Arrive as a family and leave as a pack at Great Wolf Lodge. Report inappropriate content Elveric 3rd Chaise to the. We like archaeology and the lost river archaeology theme was interesting and well done. 2 of themone outside by the immense outdoor pool and one heated one inside. The NACHOS did not disappoint. Royal hospitality suite not royal not hospitable. After the meal there are plenty of places like the pastry shop, coffee shop or ice cream shop that have many enticing desserts for the children. How does it compare to Great Wolf Lodge? Adventure Update # 040: Toilet Seat Police! The lobby at Aquatopia is more spacious than the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge but far smaller than the lobby at Kalahari. They also enjoyed the Wiley & Friends video stories that you can find on one of the dedicated TV channels. As I mentioned earlier with 4 kids ranging in age from 2 10 we are not very often dining in @ a restaurant. Aquatopia at Camelback Lodge in Pennsylvania is 125,000 square feet. During our long walk to the room (the opposite end of the facility), he was VERY professional, engaging and helpful. Recently, my family visited Kalahari Resort for the first time. To the left of the lobby is almost exclusively devoted to games and activities for kids really tweens & teens. Both are great options for kids. The wolf mascots host a nightly dance party and pj story time. Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine has one adults-only hot tub. We love knowing that our attractions were fun for both the children and adults in your family! The town is also beyond tacky. Speaking of loud There is usually a dance party in the evening which we found to be extremely loud! When I checked out on the 25th I asked for a receipt, and the amount I was charged was correct ($390.10) When I received my credit card statement on December 9th I noticed that what I was charged from Aquatopia/Camelback was $25 higher than it should have been. The first thing that struck me the most was how dirty and unsanitary the waterpark was compared to before. That said, I wouldnt pay triple the price for Kalahari. Wilderness,Kalahari or Great Wolf? We have been to both resorts in the past but thought it would be fun to do a back-to-back comparison. Tom Foolerys also has a mirror maze, escape rooms, indoor ropes course, laser tag, rock climbing wall, XD dark ride and bowling. 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). Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. If you have visited all three waterparks in the Poconos please let us know which one YOU liked best! From what we saw of the pricing most of the activities were on the more expensive side. Kalahari has the largest indoorwater park of the 3, and is the largestresortlocated in the Poconos. It felt cozy and definitely complimented the whole lodge theme & experience! One time a lifeguard came out and caught one but without constant observation, it is impossible to parole this area. After reading this post - which Poconos waterpark do you THINK you are most likely to go to? The cabin was towards the front of the room and was semi-private for the kids. We went to all three water parks in the Poconos (Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia) to find out which one is the BEST water park. Pros: . @Kelly We ate dinner off-site so I cant really compare the food fairly. As a native New Yorker, a bit of grit and grime doesn't scare me. So we decided to check it out and see how things had changed. The food was not good at all. Kalahari is absolutely immense! Kalahari I feel would be better for the adults to have fun as well. Adventure Update # 020: 10 Years and 1/2 an Inch! Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Miles for Family All Rights Reserved. The mountainous / hilly location complimented the overall lodge theme and it was nice to sit out there with the kids as the weather cooled in the evening. We ordered a pizza and had it delivered to the room from the in-house Pizza Pubit was quite good and we felt reasonably priced! 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. The resorts' water parks include indoor. Seriously, this place is awesome! THERE ISNOADDITIONAL COST TO YOU if you buy something from Amazon! Camelback charged my card the correct amount when I made the deposit on November 24th and then on November 27th (2 days after we had left the resort) I was charged $25 for a parking fee. In addition to hair dryers and clock radios, guestrooms provide microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and minibars. 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. When looking at Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari as destinations for families, they both offer plenty of fun activities. Most times I find that the pictures or decorations in a motel/hotel really dont add anything to the experience. It was, however, small. At the towel dispensary you simply swipe your wrist band and the attendant will hand you the number of towels you request. Thats theming! 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. Looking up to the roofline Aquatopia does feel more open and expansive since it is more of a sweeping semi-circle in shape. We appreciate it! Thats an AMAZING 425,000 square feet of indoor water parks in a very small geographical area!! We put together this side-by-side comparison of Kalahari, Camelbacks Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge to help you choose the right resort or water park for your family vacation! Thank you, again. Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. At times Kalahari actually felt a littletoo bigfor us. It was nicely decorated and efficiently arranged. Yes it is HUGE but it is also laid out well and serves as a destination itself within the resort. Camelback is far From dc metro; close to ny metro. We were also advised that we would receive a text message when our room was ready. In November 2020, a competitor to GWL opened in Texas. He was open to questions about the place and even offered a few suggestions. 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). The size of the indoor water park is roughly 125,000 square-foot, which makes it slightly larger than the Great Wolf Lodge water park @ roughly 79,000 square-foot, but decidedly smaller than Kalaharis indoor water park which is roughly 220,000 square-foot. Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Water Park. Two of my kids are begging to go back to Kalahari. 4600 Milan Road Sandusky, OH 44870 (800) 641-9653. Copyright 2023 The Parenthood Adventures! There is one primary restaurant on the main level on the left side of the lobby / front entrance. However, having fewer food venue choices and adult amenities limits your stay to a very kid-centric experience. Standard rooms in both hotels come with two queen beds, a pull-out sofa bed, and a small table with chairs. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! Kalahari still boasts plenty of kiddie water slides, but it also has more thrilling slides for older children. really? We joke that we lost Sophie our 2 year old for 5 minutes in the immense suite! The Great Wolf Lodge resort in the Poconos was constructed in 2005 and is one of roughly 19 locations for the chain. You could definitely capture everything this place has to offer in 2-3 days. Both resorts have also utilized Groupon for deals. (It was almost like an obstacle course with the running kids, machines, flashing lights, and noise.) This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. We can engage in many of the other activities closer to our home (and probably at less expense). Kids are going to want to explore all areas of this place and we find it frustrating reading reviews about those complaining about how expensive everything is. Definitely two thumbs up for the adults area at Kalahari! Both resorts in the Poconos have a water coaster. Activities could include yoga, character appearances, crafts, a nightly Forest Friends show, story time, and a dance party. (assuming same accommodations we had for this past trip) and this is how they all answered. When I called, the charge was removed & the service rep was polite enough but, apparently Aquatopia/Camelback fully expects there to be a parking fee added to every invoice! Also, Outdoor pool and some small outdoor water slides (all seasonal). Great Wolf Lodge is better for younger kids, IMHO (ages 2-12, maybe); there are more self-contained areas for easier supervision, whereas Kalahari is better for slightly older kids (maybe 5-15,). We simply love everything about it! The lobby was somewhat hectic with the number of people filing in and out, restaurants, shops, carts filled with souvenirs for sale, and a long line at the guest registration desk. . After learning about the aspects of both of these resort, which one will your family choose? Anonymous. Both resorts also have onsite dining that continues the decor. We had no real negatives about Great Wolf but in all honesty, Kalahari Resort surpasses them on almost all levels, but to no fault of Great Wolf. We also enjoyed the balcony. Lifeguard. The water facilities were great and there was a nice assortment of water slides. Nothing? Not quite as good as the one @ Kalahari but better than you will find at Great Wolf Lodge. Go with the flow in our water park resort or find adventurous dry-play throughout the lodge this family getaway is one they will never forget. Great Wolf seems to have more of a variety of theming for these bunk bed suites. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney. There are a lot of food choices @ Kalahari of which we have only sampled a few. Aquatopiais somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. My wife & I both agree we would, hands down, pick Kalahari. Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park Toddler Play Kalahari has the most toddler slides by far when comparing the three resorts. 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. Kalahari has the largest indoor waterpark of the 3, and is the largest resort located in the Poconos. Experience a world of play, all under one roof. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. The entire Kalahari Resort is enormous. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. It is in the middle in terms of the size of its indoor waterpark and in number of rooms at the resort. A 14-inch pie was 8 slices, 2 toppings $21. 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. 