Only 2 of our bracelets worked, but we were able to get around that on more than one occasion. I went back into our pictures and corrected the post with the actual picture of the Great Wolf Lodge bathroom. After reading this post - which Poconos waterpark do you THINK you are most likely to go to? We have patronized several of these places, if not all and the kids highly recommend them! The Ultimate Guide to Great Wolf Lodge Locations in the US Top Educational & Inspirational YouTube Channels for Families 2022, Waterpark Comparison Chart: Kalahari, Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge. Another Wisconsin Dells question - Great Wolf vs. Kalahari vs 10 Best Family Resorts in Texas for 2023 - Great Wolf Lodge Family Fun Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. All three resorts are located very close to each other in the Poconos. Best Water Parks in the Northeast For Families (By Age!) CHECK IN/ROOM - We checked in with Kassi at We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. (It was almost like an obstacle course with the running kids, machines, flashing lights, and noise.) Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Annapolis Area Doulas | Kalahari Resorts vs. Great Wolf Lodge As the kids went ahead, employee Jeremy helped to take bags upstairs. The development is expected to break ground during. There were 2 bathrooms one off the walk-in area and the second one in the master suite. But the resort's smaller size makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids. bellyrubbah1 2 yr. ago Cool. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. There is also a fountain near the middle of the lobby with chairs and tables to sit and eat. 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! Texas Location | Kalahari Resorts - Welcome to Kalahari | Kalahari Resorts Kalahari has a better reputation locally. Whereas, the roofline @ Great Wolf Lodge is blocky. One of the other simple theming aspects we enjoyed were the 2 Great Wolf Lodge video book stories playing on the resort TV channel. (Activities vary by location). And with new locations in Arizona and Illinois, Great Wolf Lodges are becoming easier to reach wherever . 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. If you have visited all three waterparks in the Poconos please let us know which one YOU liked best! Old Windmill Farm is located at 262 Paradise Lane in Ronks, Pennsylvania. Water park temperatures at all three Poconos water parks is the same @ 84 degrees, year-round. If you want averykid-centricexperience from top to bottom we would recommendGreat Wolf Lodge. It is the best themed lazy river out of the three water parks in the Poconos! Sincerely, Chip. Kalahari has the largest indoorwater park of the 3, and is the largestresortlocated in the Poconos. Location: 3001 Kalahari Blvd. The room @ Aquatopia that we had was a double queen suite, a pull-out sofa and a balcony. Wonderful service.Lazy River - Longer than the one at Great Wolfbut lots of people and tubes jamming it up!Towels were only available outside, we heard there may have been a shortage but we didn't really experience that. You could definitely capture everything this place has to offer in 2-3 days. It is really the other aspects of the resorts and accommodations that will determine which resort is the better choice for your family! In particular, it felt narrow. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. Kalahari Resort vs. Great Wolf Lodge - CohaiTungChi Tech Burger and fries for $12, other sandwiches $12-$15.not excessive. The resort has a spa center, a hot tub and an on-site restaurant. 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. Why Kids Love It Mary Claire Patton has been a journalist with KSAT 12 since 2015. 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. Has a fun magic quest as an additional . Kalahari vs. Great Wolf Lodge -- Sandusky - DISboards.com Church work is not for the faint of heart, and by the end of the summer church has just flat taken its toll on all of us. How does it compare to Great Wolf Lodge? It is disappointing to hear that you did not have as great of an experience this time around compared to your first two. TheParenthoodAdventures.comis owned & operated byChip Williamsonwho is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that enables websites like this to earn advertising fees from Amazon.com. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. The new Italian restaurant had a nice design and the food was good. 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. We do love both! Aquatopia at Camelback Lodge in Pennsylvania is 125,000 square feet. Great Wolf Lodge boasts tons of activities sure to put a smile on your children's faces. Thats theming! We may also participate in other affiliate programs from time-to-time and be compensated for referring traffic & business to these companies. The room was very clean and up-to-date. Kalahari is amaizing! Featuring free WiFi and a seasonal outdoor pool, Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine offers accommodations in Grapevine. See you soon! Weve stayed at GWL Williamsburg and Kalahari in the Poconos. It is always wonderful to receive complements on our dcor as we want our guests to have as authentic an experience as possible. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. There is also a cafe (Cafe & Bar) and a restaurant (Horizons) located right off the main lobby. The Kalahari Resort is well appointed, nicely decorated, and the facilities are well maintained. Kalahari vs. Great Wolf - WE HAVE A WINNER!! - Tripadvisor But, my kids are little fish who love swimming, and they cant get enough of this type of resort. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park We just stayed at Camelback the night before Thanksgiving and are actively working on updated the post. Otherwise, she and the others had a very good time.Kalahari was worth the trip. This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. I have read other reviews where people did not enjoy the balcony but we did. Both are great options for kids. Im pleased to hear that you enjoyed the various sections of the waterpark. Kalaharis water park does the same, except with a jungle theme. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. The other kids and I voted for Great Wolf Lodge. A 14-inch pie was 8 slices, 2 toppings $21. We love knowing that our attractions were fun for both the children and adults in your family! As a native New Yorker, a bit of grit and grime doesn't scare me. Water park access was included. but also read water is cold. LOCATION: Within the 1st floor level of Tom Foolerys Adventure Park inside B-Lux Grill & Bar. It was HORRIBLE! Yes it is HUGE but it is also laid out well and serves as a destination itself within the resort. 