Stephanie I.
Yelp
My family just returned from spring break at the Ranch (Mom 45, Dad 43, big brother 12, little brother 10) and we had an absolute BLAST! I'll be honest, with all the amazing reviews, I was worried that I would get my hopes up about how great it would be and then the reality would let me down in some way, but that was absolutely not the case! This place is 100% what you read in the reviews.
We stayed in a Family Suite (#9) and it was adorable, western themed, with plenty of space, a nice bathroom, closet for hanging clothes and drawers for other clothes. The patio ended up being my favorite place in the mornings and during what little down time we had. I kept hearing the staff (which are all so nice and helpful) mention they were almost at capacity....and I kept looking around trying to figure out where all the people were! Even though it was spring break and they were almost fully booked, it did not feel that way at all. I learned that their "fully booked" is about 150 people, which is not crowded at all. There were families with kids, extended family groups with grandparents to kids down to ages 3-4, couples of all ages (saw some in their 20's and some in their 80's) and a group of ladies on a "cowgirl" trip. So there is no "appropriate" age for this place. There is something for everyone!
Food- my husband and I were skeptical about how good the food would be at an all-inclusive and we were pleasantly surprised! The food was great!! Lots of variety (for my picky 12 year old). We ate breakfast and dinner outside on the pretty patio, but had lunch inside to have some AC for a bit. There is water, tea and lemonade any time you want it and the beer, wine, sodas are in the bar area. It is not included in the price, but you just go get what you want and write basically an "IOU" and put it in the box. They add it to your bill at the end. Neat system and super easy.
Activities- where do I begin?? We did almost everything and had a ball!! We were never bored. If we had an hour break between activities, it is easy enough to go change and hit the pool for 45 minutes or the kids would run to the activity room to play pool or ping pong. Our family ended up LOVING the e-bikes! My 10-year-old was just a *tad* too short, but they have smaller/older bikes and once he showed that he could handle the bike by himself (start/stop/not fall over), he was fine to do the rides. Super, super fun!
Rock climbing was another favorite. Wade was awesome! So nice and helpful. We all had fun pushing ourselves and cheering each other on.
Obviously horseback riding was fun! We did one slow ride, but then were ready to pick it up a bit and the fast rides were more our speed. You are on the same horse all week so you really start to get to know their personalities. The team penning was really fun and even though we sucked at it (ha!) we had fun working together as a family.
Archery was great (take water, it gets hot out there with no shade).
Shooting was surprisingly fun too!
The nightly shows/activities were great! The kids held snakes and a tarantula one night, then the next we were all painting pictures of a cactus at an art class. The variety is great! Loop Rawlins show was SO good and entertaining!!
The pool/hot tub was great and never crowded. It was nice to go relax and cool off in between activities.
Weather- we went in April, which was perfect! 65-70 in the morning then 90's during the day, but with no humidity, it honestly didn't feel super hot, except maybe the 2-4 pm timeframe. The shade was amazing because there was always a breeze. Night would cool off as soon as the sun went down, but dinners on the patio were perfect in sleeveless. I'd end up putting on a jacket around 8:00, but I'm cold natured.
Suggestions- Be on time for meals. Not that the line gets that long, but just so that you have enough time to eat and digest some before your next activity.
Look over the paper copy of the activities at night before bed (take a highlighter) and plan what you want to sign up for the night before. Then be on the app right at 7:00 a.m. to make sure you get the activities you want. There is enough variety and options that you will end up doing everything you want to do, but some did book up quickly.
Take Advil- we don't have much experience riding horses so we were a little sore from using muscles that we don't usually use. Advil was helpful since it was such an active trip.
The ONLY negative that I have is that the coffee wasn't ready until 7:30 when breakfast starts. Would have been nice to be able to go up and get a cup when I first woke up, but seriously, that is the ONLY negative thing I can think of!!
I can now understand why so many people go back more than one time. It was truly such a fun week for me and my family! If you are looking for "something different" and you want to get outside and just have FUN, this is absolutely the place for you!