Oglebay Park
Oglebay Park
4
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
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4.0
1,014 reviews
Excellent
532
Very good
221
Average
118
Poor
74
Terrible
69
2XPERSEASONNDFAN
Youngstown, OH2 contributions
Aug 2020
We were a bit worried on the drive up to the resort as we traveled through a few unkempt neighborhoods. However, upon arrival, we were very pleased. The grounds are stunning - the property is massive and spectacular. We stayed in the Wilson lodge, the Kline side. Yes, the rooms were a bit on the older side and showed wear and tear but they were sufficient as we spent very little time in the room and don't need many amenities. I traveled with my 13 year old son and he had a blast. We took advantage of several zoo encounters and my son was able to hand feed kangaroos and wallabies, several bird species as well as prepare food for the animals, take a guided tour of the zoo and learn about the animals from an experienced guide. It was fantastic. The zoo is very impressive and has enough variety to enjoy.
We were looking forward to the aerial obstacle course but learned on Monday that the course would be closed until Friday since the college kids working the attraction had to go back to school. We were disappointed so I sent an e mail to the resort and the operations manager, Mike Potts, responded with an offer to open the attraction at a time that was convenient for us and staff the course so we could utilize it. This was way above and beyond our expectations. My son was able to do all the course for over an hour and even had an experienced course employee help him navigate and conquer the obstacles he was apprehensive to tackle on his own. Todd was his name and he was very encouraging and helpful to my son. Also, a operations supervisor names Tyler was also part of this arrangement as he fitted us with the equipment and oversaw the course while we climbed.
We ate several meals at the resort and being a former chef, I was impressed with the quality of the food. The selections were enough for both of us to choose from in each venue.
There are many pleasant and helpful employees we encountered during our stay.
A highlight for my son was hand feeding and petting the deer that came from the woods each night to feed - it seems they are used to people feeding them and it is a nightly ritual. My son loved this and I was in awe of how many deer actually came up and would eat from our hands. Truly amazing - not sure where else you can do this outside of a petting zoo. These deer were wild, living in the woods. Awesome.
Overall, we loved this place. We swam in the pool at Crispan, rode the Swan boats, kayaks, played mini golf, toured the zoo, climbed the obstacle course, watched the movies at night and had a blast!!
We vowed to return each season of the year to try all the activities offered in different seasons and promised to make an annual journey to the resort as father and son. What a great ending to a wonderful week.
We were looking forward to the aerial obstacle course but learned on Monday that the course would be closed until Friday since the college kids working the attraction had to go back to school. We were disappointed so I sent an e mail to the resort and the operations manager, Mike Potts, responded with an offer to open the attraction at a time that was convenient for us and staff the course so we could utilize it. This was way above and beyond our expectations. My son was able to do all the course for over an hour and even had an experienced course employee help him navigate and conquer the obstacles he was apprehensive to tackle on his own. Todd was his name and he was very encouraging and helpful to my son. Also, a operations supervisor names Tyler was also part of this arrangement as he fitted us with the equipment and oversaw the course while we climbed.
We ate several meals at the resort and being a former chef, I was impressed with the quality of the food. The selections were enough for both of us to choose from in each venue.
There are many pleasant and helpful employees we encountered during our stay.
A highlight for my son was hand feeding and petting the deer that came from the woods each night to feed - it seems they are used to people feeding them and it is a nightly ritual. My son loved this and I was in awe of how many deer actually came up and would eat from our hands. Truly amazing - not sure where else you can do this outside of a petting zoo. These deer were wild, living in the woods. Awesome.
Overall, we loved this place. We swam in the pool at Crispan, rode the Swan boats, kayaks, played mini golf, toured the zoo, climbed the obstacle course, watched the movies at night and had a blast!!
We vowed to return each season of the year to try all the activities offered in different seasons and promised to make an annual journey to the resort as father and son. What a great ending to a wonderful week.
Written August 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tallinn20
Washington DC, DC87 contributions
Dec 2020
My children and I were visiting from Northern Virgnia area and decided to visit Christmas light show. I had heard over the years how amazing it is. The entry price was 25.00 per car which is a little high, but we figured its just a one time thing. However, the line to enter the park was ridiculously long and because it is so spread out, they really couldn't pay too much attention to detail on some of the light displays. It was nice and I'm glad we tried it, but comparing it to the drive through shows at Seneca Creek state park in Gaithersburg ($12 weekday/$17 weekend) it was not as nice. Or even better yet, the walk though light show in Vienna VA at Meadowlark Gardens is phenomenal! I have never been to a more beautiful light show that the Meadowlark Gardens show.