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. The Poconos Waterpark Showdown 2019. (We missed the burritos & soups from Kalahari!). Great Wolf Lodge also has a small bowling ally, gem mining, outdoor ropes course, arcade, and glow golf. We changed in the bathroom/changing areas, located a storage locker (for a fee), and found a table. Kalahari Resort has an African safari theme. But, my kids are little fish who love swimming, and they cant get enough of this type of resort. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. Kalahariis the biggest of the 3 and has a wider range of offerings that will appeal to both adults & children. There are quite a few activities to engage in @ Kalahari. I'm displeased to hear of the strange odor in your room and that we were not able to correct this situation while you were staying with us. Sitemap, The Ultimate Guide to Kalahari Resort Locations in the US, The Ultimate Guide to Great Wolf Lodge Locations in the US, The Ultimate Guide to Six Flags Locations in the US, US Cultural Hotspots: The top US cities for a vacation packed with culture, How Shipping Luggage With Ship Camps Makes Summer Camp Prep Easy, The Worlds Best Spring Break Destinations, Chicago Family Travel Guide: Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting with Kids. Thank you for your support! This post was incredibly helpful!!! We have been to the Williamsburg Virginia location where there was one but there is not one @ the Poconos location. Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. If you want to enjoy holiday with a lot of loud, and to my taste obnoxious New York bridge and tunnel types, try it. Kalahari Resort The inside is light and bright. We inquired about an potential upgrade and they granted us a special price to upgrade to an African Queen Suite which had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms - perfect to provide privacy with 2 girls! Once again, the food was mediocre at best. The day we went, prices were similar to GWL. I also added a note how COVID-19 has delayed our plans to stay @ Aquatopia. In particular, it felt narrow. Click here to go to the Aquatopia Poconos Indoor Water Park website. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. For part of our stay both lazy river attractions were open and there were other times when only one was open. Kids under the age of 6 were coming in and out with no parental supervision. It is hard to believe that Aquatopia/Camelback would actually be charging extra for the balcony /patios at this level! We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. Winner: Kalahari Resort (especially for older kids and teens). Chip. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. Great Wolf Lodge vs. Kalahari vs. CamelBacks Aquatopia! Kalahari is awesome, but it is very large and also a bit noisier compared to the others. We have never patronized the restaurant as it does seem expensive. I found the photos pleasing to look at and relaxing! The front desk staff was extremely professional, friendly and helpful. It seems, for obvious safety reasons, that a toddler area would be better located on the lowest level of the water park. The fact that Camelback ALSO has the Mountain Resort (skiing, tubing, etc), the outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its nightime illumination make it unique. Part of the joy of Great Wolf Lodge is its size. There was a nice variety of the treats and each of the kids was able to find something appealing to them. This comparison guide will focus mainly on the Pocono resorts in Pennsylvania, but some of the information can be used to compare other locations of Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge. The distance between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a mere 7 miles. So I guess you just dont need it that much. It is also carried through with the water park experience itself with some of the attractions incorporating the characters and /or lodge theme. Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! The other kids and I voted for Great Wolf Lodge. Kalahari was the cheapest on Friday evening but the most expensive during the week & the second most expensive on Saturday evening. I am on the mailing list and recently got a promotional offer that indicated the rooms had recently been renovated. 2) With COVID still hanging around and the holidays right around the corner it seemed to be prudent. To the credit of one observant & kind employee he noticed the exceedingly poor service my wife had received and apologized to her later in the day when he saw her. (If we wanted to watch tv, we could go to our room.) The ladies bathroom and changing area looked tike a war zone! Mind you definitely not Disney level theming or branding but a good job. 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! The Poconos location has 401 rooms and each wing of the lodge has 4 floors. Our suite @ Kalahari was HUGE! Hi Lexi! Hopefully you can keep returning and finding even more ways to have fun with us as the kids grow. Keep in mind theres a third indoor water park resort in the Poconos: Camelback Mountain Resort. Just a small thing that can be easily rectified. (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) I believe you get what you pay for--any insight as the the huge difference in rates?!!! 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. It had its own TV and was adorned with a lot of cute character images. Find not only one but TWO Great Wolf Lodge water parks in Ohio. It is also something that Kalahari does well . There would have been another $25 for parking but we were able to avoid this since we had relatives staying just a few miles away. Wireless Internet access is complimentary. 