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. 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. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park Hello and thank you for the review! But we generally dont patronize too many sit down restaurants with 4 kids with ages ranging from 2-10. It is a wonderful family vacation spot that offers a lot of adventure & nature! Heres a comparison guide for all three of these resorts. Great Wolf Lodge vs Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Indeed The cabin was towards the front of the room and was semi-private for the kids. Im guessing the youngest of your children voted for GWL? DreamWorks Water Park - East Rutherford, New Jersey. The clothing line in the bathroom was broken and the bed covers had an unpleasant smell. Several hot tubs, twice the amount of slides as Great Wolf Lodge, and something for all ages. I am pleased to hear that our staff was friendly and that our facilities were well maintained throughout your stay. Speaking of loud There is usually a dance party in the evening which we found to be extremely loud! Great Wolf Lodge has an outdoor ropes course and indoor arcade. The lobby is ringed by various shops and the floor has wonderful decorative murals inlaid in the marble (Im sure these are probably decals??). (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) You can also see the water park from the windows on this side and from the Cafe & Bar. Kalahari Resort has an entire grotto (both indoor and outdoor) for adults with a swim-up bar. So these mini-vacations are a perfect and necessary thing for our family. 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. Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. The smell permeated EVERYTHING to the point of needing to open the door to air it out. Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park Toddler Play. I actually made the kids wear earplugs (as did I) to go to this! The splash park area of the water park devoted to smaller children (toddlers Penguin Play Bay) is very weak compared to Kalahari and somewhat awkwardly placed on a second tier of the waterpark close to some steps going down. Not quite as good as the one @ Kalahari but better than you will find at Great Wolf Lodge. Swim Up BARS - An absolutely genius idea! This time we were on the third floor and had a balcony. It felt like you were rubbing shoulders with other people all the time. Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? Career Site - Self Service - ADP 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. Two of my kids are begging to go back to Kalahari. Offers more free activities in the main lobby. Each lane allows for up to six bowlers at a time. There were a few things that we liked about the expansion. Would have been nice to have them inside as well.The waterpark overall was phenomenal - huge and definitely accommodates young and old. Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! You can reach me at PAConnect@KalahariResorts.com. Winner: Kalahari Resort Rooms Both resorts have "normal" hotel rooms as well as themed rooms. Kalahari has one indoor and one outdoor area - both are huge (Kalahari's is one of the largest indoors in the US). To alert those in the wave pool of the wave rotation starting it has a wolf howl. We appreciate it! Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains packs in all the family fun under one roof. Here's Where You Should Eat Hot Dogs in Philadelphia The suite had an interesting layout, but who could enjoy it when you were struggling not to vomit. Rooms are bigger and have fun themes. This post was incredibly helpful!!! We liked the artwork in the room. We feature kid-friendly activities, a range of dining options, interactive games, an adult-friendly wine down service, and more all under one roof. Finally, we did have a rather poor experience one morning ordering from the Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). The sound system is rather poor and the performance is rather loud. He was open to questions about the place and even offered a few suggestions. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. Here's our overall review.Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. Kalahari also has crafts, escape room, mini golf, mini bowling, and arcade. 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. There isnt any story that goes along with any of the characters as far as we were able to discern. I also added a note how COVID-19 has delayed our plans to stay @ Aquatopia. 4 Reasons Your Family Needs to Visit The Kartrite - NJ Family Hello, Erika! 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. From what we saw of the pricing most of the activities were on the more expensive side. Sopleaseclick on a link or two if you wish tosupport us& and our endeavors here. Hopefully you can keep returning and finding even more ways to have fun with us as the kids grow. It has a transparent Texlon roof that lets in natural sunlight while providing protection against the suns harmful UV rays. They were definitely present - but not blowing their whistle when it was needed and didn't seem as focused. We also only stayed one night, so Im not sure how often housekeeping visits. Looking up to the roofline Aquatopia does feel more open and expansive since it is more of a sweeping semi-circle in shape. included with your stay Waterpark Admission Waterpark admission is always free when you stay with us. 2) With COVID still hanging around and the holidays right around the corner it seemed to be prudent. The rides for the kids are great, it is an entired water playground for toddlers with amazing water slides! Camelback Lodge vs. Great Wolf Lodge: Which Poconos Indoor Water Park We're in the business of making memories. Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. A report from KSAT sister station KPRC states that the indoor water park will break ground in 2022 in the city of Webster, just south of Houston. It sounds like you were able to experience nearly every feature our resort has to offer! Great Wolf Resorts - Wikipedia Family Fun at its best. Kalahari Resort has Tom Foolerys, a gigantic indoor adventure park. My family has stayed in themed rooms at both resorts. Kalahari activities and attractions differ with each location. 