Most of our Navitat guests aren’t shy about sharing their opinions, and we love the feedback! Our Facebook Page is one great place to check out guest comments. Guests also sometimes choose to complete one of our exit surveys at the reception desk after their tour. In addition to sharing great general info with us, these surveys help us capture guests’ thoughts just after their tour experience.
Here are just a few of our favorites!
“I smiled so much my cheeks hurt!” – JoAnn Fekany, August 7
“Weather was rainy (beautiful!) The whole experience was GREAT! Loved the rain forest effect. The guides were very knowledgeable and helpful. Fun and very safe!” – Tony, May 31
“I felt like I was flying!” – Erin Biggs, August 13
“Not only was this trip a one of a kind experience, your guides David and Jeff were informative and explained the habitat and some of the company’s history – they were above excellent! I can honestly say that everything we did was fantastic! Your people absolutely made the difference!! When someone loves what they do, it shows!” – John MacIntyre, June 7
“A great variety of activities and being in the forest: climbing ladders, rappeling, zipping, it was a zippy-dee-doo-dah time!” – Jonathan Sleger, June 14
“It was all great – right up there as the best adventure of my life!” – Jan Wilcox, June 5
Have you experienced a Navitat adventure with us? Tell us about your experience by commenting on this blog or posting on our Facebook page!
Without our local community and guests, Navitat wouldn’t exist. One of our main goals is to help people appreciate the natural beauty in our area. Sometimes, those of us who live here can become accustomed to seeing the things we see every day; it’s easy to lose sight of the beauty around us when it becomes somewhat ordinary. Navitat allows folks (yes, even us locals) to look around and see things through new eyes.
When we get a lot of local groups, families or local organizations, we strive to instill in them a revived thrill and appreciation for the place we get to live in. It’s an amazing environment, with so much see and enjoy. Part of our hope is always to urge locals to appreciate the land and nature that we’re lucky enough to inhabit.
We’ve also booked some college groups who will be coming out for their orientation, and we’re excited to share the beauty of their new home with them. Navitat’s canopy tours are a great way for them to experience team building and also to see their new area from a unique point of view.
Navitat has something for everyone, whether you’re 15 or 75. Sounds hard to believe, but it’s true. 15-year-olds and 75-year-olds can both easily enjoy our canopy tour adventure. Of course, they’re likely to appreciate different things about the experience, but that’s to be expected.
We’ve noticed a few things about the teenagers that participate in canopy tours with their families, and their favorite part of the adventure is clear. They love to see Mom or Dad let loose and do something they wouldn’t normally expect them to do! For the thrill-seeking aspect of it, most teenagers would be ready to do the tours on their own, and not expect Mom and Dad to join in. Navitat couples the thrills with lots of education and interesting facts about the area, which often appeals more to the parents than the kids. Combined, though, you’ve got an amazing family experience that everyone can appreciate.
Young professionals appreciate the tour for a much different reason. Many of them appear on dates, or in small groups, and 99% of them note that they consider Navitat to be a good value for the money spent. After all, our canopy tours are way more than just a thrill-ride, though there are some thrills involved. It’s a half-day adventure, a comprehensive educational and environmental experience. It’s easy to add a meal or a stop in a near-by town and make an entire day out of the Navitat experience.
Empty-nesters on the tour may appreciate it more than any other group. It’s almost as if they’re out to reclaim their lives! Asheville is known as a great location for active, early retirees, but even for them, this activity is somewhat out of the box. It’s a thrill to them to do something so new, so exciting, that allows them to see the world in a different way. One couple recently marked their 50th anniversary with us, and we were excited to watch them come alive with the experience. This group puts our guide staff to work with questions about everything, including how the course is constructed and more. Finally, when they realize how seriously we at Navitat take the experience, they’re able to realize they’re in good hands and relax, let go, and enjoy the ride.
So far, we’ve been really lucky to have had great weather at Navitat during our first year. To us, that doesn’t mean a completely dry season; since our tours go on rain or shine, we don’t judge the weather based on a little water. Instead, it takes lightening or high winds to qualify as bad weather and have us shut down a tour.
