Keep in mind theres a third indoor water park resort in the Poconos: Camelback Mountain Resort. The distance between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a mere 7 miles. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. Kalahari was definitely newer and nicer but also more expensive. Two of the biggest and best (and among the industry's early pioneers) are in the water park capital of the world, Wisconsin Dells: Kalahari at 125,000 square feet and Chula Vista at 110,000 square feet . For our Wednesday June 26th, 2019 stay @ Kalahari the cost of our room was $249.99 with taxes & fees amounting to $66.09, bringing the total to $316.08. You could definitely capture everything this place has to offer in 2-3 days. I'm going to breakdown each part of the resort that we visited and give you the key points:CHECK IN/ROOM - We checked in with Kassi at 12 noon and were happy to hear our room was ready. Then to get to the lower level you have to take the stairs. We did not rent any of the cabanas that were located throughout. The outdoor small kids area with slides was a nice addition to the park however my daughter who is 53" tall was not allowed to go on them. The smell permeated EVERYTHING to the point of needing to open the door to air it out. A side-by-side comparison of Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelback's Aquatopia by size, # of slides, room pricing, activities, hours of operation and many more metrics to help you select the BEST water park for your family vacation! Standard rooms in both hotels come with two queen beds, a pull-out sofa bed, and a small table with chairs. Aspiring super-mom - who is still anxiously awaiting the arrival of her homemaker skills & superpowers of organization to arrive from Amazon Prime. I can't honestly say that anything bit me in the room, we may have been bitten while we were sleeping, or in all the time we were forced to spend on the patio because of the smell.The resort was fine, but I'd avoid this "upgraded suite". The rides for the kids are great, it is an entired water playground for toddlers with amazing water slides! Arrive as a family and leave as a pack at Great Wolf Lodge. African photos, statues, pictures, all kinds of things that mentally transport you to another world. Adventure Update # 040: Toilet Seat Police! My husband was brave enough to continue exploring as I sat out on the ground level patio. Im pleased to hear that you enjoyed the various sections of the waterpark. The only other complaint I have is that we came home with a number of bites. Not only are the room prices significantly cheaper during the week for all 3 waterparks but the resorts are a lot less crowded as well! The employees at Great Wolf are s. I worked at Great Wolf Lodge for a year, and I have been to Kalahari before. On the lower level by the entrance for the water park, there is a pizza place with some tables in the lower lobby area. My son went to the prime rib carving station several times but the chef continued to serve him meat with chunks of fat on it - so he gave up. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. Mother to 4 wonderful children, wife to one witty, but extremely nerdy husband. Hi there! Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. The NACHOS did not disappoint. Likewise the lobby is magnificent! Likewise the lobby is magnificent! For the size of the main lobby, it is the same order with Great Wolf Lodges lobby being the smallest, Kalaharis main lobby being the largest and Aquatopias lobby size somewhere in the middle. There are 2 lazy river type rides, the wave pool is immense, there are 2 hot tubs that are partly inside the building AND partly outside of the building with a narrow channel to traverse back and forth. Warwick Memorial Park is located along Memorial Drive in Jamison, Pennsylvania. Great Wolf Lodge is the best water park for younger kids & toddlers because it has the most charm and does a better job of theme ing with its characters throughout the entire experience (lodging, dining & waterpark) compared to either Aquatopia or Kalahari. Thanks for your review! Hey, thanks for the great reviews! But, my kids are little fish who love swimming, and they cant get enough of this type of resort. The town is also beyond tacky. Adventure Update # 018: My Tricycle is Very Very Fast! If I was ever to get a weekend alone with my wife we would go to Kalahari since there are more amenities and it is not so kid-centric. THERE ISNOADDITIONAL COST TO YOU if you buy something from Amazon! We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. 2501 Great Wolf Dr> Mason, OH 45040 (800) 913-9653. At the towel dispensary you simply swipe your wrist band and the attendant will hand you the number of towels you request. Castaway has the wave pool, but the Kalahari has a great lazy river. Since our last visit to Great Wolf Lodge they have established a relationship with Dunkin Donuts and there is one located on the main floor just off the right of the lobby. You'll be able to keep a better eye on the kids at the other water parks. To read more about HOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL & a PRICE COMPARISON of ALL THREE POCONOS WATERPARK RESORTS check out my NEW post: Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! Since we are fans of Indiana Jones we like most archaeology theme including this one but I would not say the theme-ing is immersive other than the lazy river. Note: There is no Flowrider / surfing simulator attraction at the Poconos location for Great Wolf Lodge. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? We had no problem finding a table and chairs to rest our towels and use for eating later. The fact that Aquatopia ALSO has an outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its night-time illumination make it unique. For exact amenities lists, its best to view the Great Wolf Lodge or Kalahari website of the locations you are comparing. Kalahari is the biggest of the 3 water parks and has a wider range of offerings that will appeal to both adults & children. Speaking of the wave pool we did find the buzzer alert to notify guests of the beginning of a wave cycle to be very harsh and not conducive to the relaxing atmosphere that should be associated with a wave pool. Take care! Whereas, the roofline @ Great Wolf Lodge is blocky. Please see our partners for more details. There is an indoor rock wall, laser tag, and indoor ropes course, etc. The new Italian restaurant had a nice design and the food was good. 4600 Milan Road Sandusky, OH 44870 (800) 641-9653. (assuming same accommodations we had for this past trip) and this is how they all answered. Hello, thank you so much for writing this I found it very helpful! Magic wands are needed for this game, and there is a fee to activate them for a certain period of time. You all have multi room suites as well as an African Queen Suite.Let's talk about the African Queen Suite for a moment. Great Wolf Lodge: Outdoor ropes courses seasonal. (It was almost like an obstacle course with the running kids, machines, flashing lights, and noise.) All three resorts are really good choices for water park fun with a family. The fact that Camelback ALSO has the Mountain Resort (skiing, tubing, etc), the outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its nightime illumination make it unique. 16 years ago Save I'm pricing a stay for a Christmas gift and Wilderness is about $100 less per night ($165). We simply love everything about it! We have been to both resorts in the past but thought it would be fun to do a back-to-back comparison. You enter Kalahari through a massive glass revolving carousel door and there is plenty of room for people to get where they are going whether it is to check-in, get food, get to the water park or any other number of destinations. However, each locations water parks and amenities vary. Kalahari activities and attractions differ with each location. We show middle class folks (like us) how they can leverage their good credit score to finally take that long-awaited trip. We appreciate it! Towel check-out is something new since our last visit. We have patronized several of these places, if not all and the kids highly recommend them! Ax throwing, ropes course, zip line, off-road Segway tours through the forest & switchback UTV tour. Report inappropriate content Elveric 3rd Chaise to the. I went back into our pictures and corrected the post with the actual picture of the Great Wolf Lodge bathroom. Hopefully you can come again soon but until then, take care! Although I am admittedly not a big fan of buffets, we figured it would be easy for everyone to find something they liked. Kalahari is awesome, but it is very large and also a bit noisier compared to the others. If I had to ask in your personal opinion which resort do you think would be the best for an adult couple (26 year old newly weds) without children to go to? It needs to be checked more often. The wolf mascots host a nightly dance party and pj story time. The overnight costs for both of these resorts can vary widely throughout the year. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. The wave pool alternates between wave / no wave cycles. Great Wolf Lodge recently renovated their suites to a more updated style and clean look. Aquatopia offers a great selection of activities for tweens & younger teens, both inside & outside! Thank you for reading & for your comment / question! Thanks to Amanda at the front desk for helping facilitate this! A night at either place costs a small fortune, and the food is over-priced and mediocre. The place is ENORMOUS and although it's extremely busy and pretty crowded most of the time, there is plenty of seating in the waterpark. Two of my kids are begging to go back to Kalahari. The resorts' water parks include indoor. Kalahari has the largest indoor waterpark of the 3, and is the largest resort located in the Poconos. My wife went there one morning to order some breakfast and it took nearly an hour to get our food after ordering it (she was also in line for nearly an hour before even getting to place her order). We may also participate in other affiliate programs from time-to-time and be compensated for referring traffic & business to these companies. In addition to hair dryers and clock radios, guestrooms provide microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and minibars. We did the empirical research so you dont have to! It seems that there are parts of the water park that are only staffed at peak attendance. And the staff was friendly. Kids jumping