6 Best Texas Indoor Water Parks - VacationIdea The food was overpriced but tasty. Hi there! I look forward to hearing back from you. Our suite @ Kalahari was HUGE! 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. So we decided to check it out and see how things had changed. Kalahari Resorts opened in 2015 in the Poconos. It was, however, small. The drive was almost exactly 100 miles for us and we arrived a few minutes after 1:00 pm. Saturday, August 10, 2013 Great Wolf Lodge vs. Gaylord Texan By the time August rolls around our family is in desperate need of a get-away. Kalahari has the most toddler slides by far when comparing the three resorts. It is also something that Kalahari does well . (assuming same accommodations we had for this past trip) and this is how they all answered. 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. Both Great Wolf and Kalahari have very luxurious condos that can accommodate a whole family easily. It was unpleasant to see and to step on. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. The overnight costs for both of these resorts can vary widely throughout the year. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. Kalahari vs Great wolf lodge - Wisconsin Dells Forum We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. Its a tough call. That said, I wouldnt pay triple the price for Kalahari. The kids had a blast, and I think with some minor changes, this place will exceed 5 stars. For the price I would expect better service. Both resorts are well-themed throughout the resort rooms and the water parks. See our Advertiser Disclosure and Editorial Notehere. I will note as a previous reviewer did that Great Wolf Lodge had SPECTACULAR lifeguards. Overall, my family prefers Kalahari Resort. The total cost for the night would have been $415.10. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. Friendly, accommodating, informative.we were very happy with the initial interaction. Better selection of local foods near Great Wolf. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodsy/lodge theme and decor. 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. Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! You all have multi room suites as well as an African Queen Suite.Let's talk about the African Queen Suite for a moment. 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. Part-time blogger, full-time nerd & aspiring Renaissance man! Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Sincerely, Gaylord Texan Resort and Spa vs Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine - Trippy Both are reasonable attempts at having a meal on the healthier side. But be prepared to spend.it comes with the territory! However, if our kids were younger, Great Wolf Lodge would be more manageable due to its smaller size and its mascots that appeal to younger kids. Answer 1 of 6: We want to take my son ( just turned 4) to either Kalahari or Great wolf lodge. Which do you prefer? (Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia) Which is the right waterpark resort experience for your family? (We missed the burritos & soups from Kalahari!). No outside food or drink allowed. Take care! Definitely two thumbs up for the adults area at Kalahari! Check with the resort to confirm which activities are offered during the winter. Great Wolf Lodge's water park is 80,000 square feet, but Kalahari's is over 220,000 square feet. Camelbacks Aquatopiaseems to strike a particularly good balance for children in the 10 + age group. We have been to both resorts in the past but thought it would be fun to do a back-to-back comparison. The Lobby is one of the things I, and everyone in my family, really liked about Kalahari! Is the higher food price of Kalahari worth it? Great Wolf seems to have more of a variety of theming for these bunk bed suites. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. So the water park is what we usually focus on. Camelbacks Aquatopia resort opened their indoor water park in May of 2015. 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). We were on the bottom level and we had a small patio walk out area next to the ropes course. 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? Kalahari Resort vs. Great Wolf Lodge. Thank you to the staff we mentioned for really making sure our stay was the best it possibly could be! Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? CamelBack (Aquatopia) has 453 rooms and there are 6 floors (above ground) to the lodge. Thank you for pointing out my mistake! Age and height requirements vary by location. Apparently they were experiencing people taking the towels as souvenirs?? Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. It seems that there are parts of the water park that are only staffed at peak attendance. This past visit however was somewhat disappointing. Copyright 2023 The Parenthood Adventures! 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! 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. Im not sure when we will make it back there since we have a lot of other travel plans. Sincerely, Kalahari Resort has a huge upcharge for the one type of themed room. The water facilities were great and there was a nice assortment of water slides. Kalahari I feel would be better for the adults to have fun as well. Thank you! On our previous visit a couple of years ago we felt the place was showing some wear and tear. [2] In addition to a water park, each resort features restaurants, arcades, spas, and children's activities. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. 2 of themone outside by the immense outdoor pool and one heated one inside. Finding fun places to take your kids in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Camelback Mountain Resorts waterpark Aquatopia, Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. Thats an AMAZING 425,000 square feet of indoor water parks in a very small geographical area!! We simply love everything about it! It may come down to a simple question: How old are the children in your party? We also liked some of the efficiency features of the room. The top 10 winners in the category Best Indoor Water Park are as follows: Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark - Tannersville, Pennsylvania. We did not rent any of the cabanas that were located throughout. Likewise, there is a cost associated with the convenience of those activities being offered right there and that is cost. However, each locations water parks and amenities vary. Note: There is no Flowrider / surfing simulator attraction at the Poconos location for 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.