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My 12 year-old son’s baseball team is heading to Cooperstown Dreams Park this summer. Originally, we weren’t going to go, as we already had a trip planned that week. However, knowing this is a one-time experience (you can only go when you play 12U baseball), we switched some things around so he could go.

What that means, though, is that I’m planning this trip very last minute! From what I have read, most people try to plan their trip 9-12 months in advance. I am working at a “2 months in advance” pace. I am having to learn things very quickly, and there seems to be a good bit of things I need to do/get before we head that way.

Here are some tips to pass onto you, if you’re in my situation and trying to plan a trip there very quickly!

Things I learned:

Being a complete newbie to anything dealing with Cooperstown, let me share some things I learned. First of all, I didn’t realize the kids stay in the bunks at the park… it’s basically a 6 night camp. That means that, as a parent, your child won’t be staying with you. This surprised me, as I’m the only one taking him… so I needed to get hotels/rooms for just me! You can check your child out from the camp and go out to eat, or visit the Baseball Hall of Fame… but otherwise, the boys will spend their days on site.

Once you send the $1,295 (cost for 2025) money order to the Dreams Park address, they will email you information on how to sign your child up with his team. You’ll create a personal account for your child, and it will ask you a bunch of questions about you and your child. There are a lot of documents you have to upload, including insurance information, immunization records, and a camper examination form that a doctor, PA or nurse practitioner has to fill out. Yes, I had to schedule an additional appointment to have this filled out! They do try to accommodate food allergies, which is nice.

From my understanding, the boys play 1 game per day, and it is free to park and enter the park to watch your child play. I was told there are parent dugouts where the parents can sit in the shade. You can also sit in the outfield, but there won’t be any shade. I was told to invest in handheld fans!

As for the bunks, a fitted sheet is provided for the bunk bed, though I have read that it is more like a plastic mattress cover. You’re supposed to bring a blanket/sleeping bag and a pillow and pillowcase. AC units were added to the bunks in 2025, but knowing it would still be hot, I opted for a lightweight sleeping bag… kind of like sheets with a zipper. This is what I purchased for him from Amazon. It’s actually supposed to be a sleeping bag sheets liner, but a lot of people in the reviews said they use it as a sleeping bag in a warm setting. If you’d rather bring sheets, you can purchase these highly-rated twin sheets from Amazon! I also got my son a rechargeable portable fan that he could put on his bunk to cool him off more closely.

Cost:

As mentioned above, it cost $1,295 in 2025 for my son to go. That price includes lodging, food, partial uniforms, warm-up gear, 24-hour medical staff, laundry, and all games.

Getting there:

Cooperstown, NY is located mid-way up NY, towards the eastern side of the state. Without traffic, it’s about an hour from Albany, 1.5 hours from Syracuse, 4 hours from NYC, and 3 hours from Buffalo.

If you’re close enough to drive, or plan to make it a road trip, there would be many benefits to that. You could take all of your son’s baseball gear very easily, and you can arrive and leave the camp when it’s convenient for you. Since we are in Georgia and it would be a 14-15 hour car trip, we are going to fly.

Albany would be the most ideal airport to fly into, with Syracuse being the next closest. Unfortunately for us, the flights were few and far between to Albany and Syracuse (since I’m looking only 2 months out), and the ones they had were bad times and were jacked up in price. I was able to find a very good deal ($180 round trip per person on Delta with taxes and fees!) flying in and out of Buffalo. I’m going to rent a car and we will make the best of the 3 hour drive to the park.

Rental cars for the week aren’t cheap. I found the best rental car deals on Hotwire or Priceline. I was able to rent a small SUV (like a Ford Edge) for a weekly price of $444 (including taxes).

We plan to do a couple of fun things with our drive, including checking out Syracuse University on the way there, and seeing Niagara Falls on the way back!

Where to Stay:

There are a few hotels in Cooperstown that were either sold out or jacked way up in pricing by the time I was looking. I am staying in a hotel in Oneonta, NY, which is about a 20 minute drive to the Dreams Park. I looked on AirBnB and VRBO, too, and there were many options with decent deals, but none really suited for just one person. Cooperstown is right by Ostego Lake, so there are many housing options available on the lake.

Pins:

From what I have heard, pin trading is one of the most exciting things the kids do. They bring pins that represent them (ex: from your state) and then they trade pins with other campers, coaches, and umpires. You can purchase pins on Amazon- here is a set of 60 more generic ones. We purchased a pin holder book from Amazon so he could keep his in a safe spot.

Laundry:

The coaches will wash the boys’ uniforms each day. It was recommended to use clothing labels to put your son’s name inside his uniform, socks, underwear, etc. I purchased these labels from Amazon. They are no-iron and the reviews say the labels stay on great while being washed and dried.

It was recommended to me to purchase some over-the-door hooks that will fit over the bunk bed sides, to hang things like towels or clothes that are wet.

That’s It… For Now!

I will update this with any other information that I learn before our trip there in July! Best of luck with planning your trip to Cooperstown!