To read more aboutHOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL& aPRICE COMPARISONof ALL THREE POCONOS WATERPARK RESORTS check out my NEW post:Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! Im pleased to hear that you enjoyed the various sections of the waterpark. The theming is carried throughout multiple aspects of the total experience. Magic wands are needed for this game, and there is a fee to activate them for a certain period of time. There was a nice variety of the treats and each of the kids was able to find something appealing to them. 14 Best Indoor Water Park Resorts in the U.S. - FamilyVacationist Our 2-year-old who would have nothing to do with a life jacket was able to play in the toddler splash park and wave pool as long as Melani or I was right with her. Try getting on the email lists of both of these resorts to learn about the discounts they offer throughout the year. Kalahari Resort The inside is light and bright. Thank you very much for your comment. Not quite as good as the one @ Kalahari but better than you will find at Great Wolf Lodge. Learn how your comment data is processed. Wireless Internet access is complimentary. The kids really enjoyed the cabin themed suite which was adorned with a lot of cute character images. Seriously, this place is awesome! Hi Lexi! If there are any older children in your party, around 10 years and older, then they may not appreciate the kiddie theming that runs through Great Wolf Lodge. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. We had no problem finding a table and chairs to rest our towels and use for eating later. The water facilities were great and there was a nice assortment of water slides. Water park access was included. Best Indoor Waterparks in Ohio | SheBuysTravel - Traveling Mom This past visit however was somewhat disappointing. 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. Whereas, the roofline @ Great Wolf Lodge is blocky. 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. On a subsequent trip (after COVID) we also visited Camelbacks Aquatopia. Great Wolf Lodge vs Kalahari Resort | What's the Best Choice in 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. Kalahari has a lot of complaints on Google about 2+ hour check in times and no housekeeping. You might prefer the chart we put together along with our conclusions. With that being said it does appear that the ropes course and zip lines are something that we may try in the future. 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! At times Kalahari actually felt a littletoo bigfor us. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. Both resorts have huge water parks that include a wave pool, lazy river, splash areas and of course water slides. 4600 Milan Road Sandusky, OH 44870 (800) 641-9653. There are currently 4 locations for the chain with the Poconos location being its largest facility. We did not rent any of the cabanas that were located throughout. For the price I would expect better service. The kids do enjoy the characters and overall lodge experience. The new Italian restaurant had a nice design and the food was good. Kassie R, Social Media Coordinator at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, responded to this review. In particular, it felt narrow. For size reference, Great Wolf Lodges water park is the smallest at about 79,000 square feet. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. First, Great Wolf Lodge is a decent size. I would like to further discuss the details of your stay. I would appreciate your input as we would like to plan a resort getaway for just the two of us for our anniversary. Management thanks you for your suggestions and for noting how well-trained our associates are! Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Both resorts also have onsite dining that continues the decor. The lobby is ringed by various shops and the floor has wonderful decorative murals inlaid in the marble (Im sure these are probably decals??). Mother to 4 wonderful children, wife to one witty, but extremely nerdy husband. Kalahari Resort has Tom Foolerys, a gigantic indoor adventure park. I will say we were on the 7th floor..and it was perfectly quiet. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your recent visit. The fact that Camelback ALSO has the Mountain Resort (skiing, tubing, etc), the outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its nightime illumination make it unique. Adventure Update # 64: Summer Vacation 2022! For our Wednesday November 24th, 2021 stay @ Aquatopia the cost of our room was $319.00 plus taxes & fees amounting in the amount of $71.10, bringing the total to $390.10. The Kalahari wave pool is much bigger than the Great Wolf Lodge wave pool. I am pleased to hear that our staff was friendly and that our facilities were well maintained throughout your stay. Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Water Park. We had a cabin themed room for this stay (KidCabin Suite) and the kids enjoyed it more than I had expected! Berrellis Italian Chophouse wasnt really an option for us as this restaurant is physically located in a different building from where we were staying & where the indoor water park is located. We have patronized several of these places, if not all and the kids highly recommend them! Click here to go to the Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park website. We like archaeology and the lost river archaeology theme was interesting and well done. Inspired parents sharing the joys & adventures of the parenthood journey! When you leave make sure to return the towels and swipe the wrist band again or you will be charged for the towels. From the pricing you see above you can understand why we usually opt for the kids to miss a day of school when we head over to one of Poconos water parks! If you are going to Cedar Point, Castaway is located right at the beginning of the causeway to CP. The Poconos Waterpark Showdown 2019. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Thanks to Amanda at the front desk for helping facilitate this! I actually made the kids wear earplugs (as did I) to go to this! It was a nice touch to have the lodge theme and a couple of characters at the front of the wave pool which is one of our favorite attractions. Wilderness,Kalahari or Great Wolf? Huge rate difference! We stored our bags with the assistance of bell staff and we went downstairs to check out the facilities.We had to go through a large (and very noisy) arcade to get to the turnstiles to the waterpark. We have talked that when we are finally able to get a night or weekend to ourselves, Kalahari is one of the places that would be high on our list! Its a tough call. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. Kalahari Resorts water park has more of everything and also includes a Flowrider, which is popular with older kids and teens. Great Wolf Lodge offers resort lodges with indoor water parks near both large theme parks. Much more concise! 2501 Great Wolf Dr> Mason, OH 45040 (800) 913-9653. For families with teenagers this is the best water park for you. The lobby at Aquatopia is more spacious than the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge but far smaller than the lobby at Kalahari. I felt the prices were reasonable for this type of American Pub food. There are a lot of food choices @ Kalahari of which we have only sampled a few. I was wondering what your experiences have been with that. Kalahari is awesome, but it is very large and also a bit noisier compared to the others. 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. Why do the adults with hearing damage always make the decisions with regards to volume level! Ranked: Pennsylvania's three best water parks - York Daily Record Camelback Resort & Aquatopia are somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! And the staff was friendly. Click here to go to the Kalahari Poconos Water Park website. What we usually do @ Kalahari is claim a couple of tables next to the fountain in the lobby and while one of us stays with the family the other runs around to the different food venues to obtain the items we desire to assemble a meal. Keep in mind theres a third indoor water park resort in the Poconos: Camelback Mountain Resort. 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. Recently, my family visited Kalahari Resort for the first time. On our previous visit a couple of years ago we felt the place was showing some wear and tear. Winner: Tie Water Park Both resorts have huge water parks that include a wave pool, lazy river, splash areas and of course water slides. We appreciate it! Within 45 minutes of our arrival, I received a text message that our room was ready, but no one was ready to take a break.Warning: You cannot bring outside food into the waterpark so if you want something to eat, you have to purchase food inside. Kalahari has the largest indoor waterpark of the 3, and is the largest resort located in the Poconos. Kalahari Resort has an African safari theme. 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. 111 Things to Do in the Adirondacks & Upstate New York! 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. The entire Kalahari Resort is enormous. Confusingly enough she was allowed to go on the small kids slides that were inside the waterpark. The clothing line in the bathroom was broken and the bed covers had an unpleasant smell. Read on to find out which one is the BEST water park for your family vacation! We like all three. Thanks for your review! There was also only one sink in the room (as well as only one bathroom which had only a standard sized tub). (Activities vary by location). Staff always pleasant and friendly!FOOD - There is food available in the waterpark in addition to a steakhouse and Italian restaurant. 16 years ago Save I'm pricing a stay for a Christmas gift and Wilderness is about $100 less per night ($165). The employees at Great Wolf are s. I worked at Great Wolf Lodge for a year, and I have been to Kalahari before. For exact amenities lists, its best to view the Great Wolf Lodge or Kalahari website of the locations you are comparing. THERE ISNOADDITIONAL COST TO YOU if you buy something from Amazon! Kalahari Resort also has an adult spa and fitness center plus live music entertainment at the steak house and piano bar. Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Miles for Family All Rights Reserved. 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! It seems, for obvious safety reasons, that a toddler area would be better located on the lowest level of the water park. The distance from the lobby to our room was an extremely long haul for her. You used the same bathroom photo for both resorts. Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge: Discover the Differences Great Wolf Lodge Kalahari Resort has an African safari theme. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. As I mentioned above when we go to Kalahari (or Great Wolf Lodge, for that matter)- we are going for some water and swimming fun. Especially around the holidays, it has a warm and fuzzy fireplace vibe. 