Written December 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nikkielynn07
Johnstown, PA654 contributions
May 2022
My husband and I came here for the Backyard BBQ festival and concert (the Clarks & Gin Blossoms). We arrived early in the day and played the Par 3 golf course (I do not recommend- the course is in poor condition, its extremely hilly, and the scorecard shows 18 holes but there were only 9). We drove over to where the festival was and decided to come back later to have dinner right before the concert and then go to the concert. When we arrived later on, the parking attendants directed us to a lot near the festival but when we got there it was full so we had to park near the Wilson Lodge and walk to the festival (they said there was a bus that could take us there but it wasn't around at the time). When we finally got there, the lines for the BBQ trucks were each 20+ people deep and everywhere was running out of food. We managed to get some $5 mac and cheese for dinner because everything was sold out. That was extremely poor planning on Oglebay's part. Did they not realize people were going to come and eat right before the concert? We waited to get in to the "outside concert venue" with a bunch of drunk and hungry people, then waited in a line to get an extremely overpriced pretzel, popcorn, and beer. The port-a-john line was 20+ people deep and you can only imagine what they were like inside after all of the drunk people used them. Luckily, the concert was really good and we sat up close in our lawn chairs. Walking back to the car in the dark on the narrow roads of the resort was a ton of fun trying to dodge all of the traffic. While the concert was great, I would not come to this venue for one again!
Written June 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike Z
2 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
Stayed in a 4-bedroom cabin. It was in need of repairs: None of the windows could be opened because the cranks were broken. The tabletops were disgustingly sticky even after cleaning. Mattresses need replaced. They are worn out. Bathroom 2 needs a shower wall facelift. Regarding Oglebay barbecue restaurant: they ran out of food for most menu items by 6:00PM on BOTH Friday & Saturday.
Written October 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Racer70
Lithopolis, OH215 contributions
Jul 2020
We visited Oglebay on July 9-11, 2020 and it was fantastic. We stayed in the West Wing of Wilson Lodge. Our room had 2 queen beds, a chair, desk and had a small outdoor patio. A small wet bar, refrigerator and flat screen TV were also in the room. The room itself and bathroom were very clean.
We enjoyed the outdoor pool, which was great. It was easy to social distance at the pool as most people were considerate. We did putt-putt golf, the aerial challenge course and the zoo.
We also enjoyed walking the many paved walkways that go throughout the Oglebay property. Of course, the baby deer and their momma's were everywhere. You get so used to seeing deer on the property, it's not a big deal when you see one.
We had breakfast each morning in the Ihlenfeld Dining room as part of our package. The buffet style breakfast was good. You tell them what you want and they place it on a plate for you. We ate dinner in the Glassworks Grill and at the Route 88 Barbeque. The food each night was good.
Overall, our stay was great. Just what we needed to unplug for a few days. Oglebay staff takes Covid 19 seriously and each staff member wears masks and they require guests to also wear masks while inside the lodge. They try their best to social distance and place people at tables away from others. I won't hesitate to stay again at Oglebay.
We enjoyed the outdoor pool, which was great. It was easy to social distance at the pool as most people were considerate. We did putt-putt golf, the aerial challenge course and the zoo.
We also enjoyed walking the many paved walkways that go throughout the Oglebay property. Of course, the baby deer and their momma's were everywhere. You get so used to seeing deer on the property, it's not a big deal when you see one.
We had breakfast each morning in the Ihlenfeld Dining room as part of our package. The buffet style breakfast was good. You tell them what you want and they place it on a plate for you. We ate dinner in the Glassworks Grill and at the Route 88 Barbeque. The food each night was good.
Overall, our stay was great. Just what we needed to unplug for a few days. Oglebay staff takes Covid 19 seriously and each staff member wears masks and they require guests to also wear masks while inside the lodge. They try their best to social distance and place people at tables away from others. I won't hesitate to stay again at Oglebay.
Written July 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ellen804207
Johnstown, PA147 contributions
Nov 2019
We've been coming here as a family for about 21 yrs. We love all the light displays, the Good Zoo, the laser show. They seem to be adding on with different things. We did the train ride and the tractor ride. We loved them. Idk why people complain about paying $25 for a pass you can use all season long. It's not required to pay that amount. You can see so many deer hanging around the lights . I have seen people try to pet them i myself would not recommend that but that's just me. I consider this place a treasure even though we have to drive over 2 hours to get here, it's well worth it.
Written January 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
K P
Salt Lake City, UT60 contributions
Jul 2020
We visited as out of town guest the first week in July for 3 days/2 nights. It was the first time for me but not for the spouse. He had remembered going as a kid and how much fun it was. It was not a disappointment and brought back so many memories as a kid for him. We stayed in the newer West wing with two queens and a balcony. This was great because we were just inside the doors that were half way down the wing, this made for easy in and out access, rather than having to enter through the lobby. We were able to hang our wet towels over the chairs on the balcony each night. We had daily breakfast at the Ihlenfeld Dining room which was part of the package and very convenient. There were plenty of options for everyone (pancakes, sausage, eggs, yogurt parfaits, potatoes, cereal, etc.).
As far as activities, we were able to do the paddle boats (Swan-seats 4), canoe, zoo (took about 1-2 hours to walk it and train ride), and swimming (great that half the pool was 3ft or less). We went to both pools (on site and the Wheeling park). Both were busy but neither felt too full that you weren't able to distance. Other than breakfast we did not eat on site, we wanted to enjoy the restaurants in the city, but note everything in the city seemed to close by 8:00 pm, even the Arby's.
