Dreams Park Families

Participation in a Cooperstown Dreams Park Tournament can be the highlight of your young ballplayer's baseball career. In addition to explaining why you should stay at Beaver Valley, I offer a few tips to make the experience a little less stressful.

Why You Should Stay at Beaver Valley:

We have free Wi-Fi throughout the campground.

We really are less than 5 minutes from the Dreams Park. And we're less than 5 minutes to a grocery store, restaurants, fast food, pizza, Chinese take-out, ATM machine, small department store, mini-golf, etc. If you forget the sunblock or want to take a quick dip in the pool between games, you can just bop up the hill in no time.

We have a lot of recreational things to do for the whole family: heated & newly renovated pool, kiddie pool, timber playground, fenced preschool play area, basketball, tetherball, volleyball, game room, ping pong, paddle boat, row boat, bass fishing, fossil pit, protected beaver and heron habitat, walking paths, hikes through the woods, campfire rings.

We also have our own ballfields so if you don't get enough baseball at the Dreams Park you can always catch a game or two here! We run a baseball training camp for 2 weeks in July or August. If you have a ballplayer not participating in the tourney, you can sign him up for a day or a week of camp. (Visit http://www.CooperstownBaseball.com/training.htm)

We have room for the whole team. We have six 2- bedroom units and thirteen 1-bedroom units all with private bath and kitchen. Having a fully equipped kitchen can help save money on meals. Each unit also has a picnic table and a campfire ring.

If there are some families on a tight budget, we have rustic 1-room cabins for just $350 per week.

We also have campsites next to the Log Cabin Trailers in case some of your families own RVs. We also have secluded, wooded campsites in case you don't want to be near each other!! Some sites are right on the pond.

We are licensed to operate. A few years ago, the New York State Department of Health and County and local Code Enforcement Officials found over 60 accommodations properties operating illegally throughout the area. Violations included drinking water, septic, pool operations, fire safety, code violations, etc. It takes more to run an accommodation than just a pretty face.

We receive a year to year permit to operate as a campground, temporary residence and children's camp through the New York State Department of Health. We test our drinking water daily, our pool water 3 times a day. We have 3 surprise inspections throughout the season. All of our buildings and facilities are inspected by the Department of Health and the Otsego County Code Enforcement office before we are allowed to accept guests. The Otsego County Code Enforcement Office conducts a fire and safety inspection of our property once a year.

Not only are we inspected by governmental agencies, we are inspected and rated yearly by AAA and various camping and travel organizations.

Plan Early. Dreams Park confirmations usually go out at the beginning of October. Veteran Dreams Park families start calling for accommodations reservations right away. This is not a bad idea. If you wait too long, you may find yourself having to stay 30 minutes or more away from the fields.

We also understand that you need to check with other members of your team to see if people want to stay here. We can hold units for you for a couple of days while you check with the rest of the team.

If you are in charge of finding accommodations for your team, make sure each family calls us directly with any questions they may have. This way neither you nor I will get into trouble for not conveying correct information!

If you are a coordinator of a team that hasn't picked its players yet, you can call us and place units on hold. We will call you first if someone else wants to book them and you can decide then what you would like to do.

And if you find that the team can't get together and decide on one place, don't hold out too long. You may all end up staying at different places. Be sure your family is taken care of.

We accept reservations a year or more in advance.

Visitors. To make sure everyone is having a good time, we do not allow visitors. (We do make exceptions on an individual basis for grandparents, etc) We NEVER allow team parties. No Visitors Policy.

Spouses and Minor Children. Members of your immediate family that are staying in the barracks at the Dreams Park can come and go with you as you please. They are considered part of your family and not visitors. If there will be an additional car, please stop in the office for a car pass.

Quiet Hours: We strictly enforce our quiet hours. 10 PM - 8 AM
Please do not take this the wrong way: some families come to Cooperstown in a party-mode not caring who they upset as long as they're having a great time. We want everyone to have a great time. We do suggest that folks stay elsewhere if they don't think they can behave... Quiet Hour Policy

Team Parties. We have so many facilities and we're so close to the park, we ended up a big party place. We no longer allow team parties. If everyone from the team is staying here, you certainly can have a party! But if only one or two families are staying here, you cannot invite the rest of the families up for a barbecue or to go swimming.

If you want to bring the whole team swimming, Glimmerglass State Park, located north of Cooperstown on the East side of the lake, has lake swimming, lifeguards, snack bar, changing rooms, playing fields and sheltered picnic areas among other amenities. The State Park is well-equipped for large groups. Barnyard Swing Mini-golf (adjacent to the Dreams Park) also has a party area you can reserve.

Free Time. The teams usually play 2 games a day. This does not leave the players or the fans much free time, but you should be able to sign your child out from time to time. You can bring him/her here to swim or fish.

Weather. Evenings in Cooperstown can be quite chilly--even in July and August. Bring a light jacket and pants for yourself and pack warm clothes and a blanket for your ballplayer.

Cell Phones. The Cooperstown area has limited cell phone reception. Verizon has the best service. AT&T is not bad. Because we are in the hills, you may find some dead zones. Some cell phone companies have no towers in the Cooperstown area and you may not be able to use your cell phone at all. Check with your company before you arrive.

Length of Stay. Teams check in to the Dreams Park on Friday and Saturday. Closing ceremonies are Thursday night. Plan on spending the night Thursday and leaving Cooperstown on Friday. Most rentals in the area run from a Friday check in to a Friday check out. Some families think they might like to extend their stay beyond the tournament. My experience is that by the time Friday rolls around, you'll be pretty tired of being in Cooperstown. Cooperstown is a wonderful, beautiful place, but come Friday you'll be feeling like "there's no place like home..."