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. I have read other reviews where people did not enjoy the balcony but we did. One of Kalahari's Kiddie Areas Kalahari Resort, located in Round Rock, Texas, is similar in many ways to Great Wolf Lodge. The indoor waterpark is open all year with various slides, play areas, a wave pool, and even a four-story interactive treehouse. An unpleasant smell hit us as soon as we opened the door, although I couldn't quite place it, at least not until we stepped further into the suite. Mother to 4 wonderful children, wife to one witty, but extremely nerdy husband. It sounds like you were able to experience nearly every feature our resort has to offer! We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. It doesnt extend to the guest rooms and amenities. Everything is close together in the resort, so not much walking between areas. We are a family of 6 with four kids ranging in ages from 5 12 years old. Jamison is a small town in Warwick Township, Bucks Ringing Rocks County Park is located on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, along Ringing Rocks Road, in Upper Black Eddy, QuiNBy's Playground recently opened in 2022. My daughter walks with a medical device. Robert, Im not sure if it something that they created or if it has its origins someplace else. Then to get to the lower level you have to take the stairs. Great Wolf Lodge offers resort lodges with indoor water parks near both large theme parks. Photo credit: Great Wolf Lodge 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. The rides for the kids are great, it is an entired water playground for toddlers with amazing water slides! It is the best themed lazy river out of the three water parks in the Poconos! We were told that the elevator was on the convention center side, which was not really convenient for her. If you are looking for more of a balance between kid activities and adult luxuries Kalahari has a wider range of offerings that will appeal to both adults and children. The short of it about the same as Great Wolf Lodge and FAR less than Kalahari! Thanks for your review! This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. There were a few things that we liked about the expansion. Hi there, I appreciate you taking the time to write a review of your most recent stay. Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge is often a topic debated by indoor water park visitors. Thank you to the staff we mentioned for really making sure our stay was the best it possibly could be! You never even need to leave the lodge, with tons of activities for kids, onsite dining, shopping opportunities, and more. 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 king of indoor waterparks, . Sopleaseclick on a link or two if you wish tosupport us& and our endeavors here. It had a large walk-in area that had a sink and kitchenette. Its a tough call. Staff always pleasant and friendly!FOOD - There is food available in the waterpark in addition to a steakhouse and Italian restaurant. Per night, plus tax. A microwave, refrigerator, and small coffee maker are other amenities in the room. Hello and thank you for the review! It may come down to a simple question: How old are the children in your party? Great wolf is closer to shopping. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. It had a pretty good selection of desserts and chocolates. And the staff was friendly. Which do you prefer? Both resorts have huge water parks and other indoor activities. Several hot tubs, twice the amount of slides as Great Wolf Lodge, and something for all ages. Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. I actually made the kids wear earplugs (as did I) to go to this! Were going in January. African photos, statues, pictures, all kinds of things that mentally transport you to another world. This is another thing that I think Kalahari does well and it makes it a little easier to satisfy everyone and their differing tastes with so many food choices. Both resorts have themed rooms that accommodate a wide-range of family sizes from two queen rooms to much, much bigger. It is the smallest of the 3 indoor waterparks in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. Im guessing the youngest of your children voted for GWL? We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. One of the other simple theming aspects we enjoyed were the 2 Great Wolf Lodge video book stories playing on the resort TV channel. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. That is with just 2 adults and 4 kids. It is so fun for my children (12 & 4 years old) and for adults too!! If your brand of parenting involves stiff drinks, Kalahari is much more liquor focused, with bartenders and full drinks. Tiffany, Im so glad you found the post helpful. Yes there were two night stands on either side of the bed in the master suite. Compare salary information for Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Resorts & Conventions. Shooting Range (tourist favorite) is closer to Great Wolf. It is in the middle in terms of the size of its indoor water park and in number of rooms at the resort.
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