We love Jellystone Parks, and for my son’s big 10th birthday, we loaded up him, his friends and all their bikes and headed to North Texas Jellystone Park in Burleson for a wild little weekend celebration! The boys had a blast! I had a blast! There are SO many activities and things to do at Jellystone that it would almost be impossible not to!
Early Arrival
Check in isn’t until 3pm, but we were allowed to arrive at 9am, and do all the park activities until we could pick up our keys to our cabin at 3pm.
Jellystone gets very busy, and is filled up each weekend during the Spring, Summer and Fall, so make your reservations early if you’re planning to visit during this time!
2. The Bears Den
The big community room serves as a place for games like Candy Bar Bingo, Turkey Bowling, Movie Nights, Arts and Crafts and $1 Pancake breakfast on Sunday mornings!
3. Cabins
We stayed in a Homestead, which can accommodate up to 9 people, assuming some of those people are kids. Each cabin comes with a fire ring, an outdoor picnic table and a table on the screened patio.
Our cabin came with a full-size refrigerator, cooktop and microwave, but no oven. I was surprised that the cook top was gas, too! The cabins do not come with any cooking utensils or cleaning supplies, so we brought a skillet and crockpot for chili. My son wanted Frito Pie for his birthday dinner. We bought a huge case of Fritos at Sams Club, and I kept it warm in the crockpot so the boys could eat before and after the different activities in the park. It was also easy to prepare and clean up, so I had plenty of time to enjoy myself, too!
I didn’t get a picture of the living area, but there is a chair and a futon, as well as a television and a cozy electric fireplace. Of course, the futon makes out into a bed.
Our Homestead Cabin came with a set of bunk beds, perfect for my older teens to stay away from the loud roar of the 10–year-olds.
A separate bedroom allowed us to keep our door open to hear the boys should we be needed at night, but also get a little sleep! The room comes with a television, too.
The highlight for my son was the upstairs loft, with 2 full beds and plenty of room to add a couple of air mattresses!
4. RV Spaces
If you’re bringing an RV, be sure to check out the much larger, new spaces in the back of the park. You won’t be as close to the pools, but it’s really nice!
5. Tent Sites
I was really surprised how much I liked the camping sites, which are set far back from the highway, and have trees and surround one side of the scenic little fishing pond.
6. Swimming Pools
There are two swimming pools at the park, and both are included with your wrist band. I’m sure they are busy during the summer, but in mid-November, it was a little too chilly to swim, even though the pool is open year round and heated.
I was looking forward to sitting out in a hot tub, but neither were open during our stay.
7. Gaga Ball
The boys favorite activity was Gaga Ball! You don’t even need to bring a ball!
8. The Lost Maze
Surprisingly big and fun to navigate, I never actually made it all the way through, as I kept ending back at the entrance! There are some cute little surprises inside, too.
9. The Bouldering Wall
This is such a cool wall, if you know how to boulder. Unlike rock climbing, you aren’t strapped into a harness and climbing up and repelling down, it’s more of a horizontal climb across the length of the wall. My son loved it, but his friends were more interested in other things!
10. Tetherball and Sand Volleyball
With 4 tetherball balls, you never need to have a long wait to play! My kids love tetherball, and this is where my daughter and I hung out while the boys were playing GaGa Ball. For 10 year old boys, GaGa Ball > Tetherball, or pretty much everything but eating….
11. Fishing
All fishing is catch and release, but they have a nice fishing pier in the park!
12. Bring their Bikes
You can bring your own to ride around the park! My son had the best time riding his with his friends! Don’t forget your helmets!
13. Horseshoes, Giant Jenga and other games
They have them all, and the spent a couple hours just playing together! No electronics!
14. The Backyard Patio
One of the common areas at the park. During the day, the kids had fun playing giant Jenga and giant connect four. At dark the area was lit by twinkling lights, park employees lit the big fire for smores and from 7pm – 9pm, a dj played family friendly dance music. It was loud enough that we could hear it as background noise at our cabin, but not intrusive.
Check the park calendar. Some weekends they show a movie inside the Bears Den instead.
15. Hey, Hey, Hey Ride
A legend at Jellystone Parks is the tractor-pulled wagon ride, the Hey, Hey, Hey Ride. I’ll let you find out how it got it’s name!
16. Train Ride
The boys loved the train ride, which whisk them around the park over and over in little barrels, but they loved even more chasing it around the park on their bikes! Seriously!
17. Candy Bar Bingo
I think we did have to pay $1 for the bingo card, but it was SO much fun!
18. The Sandbox and Playground
They boys literally stayed at the sandbox building sandkingdoms until late at night, and I couldn’t believe that at 7am they were all awake and heading back out to play some more!
19. Firetruck Rides
Take a ride in their big vintage firetruck around the park!
20. Money, and all the other activities that cost extra!
With the exception of the Candy Bar Bingo, and of course the cabin rental, everything I listed above is included in the price of your visit! There weren’t any surprises, and I was able to budget for his special celebration!
There are activities that cost extra!
Paintball, Zombie Zone, and Laser Tag
Pirates Cove Waterpark
Open from early spring through the summer, it’s a terrific park and it seems like they add new activities each year!
Things to do in Burleson
Play
Buffalo Nickels Mini-Golf and Arcade offers fun games for only nickels! Click HERE to read more!
Old Town Burleson offers Ghost Tours every Friday and Saturday night! Click HERE for more information!
Mainstay Farms in Cleburne is a Christmas Tree Farm, right down the road from Jellystone Park, and offers seasonal activities from October through December. Click HERE to read more.
Eat
Visit Old Town Burleson, filled with fun restaurants and live music! We really like Old Texas Brewing Company! Click HERE to visit their website.
Lost Oak Winery offers fun family activities as well as live music and wine tastings. Click HERE to read more.
North Texas Jellystone Park
2301 S Burleson Blvd, Burleson
Click HERE to visit their website.
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!
Michelle
Having Fun in the TEXAS Sun is on PINTEREST! Use it as a quick resource to find activities in different Texas towns! Click HERE!
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