Water park access was included. The main dry activity, however, is the MagiQuest interactive wand game. 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. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodsy/lodge theme and decor. Hi, Pamela! 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. Then to get to the lower level you have to take the stairs. If you want averykid-centricexperience from top to bottom we would recommendGreat Wolf Lodge. But, my kids are little fish who love swimming, and they cant get enough of this type of resort. It felt cozy and definitely complimented the whole lodge theme & experience! Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. There was a nice variety of the treats and each of the kids was able to find something appealing to them. Waterpark admission included with your stay! There was a large selection, with an emphasis on Italian cuisine. 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. Read on to find out which one is the BEST water park for your family vacation! EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. 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. Welcome to Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Round Rock 223,000 square feet, filled with wet, wild, fun. Hello! Thank you for your feedback. Would have been nice to have them inside as well.The waterpark overall was phenomenal - huge and definitely accommodates young and old. I look forward to connecting with you. Compare management, culture and compensation ratings for Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Resorts & Conventions. Our suite was located on the same level as the entrance to the water park which was below the main level. Kalahari is amaizing! It is hard to believe that Aquatopia/Camelback would actually be charging extra for the balcony /patios at this level! 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. In particular, it felt narrow. Hours: Depending on the day, the indoor water park is open from 9am to 9pm or 10am to 8pm. The resort's mammoth 80,000-square-foot indoor waterpark has nine waterslides, six pools, and a four-story treehouse waterfort and utilizes nearly 380,000 gallons of water.Beyond the massive indoor waterpark, Great Wolf Lodge offers families daily activities and amenities on the dry side. Yes, there were some healthy options just not a very good variety. GWL has excellent sales. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The wave pool was on par with that at Great Wolf Lodge. Keep reading our Poconos water park guide & comparison to find out! It is a wonderful family vacation spot that offers a lot of adventure & nature! The Kalahari Resort is well appointed, nicely decorated, and the facilities are well maintained. The Great Wolf Lodge Resort is a family-friendly resort located a few miles from the LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Grapevine and offers deluxe accommodations, upscale amenities, and an indoor water park with several swimming areas and wave pools, water slides and rides, waterfalls, hot springs, and entertainment for children. When we were last at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos we did not stay in a themed suite. How does it compare to Great Wolf Lodge? Kalahari and Chula Vista - now that the "Flyin Mayan" ride is back - are also. He was open to questions about the place and even offered a few suggestions. 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. Many of the activities are located right on the main level off to the left of the main lobby so they are very visible. Its Manageable Size Is Perfect for Younger Kids The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark It's true: Kalahari is the biggest indoor water park in the country and Camelback has almost 50,000 square feet on Kartrite. Blessed father of 4 wonderful children & trophy husband to 1 lovely wife. Finally, we did have a rather poor experience one morning ordering from the Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). Lifejackets available, large amount of seating and tables!ARCADE - Another huge area! The Poconos location has 401 rooms and each wing of the lodge has 4 floors. In November 2020, a competitor to GWL opened in Texas. Your goal is our goal. The short of it about the same as Great Wolf Lodge and FAR less than Kalahari! THERE ISNOADDITIONAL COST TO YOU if you buy something from Amazon! The balcony/patio was laughable. According to the contract, the family resort and water park will feature at least 400,000 square feet of lodging and entertainment space and the indoor water park will be at least 75,000 square feet. The ladies bathroom and changing area looked tike a war zone! Better selection of local foods near Great Wolf. It may come down to a simple question: How old are the children in your party? The rides for the kids are great, it is an entired water playground for toddlers with amazing water slides! It was voted the #1 indoor water park in 2015 by USA Today. 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. bellyrubbah1 2 yr. ago Cool. The shop is along Interstate 81, making it a Busy Bodies Play Cafe is an indoor play space for children who are 1 year old through 6 years old. Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. Great Wolf Lodge. Thank you, again. Check there and compare prices with their website to find the lowest prices for your stay. 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). 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. The advent of Great Wolf Lodge represents one of the most monumental The advent of Great Wolf Lodge represents one of the most monumental accomplishments in the Citys history, Webster city officials said. They also enjoyed the Wiley & Friends video stories that you can find on one of the dedicated TV channels. (If we wanted to watch tv, we could go to our room.) Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. Finding fun places to take your kids in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. Especially around the holidays, it has a warm and fuzzy fireplace vibe. It's located in the Rockvale Outlets Fox Meadows Creamery has two locations, one in Ephrata, Pennsylvania and one in Leola, Pennsylvania. One of Melani and my pet peeves with regards to hotel accommodations is when there is only one night stand for a queen bed. No outside food or drink allowed. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains packs in all the family fun under one roof. My family has stayed in themed rooms at both resorts. There was also only one sink in the room (as well as only one bathroom which had only a standard sized tub). 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. Why do the adults with hearing damage always make the decisions with regards to volume level! Other than the water park & arcade our family hasnt really tried out any other ones. Webster city officials released a statement on Facebook about the new Great Wolf Lodge development in December, stating that the water park and resort will bring more than 500 jobs to the area. Ask erikas213 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask PinkHibiscus32 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask lljPa about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Royal hospitality suite not royal not hospitable, Ask kelismom14 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask mcapellan78 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask Pamela C about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos. Heres a comparison guide for all three of these resorts. 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. really? Thank you for pointing out my mistake! 