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! One of Kalahari's Kiddie Areas The Great Wolf Lodge resort in the Poconos was constructed in 2005 - and is one of roughly 19 locations for the chain. Camelback is unique in that it has both an INDOOR water park (Aquatopia, which is open year-round) and a separate OUTDOOR water park (Camelbeach) that is only open for the summer season. Sopleaseclick on a link or two if you wish tosupport us& and our endeavors here. Kalahari vs Great wolf lodge - Wisconsin Dells Forum That was almost inedible. There are quite a few activities to engage in @ Kalahari. Definitely two thumbs up for the adults area at Kalahari! really? The total cost for the night would have been $415.10. Yes, there were some healthy options just not a very good variety. I will be sure to pass your kind words along to Kassi, David, Robin, and Amanda! Thank you for your support! Fortunately we only live about 2 hours away. We recently took a little trip to the Poconos and stayed one night @ Great Wolf Lodge immediately followed by a one-night stay @ Kalahari. My husband and I especially like the adults-only area at Kalahari, and we dont miss the late-night stomping of kids in the hallways playing MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge (if you know, you know). So the water park is what we usually focus on. It was HORRIBLE! We liked the artwork in the room. As I mentioned above, we can engage in many of the other activities closer to our home. > Reserve the Desert or Hut Room, Sunday - Friday through June 30, 2006 at Kalahari Resort - Sandusky, Ohio for $99 for up to 4 guests! We may also participate in other affiliate programs from time-to-time and be compensated for referring traffic & business to these companies. Other than the water park & arcade our family hasnt really tried out any other ones. Aspiring super-mom - who is still anxiously awaiting the arrival of her homemaker skills & superpowers of organization to arrive from Amazon Prime. 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. Hi there! Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? Here is some guidance to help you decide on which Poconos water park would be best for your family vacation, based on our experience at all 3 resorts: => Great Wolf Lodge: Great Wolf Lodge is the BEST indoor water park & resort for a very kid-centric experience from top to bottom. Great Wolf seems to have more of a variety of theming for these bunk bed suites. A water park comparison guide for the water park headquarters of the USA The Poconos! Kalahari still boasts plenty of kiddie water slides, but it also has more thrilling slides for older children. You could definitely capture everything this place has to offer in 2-3 days. It is in the middle in terms of the size of its indoor water park and in number of rooms at the resort. Yes it is HUGE but it is also laid out well and serves as a destination itself within the resort. As the kids went ahead, employee Jeremy helped to take bags upstairs. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. All three resorts are really good choices for water park fun with a family. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. It felt more intimate and clean, less crowded and sufficiently staffed. Splash Lagoon . Arrive as a family and leave as a pack at Great Wolf Lodge. The floors were full of paper, tissues, dirty towels, used dippers, used shampoo packets etc and there was no attendant in sight. This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. I will note as a previous reviewer did that Great Wolf Lodge had SPECTACULAR lifeguards. Overall we felt like Kalahari was much better before the expansion. I believe you get what you pay for--any insight as the the huge difference in rates?!!! Thank you for your feedback. 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. There isnt any story that goes along with any of the characters as far as we were able to discern. The IVORY COAST restaurant had a great selection of food and we thoroughly enjoyed doing takeout from there. Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. The NACHOS did not disappoint. Shooting Range (tourist favorite) is closer to Great Wolf. Warwick Memorial Park is located along Memorial Drive in Jamison, Pennsylvania. Two of my kids are begging to go back to Kalahari. The closet was pretty small, and the bathroom was almost as small (with the sink located next to the fridge); however, those were relatively minor inconveniences.We went to Great Karoo Buffet around 5-5:30 and was relieved to see that it wasn't that crowded. At Kalahari, there are two separate, toddler play areas. Each wing of the resort is 8 floors high and it has 977 rooms in total. 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. 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. After reading this post - which Poconos waterpark do you THINK you are most likely to go to? He was open to questions about the place and even offered a few suggestions. Great Wolf Lodge vs. Kalahari: Which Is Best For Families We say this because Aquatopia has the most activities (rock wall, laser tag, escape room, etc) at its resort that will likely appeal to pre-teens and early teens. Hello, Erika! Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. A microwave, refrigerator, and small coffee maker are other amenities in the room. When you check in the lodge they should offer you and / or the kids wolf ears at no extra charge since, after all it is the Great WOLF Lodge!. Great review, were leaning towards Kalahari but wanted to know about outdoor activities in the winter, could our kids go snow tubing or something related at any of these three resorts? There are also many more food choices. Great wolf is closer to shopping. My husband was brave enough to continue exploring as I sat out on the ground level patio. Enjoy this list of fun and amazing Hoffer Park has the address of 235 Mill Street in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Kalahari Resort has an entire grotto (both indoor and outdoor) for adults with a swim-up bar. There was also a buffet which was closed but other little caf options for grab and go type food, a coffee bar, ice cream stand, bakery.they forgot nothing!We felt like we needed more than one night so we asked to extend our stay another night and we were given a great rate to stay in our upgraded room so we jumped on the deal. The TV in the room seemed to be new and was the largest of any we saw at the three resorts. Likewise the lobby is magnificent! The fact that Aquatopia ALSO has an outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its night-time illumination make it unique. $13.35 per hour. Blessed father of 4 wonderful children & trophy husband to 1 lovely wife. Kalahari is absolutely immense! We went for the Italian the second night and the food was again wonderful. It needs to be checked more often. We liked the water park @ Great Wolf Lodge! Also, the post was never updated to include information about Aquatopia. Can I ask how the service levels compared at the two as well as the food? Kalahari was the cheapest on Friday evening - but the most expensive during the week & the second most expensive on Saturday evening. 