where to start with Bingeman's.....
we have camped there twice, the first time was in 2000, when DS was a baby, and DD was a toddler. When we booked, I made a point of asking for a site that was grass, since DS was crawling, and near the washroom, since DD was training. I also mentioned that we were in a very large 4 room tent, and asked about a larger site. When we arrived, we were put on a very small, very sandy site in the trees, with no washroom within a 4-5 minute walk. I returned, and requested a new site, repeating our issues. We were placed on a grass site, and told we would be across from washroom facilities (a porta-potty).
In 2005, we tried there again, this time taking our tent trailer. We requested the corner site, in the lower level, close to the newer washroom. We were placed in the upper level, across from the camping cabins. When we parked the trailer, the people in the site beside us were packing up quickly in the mid-afternoon, and we soon found out why. The site across from us was covered in tents, with a large tarp connecting them. Both sides of the road were lined with cars, and as soon as the neighbouring site emptied, it became a parking lot. We were blessed with Beattles' music, in an unknown language, from 10am-midnight. When we complained about not being able to even get our vehicle onto our site, due to parked cars, we were told the cabin was booked for the weekend for a family gathering, and there was no limit to tents on a site in that area.
The second morning, I took my DS (5) to the washroom for a shower. We walked in to find a disgusting mess. There was garbage everywhere, and dirty clothes hanging off the sinks. We entered the shower area, to find a graduating pool of other people's shower water, since it was open under each stall, and the water ran down from left to right to a clogged drain. We decided to wait until they were cleaned. I returned a couple hours later, to use a toilet stall, to find that 3 of 5 were clogged, and the other two were filthy with no paper. I went to the desk (for the third time) to complain, and was told they were very busy, but would get to it. That night was as bad as the first, and there was no change to the facilities.
The next morning, we complained again, and gave up, deciding to shower by the water park, and enjoy our day there. The water park was great, and very clean, and the staff were excellent. We did the bumper boats (a tad dirty), batting cages, arcade, and kids area. Unfortunately, we had to return to the campground. Our last night, I went to the washrooms, and quickly decided to drive back down to the waterpark facilities, where I felt I had less chance of disease. After dodging a skunk that was running from site to site, enjoying the garbage that hadn't been picked up all weekend, we turned in early, to enjoy the Beattles' music as we attempted to sleep. The next morning, before we left, we went to the washrroms, and saw that the same face cloth was laying in the same spot on the floor, and the garbage still had dirty diapers hanging out of the can.
When we got home, we contacted the Manager, and received a voucher for a free night of camping. His advice.....don't stay in the area by the driving range, it tends to be filled by partiers, since there is no limits there, stay by the newer washroom (in the prefered sites). We never redeemed our coupon. The water park was great, and they definitely put alot of money into that area and the go-carts. The campground was disgusting at best.
Bingeman park is great!