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. I will say we were on the 7th floor..and it was perfectly quiet. We have been to the Williamsburg Virginia location where there was one but there is not one @ the Poconos location. For the price I would expect better service. We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. Embarrassing that I never realized it was the same picture! Both resorts are well-themed throughout the resort rooms and the water parks. 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. It can be more expensive but it's a better place to relax and see your kids enjoying without having to worry too much. With that being said it does appear that the ropes course and zip lines are something that we may try in the future. If you would like to read a little more about our trip down to the Poconos you can do so here: Adventure Update # 018: My Tricycle is Very Very Fast! After reading this post - which Poconos waterpark do you THINK you are most likely to go to? All six Pocono ski resorts have snowtubing hills. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. Kalahari has a lot of complaints on Google about 2+ hour check in times and no housekeeping. 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. Thank you for your support! When he pulled down the Murphy's bed, dirty nastiness came down with it. Camelback Mountain Resorts waterpark Aquatopia, Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). We may also participate in other affiliate programs from time-to-time and be compensated for referring traffic & business to these companies. We recently visited Camelback Mountain Resorts waterpark Aquatopia (November 24th, 2021). However, we felt $26 for chicken parm was a little steep. Great wolf is closer to shopping. Kalahari Resort's water park has more of everything and also includes a Flowrider, which is popular with older kids and teens. Try getting on the email lists of both of these resorts to learn about the discounts they offer throughout the year. Life jackets are not required but are available as well as puddle jumpers. There are other places with better miniature golf courses and a regular bowling alley does a better job for bowling so we tend not to spend our dollars on those activities when we are at Great Wolf Lodge. They looped continuously so they are readily accessible at any time. Kalahariis the biggest of the 3 and has a wider range of offerings that will appeal to both adults & children. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. You can use the water park at 1pm on the day of check in until close on the day you leave. Whereas, the roofline @ Great Wolf Lodge is blocky. Kalahari features a number of signature sit-down restaurants (Sortinos Italian Kitchen (Italian food), B-Lux Grill & Bar (Burgers & Shakes), Double Cut (Steakhouse). Kalahari is absolutely immense! We didn't hear a peep after 10pm and slept soundly. We also only stayed one night, so Im not sure how often housekeeping visits. After learning about the aspects of both of these resort, which one will your family choose? The floors were full of paper, tissues, dirty towels, used dippers, used shampoo packets etc and there was no attendant in sight. 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. There is also a fountain near the middle of the lobby with chairs and tables to sit and eat. I love the theming of GWL and my kids are obsessed with Magi Quest, but the adults only things at Kalahari cant be beat! Kalahari Resorts opened in 2015 in the Poconos. The photos were nature themed and glossy. Some of the profit from any sale may merely make it intoourpocket instead of Jeff Bezos'! Thankfully, we didnt have a 2+ hour line to check-in. Clean, safe & staff so friendly! How does the resort compare to Great Wolf Lodge? This was terrific we will likely do all three spaced out over a few years, but this absolutely helped us figure out what order to go in. Both are reasonable attempts at having a meal on the healthier side. We did not rent any of the cabanas that were located throughout. 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. As I mentioned above, we can engage in many of the other activities closer to our home. It felt like you were rubbing shoulders with other people all the time. 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. Great Wolf Lodge has an especially fun indoor water park and the "under one roof" makes the stay warm and easy. 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 was definitely newer and nicer but also more expensive. Our suite @ Kalahari was HUGE! Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. So if you are looking for a martini, you will have to hit one of the restaurants. Only 2 of our bracelets worked, but we were able to get around that on more than one occasion. We have been to both resorts in the past but thought it would be fun to do a back-to-back comparison. 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. The water facilities were great and there was a nice assortment of water slides. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. Likewise the lobby is magnificent! 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. Please email me directly at PAConnect@kalahariresorts.com. Yes My oldest daughter and wife voted for Kalahari. 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. B-Lux also features 12 lanes of state-of-the-art Brunswick bowling. I am pleased to hear that our staff was friendly and that our facilities were well maintained throughout your stay. 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. Old Windmill Farm is located at 262 Paradise Lane in Ronks, Pennsylvania. As a native New Yorker, a bit of grit and grime doesn't scare me. 2 of themone outside by the immense outdoor pool and one heated one inside. Offers more free activities in the main lobby. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. 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. I love Great Wolf Lodge, but the water park is a little more for younger kids, while Kalahari is more for the older kids. Book now and prepare your pack for adventure. Hello and thank you for the review! This is probably the one area that Aquatopia beats both Great Wolf Lodge & Kalahari. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. For the volume of people passing through it ( to check-in, check out, shop at the shops and access the activities) it feels a little small and congested. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. While the hallways of rooms may still be a bit long, its not as vast as Kalahari. Note: There is no Flowrider / surfing simulator attraction at the Poconos location for Great Wolf Lodge. You used the same bathroom photo for both resorts. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. The setting for them seems nicer, and they seem more elaborate than the ropes course offered @ Great Wolf Lodge. Kalahari even has a five bedroom suite that can have a maximum of 22 guests. Kalahari Resort, located in Round Rock, Texas, is similar in many ways to Great Wolf Lodge. It's the easiest way to hit the slopes! Part-time blogger, full-time nerd & aspiring Renaissance man! The distance between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a mere 7 miles. Sincerely, Im not sure if it something that they created or if it has its origins someplace else. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. It doesnt extend to the guest rooms and amenities. My daughter walks with a medical device. Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. 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. Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? Adventure Update # 020: 10 Years and 1/2 an Inch! WEBSTER, Texas Texas is set to add another Great Wolf Lodge location to its ranks. I will note as a previous reviewer did that Great Wolf Lodge had SPECTACULAR lifeguards. A 14-inch pie was 8 slices, 2 toppings $21. We did really like the lazy river at Aquatopia. 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. Both waterparks are easily accessible from the lobby, and the dining and shops are also centered around there.