Sometimes, people are surprised that we’ll still take tours out during the rain. At this time of year, we’re not getting cold, driving rains that last all afternoon. Instead, we might get a few showers of pleasantly cool rain that feel refreshing compared to the heat of the day. We always tell people to dress for the current weather, but bring a few changes of clothes and other options in the car with them. You never know when the weather might change, or be totally different in two locations as close as Asheville and Moody Cove.
When it’s raining, most of us sit inside. If our goal at Navitat is to help people experience nature in new and different ways, then getting out in the rain is a great way to experience something new and view nature through a new lens. Watching the smiles on the faces of guests who have joined us on rainy days proves that zipping Navitat is certainly worth experiencing in (almost) all types of weather.
Since Navitat opened this spring, we’ve been surprised by a few things.
The first is the relative quiet. Even with as many as 200 guests per day, Moody Cove is still the peaceful place we wanted it to be. We’re relieved! As much as we appreciate nature, we didn’t want herds of people trampling the area and disrupting the natural solitude of the space. Instead, we were thrilled to realize that the guests we bring into the area are nature lovers too, and appreciate the area and unique sights we’re able to show them. We do attract a lot of people, but we’ve managed to maintain the mountain serenity, too.
The second surprise is how amazing our staff is! We expected them to be qualified and competent, of course. But, we’ve been blown away by how educated, fun – and passionate they are! We have people with master’s degrees who have chosen to make their living with us in order to spend their time out in nature everyday, and that’s just one example. Each and every member of our staff feels the same passion we do about the outdoors, about sharing our enthusiasm for nature. It’s been totally overwhelming and thrilling to see that the staff echoes what Navitat is trying to do.
At Navitat, our staff is in the unique position of observing guests as they experience something life-changing. While the canopy tour means something different to everyone, many people find that it gives them a chance to stretch their personal boundaries and test their own limits.
For those of us in the Welcome Center, we see these guests as they first arrive, and chat with them to take their minds off their jangling nerves. As they head out with the guides, still nervous about taking part in an activity they aren’t 100% sure about, and thought they’d never consider, we smile and urge them to have fun.
By the time they return to the Welcome Center, they have a changed demeanor. It’s really cool to see how they’ve faced the challenge in front of them, stretched past their comfort zones and lived it up on the canopy tour! It’s rewarding to know that Navitat helped them do that, and it gives us a great feeling of pride. We’re lucky to experience this with our guests almost daily.
Nature-lovers live for Fall. The crisp air and brightly colored leaves adding bursts of color to the sky are addicting, and we just can’t get enough. Can you imagine the views as you’re soaring above the treetops, high over the ground? Rich reds, vibrant oranges, sunshine yellows and a few healthy greens will be displayed in a brand new way with our canopy tours.
Navitat opened this Spring, so none of us here have experienced the Fall canopy tour views yet, and to say we’re looking forward to it would be an understatement. We’re as excited as our guests are! Actually, we’re expecting quite a few repeat visitors this Fall. After enjoying the canopy tour earlier in the year, many of them booked their second visits to coincide with the changing leaves. At the beginning of August, we’ve already got bookings well into October, which just shows how excited people are for Leaf Season.
People are going to be impressed and thrilled to see the gorgeous leaves up close and in a new way, not to mention the beautiful and colorful long-range views!
And the mascot finally has a name! We recently announced the winner of Navitat’s mascot naming contest, and the honor went to Donna S. Cishek of Arden, N.C. Over 500 people entered, but Donna’s name was too cute to resist. So, without further ado, please welcome our mascot, Chester A. Corn!
For her winning suggestion, Donna will receive a canopy adventure for four and said she plans to make it a family affair by bringing along her daughter, her sister and her niece.
“We’re so excited that our name won,” said Donna. “I’ve bungee-jumped before, but never done zip-lining. It looks like so much fun. And we just love the outdoors.”
Have you experienced a Navitat adventure with us? Tell us about your experience by commenting on this blog or posting on our Facebook page!
