runs this park like its his own playground. He has ZERO respect for the customers or the employees. Rules and safety do not apply to everyone, just the ones the park decides to enforce them on. The underage driving of golf carts are not enforced either... Pools are ALWAYS over crowded, and if you have real littles, the baby pools were closed 90% of the 2021 season, not to mention the shower houses being over crowded as well, very filthy and dirty. The park in general is dirty, trash always blowing around, and not one employee picking it up, dumpsters have no lids and are always over flowing! Constant power surges or all together outages, fried 2 fridges and the park will not do anything about it. You Email corporate and they just send the email to the park manager, and he dose nothing about it, wont even reach out to you to try and fix the issues! So to sum it up, the park would be really nice, if it were run right!!! If i could give 0 stars I would!!! read more

I have posted this same review on their other Yelp page as well. Since they have 2 pages, I feel it needs to be copy/pasted here as well. Where do I begin....? We rented the Cindy Bear cottage (unit B) and it could not have possibly been more disappointing. The unit REEKED of mold and we were forced to buy air fresheners to help mask the smell (somewhat). Trim was falling off the kitchen counter and an outdated checklist of missing items that were supposed to be in cottage forced me to call front desk. There I was informed "not to worry about it". The bunk bed was very old and creaky and was not safe in my opinion. All of the mattresses were old and disgusting, as well as worn out. These should have been replaced years ago. I was forced to sleep in my zero gravity chair as my back could not handle the worn mattresses. Water damage is visible in bathrooms (peeling wallpaper and spongy exterior walls) and black mold is also visible. The water smelled so bad the kids refused to shower. Look in the cabinets where they keep the extra toilet paper and you will find mouse droppings.... we also found mice visible in the kitchen, moving between the stove and sink. Absolutely disgusting. To top it off, the cabinet doors were so dirty that they were stuck shut. The campground was nice and spacious. That is where the beauty ends. Golf carts run rampant in the campground and safety seems secondary. This place looks like it was great in the day but now is dated and unkempt. Save your money or give it to the homeless and sleep in the gutter. You will wake better rested and cleaner than spending one night at this place. read more

Let me say that if I can give negative stars I would. If you are a drunk, you will love this place. If you love to blast foul music while doing 40 mph on a golf cart you will love this place. No rules are enforced at this park. Do not come here if you are looking for a fun family experience. Very disappointed. read more

We have been here before numerous times. We usually go with a big group. The park itself is great and we always have a good time. But the customer service is horrible and the parent company of encore RV is brutal to deal with..... it is not a friendly conversation at all. We have been trying for the past 6 days to get through to the campground and got someone to answer the phone once and then asked for us to call back and we have been trying over and over and no answer. Very sad. Camping don't start well when you start planning with this. read more

The pictures lie!!! Disgusted and poorer after our visit. Giving 1 star because 0 is not an option. The park is nice on the surface, but it didn't take long to lose that impression. This is nothing more than a go cart track with tents thrown in. We stayed in the Cindy Bear cabin and were extremely disappointed. The cabin was filthy with a strong smell of mold when we first entered. The kitchen cabinets were so dirty the doors were stuck closed. The trim around the cabinets came off. Within 1 hour of being there we had to have maintenance and housekeeping come. Housekeeper did nothing and just said the manager would call in the morning, this never happened. List of included items in cabin was useless. We called as several items were missing. We were told not to worry about it...side note, they better not even think of charging me for anything that wasn't in there when we arrived. The water smelled like sewage, we had to use bottled water to brush our teeth. We had mice and it is obvious this issue has been going on for a while based on the amount of droppings in the cabinets. Water damage is visible and it is clear there is mold around windows. The beds were terrible. The bunk beds are from the 80s and were not safe in our opinion to have the kids sleep on. The pools are small, dirty and over crowded. Children are not attended to and staff does not regulate anything. There is a severe lack of upkeep in all areas of the park as well. The golf carts are out of control. The staff do not follow the speed limits posted and dont even bother to stop at the stop signs. Private golf carts are loud with radios blaring and a feeling that you are not welcome to their "private world". Staff seem like mostly kids with no real desire to do a good job or take care of the guests. Perhaps some of the money being made here should be reinvested. A small amount of upgrades would go a long way. Quiet time is a joke. 1230 and golf carts were still flying past our site with radios on. It is not safe to walk around at any time of the day and I would not let my kids (teenagers) go anywhere without one of us adults in tow. We have never had such disgusting accommodations and will never go back read more

This is a post from an experience I had four years ago. My brother and I came with our girls and camped via tent. The only real complaint I had is that we both had small tents and they would not let us be on the same "area" as to save some money. I personally did not care. My older brother could not stop complaining about this. Im sharing this because if saving money this way is a must for you, beware. You may not find a deal here. HOWEVER, I felt the beach, the swimming pool and the management (at the time) were on top of everything, very knowledgeable and hospitable. From the other two reviews that are more recent it seems if new management has taken over - which if this new management is this horrible, then a once amazing campsite area (rare to this area to find) has gone downhill. I loved this campground from only four years years ago and can't imagine it doing downhill THAT much. The inclusion of a new water slide was a nice thing to see and am excited to return. We never had any issues with "thieves" there and this area of Lee County has little to no crime rates. Its a farming community. If you do come to sample this place, check out the beach. We enjoy returning to the beach each year. I hope O'Connell's returns its campsite to greatness, as we remember it to be. read more

LOCK YOUR STUFF UP! We had our expensive cooler stolen from right outside our door. Campers around us had their coolers gone through and storage compartments riffled through. Security took our number but never saw them out patrolling anytime over the weekend. Other campers found a stock pile of coolers with alcohol in the weeds that was reported. When we told office about our theft they knew that there was an "issue" but can't catch the thieves. Very disappointed in how it was handled by staff, nothing more than a "sorry" from them. Will think twice before going there even as a last resort! Never had or heard this going on at other campgrounds! read more

This camping experience was a terrible one. We have been here multiple times and all of a sudden everything changed. The workers and people here always gave dirty looks and would either try to stop us while we were doing nothing. One of the patrol members happened to stop me 2 times while on the golf cart and felt the need to examine and touch my wrist to make sure i had a wristband legible for driving one which made me very uncomfortable. His name is Andy. Andy did a terrible job making our experience at yogi bear pleasurable. He did not have to get out if his golf cart and touch my wrist when my wristband is bright yellow and very noticeable. Also the bathrooms smell like something had died in there. One good note is that there was a lovely worker there who helped us get into a kayak and made us have fun. Her name is Hope. Other than that my experience there over this past weekend was not too good and Andy is the cause of this. read more

There is a continued lack of communication, it stems from the corporate on down. After a long struggle with the old park management to complete a sales transaction I moved up to the regional manager at corporate to work on making amends to my situation, can not get corporate to return my calls or answer my emails. It have been going on since November of 2015 and is still going :( read more