There was a small gift shop on site and three places to dine. We are not golfers so 2 days was plenty of time for us to do everything that we wanted to. The staff was great and everyone was pleasant. We would go again as we enjoyed out stay. The only negative thing I'd say was the air conditioner/swamp cooler in the room was pretty loud (water seemed to run through it a lot) which if your a light sleeper may bother you. We tried to sleep with it off but it just got to hot.
As far as activities, we were able to do the paddle boats (Swan-seats 4), canoe, zoo (took about 1-2 hours to walk it and train ride), and swimming (great that half the pool was 3ft or less). We went to both pools (on site and the Wheeling park). Both were busy but neither felt too full that you weren't able to distance. Other than breakfast we did not eat on site, we wanted to enjoy the restaurants in the city, but note everything in the city seemed to close by 8:00 pm, even the Arby's.
There was a small gift shop on site and three places to dine. We are not golfers so 2 days was plenty of time for us to do everything that we wanted to. The staff was great and everyone was pleasant. We would go again as we enjoyed out stay. The only negative thing I'd say was the air conditioner/swamp cooler in the room was pretty loud (water seemed to run through it a lot) which if your a light sleeper may bother you. We tried to sleep with it off but it just got to hot.
Written August 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kristy8308
7 contributions
Nov 2021 • Couples
for our wedding anniversary. We had an amazing time. Everything was beautiful. The holiday displays in the lodge made it feel like we were in a Hallmark Movie. We loved exploring the grounds and the live music in the evenings in the lodge. November is the perfect time to see the trees changing colors.. The first night we ate at Glassworks Grill it was great. The second night we were excited to try Ihlenfeld, what a disappointment! the restaurants are connected so not sure how it was so terrible. We payed way too much money for cold steaks and cold hard baked potatoes. They were not crowded and it took forever for our food to come. When it did we were sadly disappointed we went there for our anniversary dinner. Do not waste your money! We also enjoyed sitting at the Glassworks Bar in the evenings. There was a diverse crowd. Overall. we had an amazing time and highly recommend you staying at Oglebay. We plan to go back with our young children this
Written November 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
William S
Cincinnati, OH9 contributions
Aug 2019
We took our entire family (children and grandchildren) to Oglebay. We rented a large cabin which housed everyone comfortably. The cabin had 7 bedrooms and 8 baths. There were 2 refrigerators and 2 dishwashers. The park had a large zoo, 4 golf courses (2 championship), large swimming pool, outdoor theater, several dining options and an incredible game room. There was horseback riding, mountain hiking, tennis, and many other venues too numerous to mention. There were smaller cabins and also lodge rooms depending on the size of your group. The staff were very friendly and we had a great time. Also, we live in Cincinnati so it was less than a 4-hour drive just off I-70.
Written April 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark C
South Point, OH35 contributions
Jan 2023 • Couples
I went to this light show as a kid. My wife had never been to see the lights. So we traveled 4 hours stayed at a hotel to see the lights. We’ll after 20 minutes of driving thru the lights it was all over. This was the biggest waste of time to drive 4 hours to see a pathetic light display. Not to mention they want you to pay $30 dollars. Where does all that money go? We have a dozen different light displays back home that blow this out of the water. They offer double the light display and it’s all FREE. The light show in Gallipolis Ohio was actually on the today show, the light show in Ashland, KY Central Park is awesome and has twice as many lights as Oglebay, the light show in ST. Albans WV it’s called the St. Albans Festival of Lights. It’s ran all by volunteers and they have people all thru out the display making sure you stay on the right track, oh and they don’t (suggest) a certain amount for your donation. They simply say it’s all performed by volunteers and any donation helps us make the display better. So to wrap this up….. DON’T waste your time and money on going to Oglebay Festival of Lights it’s not worth it.
Written January 8, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Coastal29117642270
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
When u stay over Nite r dinners included
Written January 12, 2021
The crowd depends more on the day of the week & time you go. It will still be busy after Christmas, especially on Friday & Saturday nights. The best bet is to get there early (around 5) or later (around 8:30) and go during the week, if possible.
There is a walking portion you can do that is near the beginning but the rest is in your car.
Written December 28, 2020
u give a donation; then u get in the park ; u can also set your radio station to the ogleby park channel and have your drive themed with sounds of the season!
Written November 29, 2018
That's a tough one to answer. I would say its several miles and spread out and it really depends on how much traffic. Sometimes, depending on what day of the week you go or how close to Christmas, it can be heavy traffic and take 45+ min. I've gone on a weeknight and been through in 30.
Written January 17, 2018
Can I buy a pass only to see the lights ,do not buy a package for Oglebay resort?
Written December 3, 2017
Yes I believe they charge $20 a car to drive thru the lights. If u stay at resort u get a pass included with your stay. Make sure if u do not stay at resort u go to Wilson lodge and walk thru it. It is beautifully decorated and u can get a bite to eat in the bar/ restaurant with your family and walk around the lodge and enjoy all the decorations inside.
Written December 3, 2017
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