Wonderland Camp Review

Great place for special needs children to go and be themselves,

Amazing summer camp for all ages who have disabilities.

Great staff. Nice guys who run the boat rides. Clean and well stocked cabins. It was fun.

I freaking love this place! This is such an excellent choice for people with disabilities to go to!

My goddaughter went to it last summer and they love it.

Slow sign in and shortens camp time every year. Great opportunity

I'm Roy Mitchell dad and I never been there but our son is may 26-31 but I been looking at the pics and how far it's and that's good for our son to enjoy life

This is a great place for people with disabilities.

Been going for 7 years. It's in decline, smaller staff and becoming more and more unorganized each year! Sad because we really like this place!

Great place for those with challenges. Great staff. Beautiful setting at Lake of the Ozarks

This is my home away from home. I can't express how much this place means to so many people. Will always hold a special place in my heart

My sister has been going here for years. We absolutely love Wonderland Camp!

This place is great! The name says it all. If you are not aware, this is a "special needs" camp.

Best place.ever to be. I always enjoy the projects i do when im down here!!

Great place down in South Mo for disabled and handicapped individuals. A little expensive though

Love this place I worked there for summer in 2017 it is amazing the people are awesome it is fun place to hang out with people everybody is always happy and helpful

I will preface my review with my son is a disabled young man with autism and behavior problems.

We dropped our son off at camp this past Sunday at 3:40 PM. Everything seemed to be great and there were no problems. We had already filled out the paperwork, let them know about his medications, and answered fully any questions they had about his disabilities and behaviors. We then drove home (109 miles away).

We got home and unloaded our other children from the car, were about to eat dinner when we received a phone call from the head nurse at Wonderland Camp. The phone call went something like your son escalated, he head butted a kid, was pulling hair, biting, kicking, and hitting. We were pretty upset because he was so excited to go to camp when we dropped him off, and were confused about what had happened. They then proceeded to tell us that we were going to have to come and pick our son up. We asked if we could talk to him to see if we could calm him down, and were able to talk to him and get him calmed.

When we informed them that we lived 2.5 hours away they seemed a little distraught on what they were going to do with our son. We then asked if he had been given his medicine, and the head nurse, to whom we were talking to, did not know for sure. We then headed that way, and about 3 hours later picked our son up.

The last counselor that we talked to said after the incident our son got to hang out with him, and they had a great time. Playing, talking, and just doing what would normally happen at camp.

We then called two days later to see about a refund for the time that our son did not spend at camp. They said they have a no refund policy and would not be giving us our money back. Either us or our son s autism case worker asked for the funds to be used for a different week, maybe with some more support, or even a family type camp session. The director of the camp refused and said that our son would not be able to come back no matter what.

I know that our son did not do what was right, but I do have some issues with the way this was handled.

Issues:
1. The head nurse should know whether my son was given his medicine or not, or be able to find out quickly if it had been administered (we still do not have a definitive answer on this).
2. The website says they are all inclusive for every type of disability, but what the director told us when he was not willing to work with us is that, everyone is accepted except for our son s type . The type that they don t know how to handle.
3. I am not sure what type of training happens or is given to the volunteers or staff, but in a camp with kids with disabilities the issue should have been mitigated in a faster and less destructive manner.
4. If there are behaviors or issues they cannot handle they should weed through that during the interview process so that people don t waste their time and money in a place that is not suited for their family member.

I would not recommend this camp to families who have kids that have disabilities that may be considered severe or that may have some sort of behaviors. They obviously were not ready or prepared for a situation, and after the situation put our son to the curb essentially saying he is too much for us, you may not have your money to find someone that is suited for him, and we will not work with you to help find a solution . Please be aware of these issues and maybe second guess your decision to attend Wonderland Camp, your kid may be hurt and put out because of their disability as well.

This place has my heart. My son has been going here for more than 13 years now. It's a magical place where everyone gets to be themselves. And its fully accessible... even a treehouse that my son's wheelchair can roll on in.

My son enjoyed a great weekend camp here. Full disclosure: my daughter worked there summer here. She absolutely loves the campers.

My daughters have been going to this camp for years. It's a great camp for people with disabilities.

Amazing to work there and great way to help and make someone's day and summer a great summer!!! I love it at camp my favorite place to work!!

It's a beautiful camp that has a lot to offer; with many activities that are designed specifically to those who have special needs. No one is left behind. I volunteer every year as a Realtor to do the camp prep and cleanup. It's a wonderful place; hence it's name, Camp W!onderland

This is an incredible place for people who have disabilities. They are so compassionate and caring. We have 3 disabled girls there this week. They have been caring for disabled children and adults for 40 years or so. These people can have a week of neuro-typical life without being looked at as "strange" by others.

Excellent place love working there they treat employed great and it's clean atmosphere