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,). Kalahari features a number of signature sit-down restaurants (Sortinos Italian Kitchen (Italian food), B-Lux Grill & Bar (Burgers & Shakes), Double Cut (Steakhouse). If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. However, each locations water parks and amenities vary. Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Comparison - YouTube Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! Great Wolf Resorts (formerly known as Great Wolf Lodge) is a chain of eighteen indoor water park resorts located in the United States and Canada. In addition to hair dryers and clock radios, guestrooms provide microwaves, refrigerators, coffeemakers, and minibars. Telephones have voice mail; TVs come with cable and pay movies. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Click here to go to the Aquatopia Poconos Indoor Water Park website. Thank you, again. Kalahari Resort in Round Rock, TX is like Great Wolf Lodge on steroids. Middletown is located outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's comparison guide for all three of these resorts, Ringing Rocks County Park Upper Black Eddy, PA. Take care! Thank you for your support! 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. Photo credit: Great Wolf Lodge Great Wolf Lodge. Keep reading our Poconos water park guide & comparison to find out! The larger of the two play areas also includes a splash table for babies. Embarrassing that I never realized it was the same picture! The day we went, prices were similar to GWL. I prefer Great Wolf by a long shot. Kalahari also has crafts, escape room, mini golf, mini bowling, and arcade. We did the empirical research so you dont have to! Kalahari I feel would be better for the adults to have fun as well. It may come down to a simple question: How old are the children in your party? The main dry activity, however, is the MagiQuest interactive wand game. Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. Adventure Update # 018: My Tricycle is Very Very Fast! There was a microwave and mini-fridge in the room, which came in handy. There is also a fountain near the middle of the lobby with chairs and tables to sit and eat. We ordered a burrito, nachos grande, chicken fingers, fries and onion rings from a predictable and acceptable selection of menu items. The 3 "kids" (ages 12-20) and I were impressed with the front of the resort. > *Valid exclusively for past guests of Kalahari Resort - Sandusky, Ohio. Kalaharis water park does the same, except with a jungle theme. We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. At times Kalahari actually felt a little too big for us (both the resort & the water park). We are a family of 6 with four kids ranging in ages from 5 12 years old. Wilderness,Kalahari or Great Wolf? Once again, the food was mediocre at best. On the lower level by the entrance for the water park, there is a pizza place with some tables in the lower lobby area. We didn't hear a peep after 10pm and slept soundly. Swim Up BARS - An absolutely genius idea! Camelbacks Aquatopia resort opened their indoor water park in May of 2015. Great Wolf Lodge, including Pocono Mountains location. I'm going to breakdown each part of the resort that we visited and give you the key points: Adventure Update # 018: My Tricycle is Very Very Fast! (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. There was a large selection, with an emphasis on Italian cuisine. There are some characters for the kids but they are not really developed and seem to have just been bolted on as an after thought. There were a few things that we liked about the expansion. The wave pool alternates between wave / no wave cycles. Subject: Great Wolf vs. Kalahari vs. Camelback vs. Massanutten. They did a fabulous job with the design of this place. Thats theming! Great Wolf Lodge is known for their MagiQuest game. We compare the size of the waterparks, number of restaurants, room pricing, hours of operation, activities offered & many other aspects. 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. We liked the luggage rack near the door and the shelf over the microwave. Best Indoor Water Park Winners (2021) | USA TODAY 10Best Great Wolf and Kalahari were about $289--same dates, same room type. We stayed in the Desert room which was sufficient in size for 2 adults and 2 small kids. We figured that we'd have a good dinner to make up for it.After another 90 minutes or so, we decided to check out the room. 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. 2 of themone outside by the immense outdoor pool and one heated one inside. Castaway has the wave pool, but the Kalahari has a great lazy river. Wet bar, fridge, microwaveIMPRESSED with the upkeep.WATERPARK - The place is absolutely huge. Hello and thank you for the review! 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. (Healthy, I know.) Per night, plus tax. Experience a world of play, all under one roof. Thanks! We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. Second, certain areas of the waterpark, especially the hot tubs, the wave pool and small kids areas were overcrowded. Both resorts have normal hotel rooms as well as themed rooms. Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. Kids under the age of 6 were coming in and out with no parental supervision. We review each of the Poconos water parks on several criteria including: If you want to cut right to the chase you can jump to the conclusion by clicking here: Conclusion, Great Wolf Lodge does a good job of branding and theming (theme ing) the lodge.
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