in and out, the areas are not guarded by staffsame problem as Great Wolf. To the right of the entrance is check-in / hotel services. Kids hearing is much more sensitive! Per night, plus tax. CLICK HERE TO VIEW VARIOUS CREDIT CARDS AND AVAILABLE SIGN-UP BONUSES, Review: Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Hits and Misses from my Southern Caribbean Cruise on Voyager of the Seas, Quarantined on a Cruise Ship! It is a wonderful family vacation spot that offers a lot of adventure & nature! We ended loading up the car, checking out (automatically at 11:00), and then using our onsite privileges for a few more hours before going offsite at a nearby restaurant to each lunch and hitting the highway to return home.My biggest concern about the facility itself is that the elevator from the lobby to the lower level waterpark is not easily discoverable or accessible. Kalahari Resort The inside is light and bright. For the price I would expect better service. Management thanks you for your suggestions and for noting how well-trained our associates are! I am on the mailing list and recently got a promotional offer that indicated the rooms had recently been renovated. To the left of the lobby is almost exclusively devoted to games and activities for kids really tweens & teens. Multiple-Room Suites There were a total of 3 TVs one in the Family Room where the pull out bed / couch was, one in the master suite and one in the second bedroom with the two queen sized beds. As I mentioned earlier with 4 kids ranging in age from 2 10 we are not very often dining in @ a restaurant. Im not sure when we will make it back there since we have a lot of other travel plans. https://www.theparenthoodadventures.com/waterpark-comparison-chart-kalahari-aquatopia-great-wolf-lodge/ We didn't expect gourmet food at a waterpark, but the nachos were so tasteless that my 12-year old pushed them aside and asked for a chicken finger. Let me start by saying that we have visited the Great Wolf Lodge location in Fitchburg, MA on 2 separate occasions and had enjoyable visits each time. Camelbacks Aquatopia resort opened their indoor water park in May of 2015. The other kids and I voted for Great Wolf Lodge. CHECK IN/ROOM - We checked in with Kassi atWe visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. Note that it may be quite a walk from your room to the water park, or any other destination on the Kalahari Resort campus. It is so fun for my children (12 & 4 years old) and for adults too!! We did really like the lazy river at Aquatopia. This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. Let me start by saying that we have visited the Great Wolf Lodge location in Fitchburg, MA on 2 separate occasions and had enjoyable visits each time. Let me start by saying that we have visited the Great Wolf Lodge location in Fitchburg, MA on 2 separate occasions and had enjoyable visits each time. Part of the joy of Great Wolf Lodge is its size. Read on to find out which one is the BEST water park for your family vacation! The resort recently completed a huge expansion that added 130,000 sq feet of conference facilities to the 100,000 sq feet of existing facilities. Aquatopia made an effort to do some theme-ing with the Kartrite Quest /Adventures but this really only covers the water park and the activities for kids to the left of the lobby. Im not sure if it something that they created or if it has its origins someplace else. Enjoy your family vacation at one of the great indoor water park resort choices in your area! The larger of the two play areas also includes a splash table for babies. You can reach me at PAConnect@KalahariResorts.com. Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! It had a pretty good selection of desserts and chocolates. First, Great Wolf Lodge is a decent size. This is an exciting place for kids to be with lots of fun things to do from arcade games galore to a huge indoor water park. But having a wide variety of restaurants and foods was great! Although our room was not yet ready (official check-in is at 4:00), we received our bracelets to use the waterpark downstairs and we were advised that we could store our luggage in an adjacent locked storage area. Each play area includes slides and swings. $13.35 per hour. Kalahari is a better choice for families with adolescents and teens, while Great Wolf Lodge is perfect for elementary-age children. Guestrooms at Great Wolf Lodge Sandusky Oh offer furnished balconies and separate sitting and sleeping areas. My wife & I both agree we would, hands down, pick Kalahari. We ordered a burrito, nachos grande, chicken fingers, fries and onion rings from a predictable and acceptable selection of menu items. Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. We liked the luggage rack near the door and the shelf over the microwave. The theming is carried throughout multiple aspects of the total experience. Just about everything seemed to be swimming in butter or oil, including the overcooked/overheated vegetables. There are a number of other activities available at the lodge. But, if or when we do return, I look forward to spending more time in that adults-only grotto. During our long walk to the room (the opposite end of the facility), he was VERY professional, engaging and helpful. However, there were at least 6 employees assisting at the registration desk and the line moved relatively quickly. I also added a note how COVID-19 has delayed our plans to stay @ Aquatopia. The hostesses and the servers were professional and pleasant. LOVED the concept - didn't like the fact that they were not full bars - they only made a few specialty drinks and offered beer and wine. We were on the bottom level and we had a small patio walk out area next to the ropes course. Once again, the food was mediocre at best. Great Wolf seems to have more of a variety of theming for these bunk bed suites. The kids had a blast, and I think with some minor changes, this place will exceed 5 stars. However, we felt $26 for chicken parm was a little steep. Our balcony overlooked a very lightly used service road and then there was an unobstructed view of the forested mountain side. Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Check with the resort to confirm which activities are offered during the winter. Click here to go to the Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park website. We did still struggle with the menu & felt that it was very limited in that we found it difficult to find healthier options for our family. Click here to go to the Kalahari Poconos Water Park website. The sound system is rather poor and the performance is rather loud. Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine has one adults-only hot tub. Hi there, I appreciate you taking the time to write a review of your most recent stay. We are a family of 6 with four kids ranging in ages from 5 12 years old. There is a very small / non-standard sized bowling alley, a miniature golf course, an arcade, MagiQuest, etc We have done some of the other activities in the past but only if they were included with our stay or one of the bundled package passes (Paw Pass, Pup Pass and Wolf Pass). Sopleaseclick on a link or two if you wish tosupport us& and our endeavors here. The best indoor water park will depend on your family, age of your kids and what you are looking for in a resort experience. It is also carried through with the water park experience itself with some of the attractions incorporating the characters and /or lodge theme. Only 2 of our bracelets worked, but we were able to get around that on more than one occasion. As I indicated above I should not have been charged a fee for parking since we did not leave a vehicle at the resort and were dropped off. The room @ Aquatopia that we had was a double queen suite, a pull-out sofa and a balcony. (If we wanted to watch tv, we could go to our room.) Kalahari even has a five bedroom suite that can have a maximum of 22 guests. The Poconos Great Wolf Lodge location has more kiddie water slides than the Williamsburg location. Kassie R, Social Media Coordinator at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, responded to this review. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! Tiffany, Im so glad you found the post helpful. There were not lights on both sides of the queen beds which made night-time reading hard for the person on the side with no light. Well manicured and landscaped lawns.We arrived in the main lobby on Sunday 7/2 a little after 1:00 p.m. Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. Overall we felt like Kalahari was much better before the expansion. The kids really enjoyed the cabin themed suite which was adorned with a lot of cute character images. The distance from the lobby to our room was an extremely long haul for her. Located below the main lobby is both the entrance to the water park and the arcade. I know that camelback has a swim up bar at its resort but I have never been to the other two. We stayed in the Desert room which was sufficient in size for 2 adults and 2 small kids. Especially around the holidays, it has a warm and fuzzy fireplace vibe. I would request a higher floor again because the 2nd floor gets all of the foot traffic as that is the lobby floor and the waterpark and arcade are on the lower 1st floor.Take a minute to just look around and notice the dcor, architecture, and design. However, there seemed to be a noticeable amount of debris at the bottom of the pool which seemed to a combination of plastic and dirt. All three resorts are located very close to each other in the Poconos. Each wing of the resort is 8 floors high and it has 977 rooms in total. Heres a comparison guide for all three of these resorts. GWL isnt fast either, but 2+ hours to pay triple the price wouldnt work either. I will say we were on the 7th floor..and it was perfectly quiet. Enjoy this list of fun and amazing Hoffer Park has the address of 235 Mill Street in Middletown, Pennsylvania. But we generally dont patronize too many sit down restaurants with 4 kids with ages ranging from 2-10. Great Wolf Lodge. Yes there were two night stands on either side of the bed in the master suite. Kalahari Resort Market Cost The overnight costs for both of these resorts can vary widely throughout the year. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. Better selection of local foods near Great Wolf. This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC. section 8 houses for rent in nassau county,

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great wolf lodge vs kalahari