great wolf lodge vs kalahari

A 14-inch pie was 8 slices, 2 toppings $21. 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. We usually ordered and brought the food to our room. I know that camelback has a swim up bar at its resort but I have never been to the other two. With multiple flexible rooms and more than 15,000 square feet of outdoor event space, our Wisconsin Dells resort has your next special occasion covered with: Adaptable event spaces for birthdays, weddings, cocktail receptions, conferences, meetings, and more. Water park access was included. My wife & I both agree we would, hands down, pick Kalahari. Please email me directly at PAConnect@kalahariresorts.com. We did not have a car on the premises so driving was not an option, and walking was not very appealing since we tend to patronize the indoor water parks during the colder months and it was late November when we were at Aquatopia. Great Wolf Lodges water park continues their wildlife theme. Swim Up BARS - An absolutely genius idea! Camelbacks Aquatopia also had the highest resort fee and the prices quoted on the website do not include the $25/night parking fee. It had its own TV and was adorned with a lot of cute character images. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. There was also only one sink in the room (as well as only one bathroom which had only a standard sized tub). If you are going to Cedar Point, Castaway is located right at the beginning of the causeway to CP. 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. TripAdvisor review of Great Wolf Lodge Poconos, TripAdvisor review of Kalahari Resort Poconos, Booking.com review of Great Wolf Lodge Poconos, MommyNearest Great Wolf Lodge vs Kalahari vs Camelback. Otherwise, it far exceeded our expectations and we will definitely be choosing Kalahari over Great Wolf for many years to come. Great Wolf also has a neat Glockenspiel in the lobby that does a little show in the evening, and than a character comes out afterwards for a meet and greet. Second, certain areas of the waterpark, especially the hot tubs, the wave pool and small kids areas were overcrowded. It is the best themed lazy river out of the three water parks in the Poconos! Thats an AMAZING 425,000 square feet of indoor water parks in a very small geographical area!! I was wondering what your experiences have been with that. * > Please call 1-877-KALAHARI (525-2427) and request booking code O1107. CamelBack (Aquatopia) has 453 rooms and there are 6 floors (above ground) to the lodge. I would like to further discuss the details of your stay. Kalahari I feel would be better for the adults to have fun as well. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. I actually have a hard time believing that the square footage of the park is larger than the water park @ Great Wolf Lodge. We also only stayed one night, so Im not sure how often housekeeping visits. In November 2020, a competitor to GWL opened in Texas. Thank you, again. It seems, for obvious safety reasons, that a toddler area would be better located on the lowest level of the water park. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! Click here to go to the Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park website. Been at least six years ago. Mind you definitely not Disney level theming or branding but a good job. After learning about the aspects of both of these resort, which one will your family choose? Both resorts have also utilized Groupon for deals. 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. Kalahari was the cheapest on Friday evening - but the most expensive during the week & the second most expensive on Saturday evening. This happened before on our previous visits but given the number of people this time, they kept closing the areas for cleaning constantly. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. So I guess you just dont need it that much. Chip. If I had to ask in your personal opinion which resort do you think would be the best for an adult couple (26 year old newly weds) without children to go to? Great Wolf Lodge is known for their MagiQuest game. 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. Kalahari was the cheapest on Friday evening but the most expensive during the week & the second most expensive on Saturday evening. Top Educational & Inspirational YouTube Channels for Families 2022, Waterpark Comparison Chart: Kalahari, Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge. We have not yet patronized any of these establishments. Sincerely, Chip. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. Tiffany, Im so glad you found the post helpful. Great Wolf Lodges water park is 80,000 square feet, but Kalaharis is over 220,000 square feet. My family has stayed in themed rooms at both resorts. As I mentioned above, we can engage in many of the other activities closer to our home. Kalahari Resort, located in Round Rock, Texas, is similar in many ways to Great Wolf Lodge. If your brand of parenting involves stiff drinks, Kalahari is much more liquor focused, with bartenders and full drinks. Apparently they were experiencing people taking the towels as souvenirs?? Shooting Range (tourist favorite) is closer to Great Wolf. Hi there, I appreciate you taking the time to write a review of your most recent stay. Read on to find out which one is the BEST water park for your family vacation! The Poconos location has 401 rooms and each wing of the lodge has 4 floors. Located below the main lobby is both the entrance to the water park and the arcade. The resorts' water parks include indoor. Kalahari Resort also has an adult spa and fitness center plus live music entertainment at the steak house and piano bar. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. We also liked the master light switch in the room that made it very easy to turn off every light in the suite with one switch. We were told that the elevator was on the convention center side, which was not really convenient for her. You used the same bathroom photo for both resorts. The room was nice and clean but nothing particularly memorable. I love the theming of GWL and my kids are obsessed with Magi Quest, but the adults only things at Kalahari cant be beat! They also enjoyed the Wiley & Friends video stories that you can find on one of the dedicated TV channels. 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. At times Kalahari actually felt a littletoo bigfor us. The TV in the room seemed to be new and was the largest of any we saw at the three resorts. It was unpleasant to see and to step on. The water is warm, but not too hot. It is also carried through with the water park experience itself with some of the attractions incorporating the characters and /or lodge theme. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. Just about everything seemed to be swimming in butter or oil, including the overcooked/overheated vegetables. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. The wave pool alternates between wave / no wave cycles. We are still having a debate on what it actually was. Adventure Update # 64: Summer Vacation 2022! The distance between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a mere 7 miles. 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. The Poconos Waterpark Showdown 2019. Im guessing the youngest of your children voted for GWL? We ended up eating most of the fries and onions rings, while discarding the rest. The clothing line in the bathroom was broken and the bed covers had an unpleasant smell. This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. 2501 Great Wolf Dr> Mason, OH 45040 (800) 913-9653. 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. 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. You all have multi room suites as well as an African Queen Suite.Let's talk about the African Queen Suite for a moment. It is in the middle in terms of the size of its indoor water park and in number of rooms at the resort. The setting for them seems nicer, and they seem more elaborate than the ropes course offered @ Great Wolf Lodge. THERE ISNOADDITIONAL COST TO YOU if you buy something from Amazon! > We look forward to seeing you again! We usually just order a pizza and eat it in our room with maybe a salad. Thanks! Aquatopiais somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! The water park @ Aquatopia was nice. Also, the post was never updated to include information about Aquatopia. Tom Foolerys also has a mirror maze, escape rooms, indoor ropes course, laser tag, rock climbing wall, XD dark ride and bowling. Kalahari Resort in Round Rock, TX is like Great Wolf Lodge on steroids. Kids hearing is much more sensitive! Great Wolf Lodge: Outdoor ropes courses seasonal. Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. 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. ==> Kalahari: Kalahari is the BEST indoor water park & resort for families looking for a balance between kid activities and adult luxuries on vacation. I hope you and your family have a wonderful stay! However, there were at least 6 employees assisting at the registration desk and the line moved relatively quickly. We had no problem finding a table and chairs to rest our towels and use for eating later. We really liked the 2 water falls that were present on the lazy river. 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. 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. To read more about HOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL & a PRICE COMPARISON of ALL THREE POCONOS WATERPARK RESORTS check out my NEW post: Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! Since we are fans of Indiana Jones we like most archaeology theme including this one but I would not say the theme-ing is immersive other than the lazy river. However, we felt $26 for chicken parm was a little steep. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. Thank you for your support! We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. There were 2 bathrooms one off the walk-in area and the second one in the master suite. Not only are the room prices significantly cheaper during the week for all 3 waterparks but the resorts are a lot less crowded as well! 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! We also liked some of the efficiency features of the room. We recently visited Camelback Mountain Resorts waterpark Aquatopia (November 24th, 2021). There is a huge fireplace towards the back of the lobby that is adjacent to a huge window that overlooks the water park. Lifejackets available, large amount of seating and tables!ARCADE - Another huge area! (It was almost like an obstacle course with the running kids, machines, flashing lights, and noise.) . The floors were full of paper, tissues, dirty towels, used dippers, used shampoo packets etc and there was no attendant in sight. If youre looking for other vacation ideas check out our Family Travel Tips for Niagara Falls! Contemporary and tasteful.we give that an A+!Overall, we can't wait to return to Kalahari! The Poconos location has 401 rooms and each wing of the lodge has 4 floors. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. Finally, we did have a rather poor experience one morning ordering from the Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). The best playgrounds near Bucks County, PA are some of the best playgrounds in Pennsylvania. Magic wands are needed for this game, and there is a fee to activate them for a certain period of time. The Great Wolf Lodge resort in the Poconos was constructed in 2005 - and is one of roughly 19 locations for the chain. Copyright document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Miles for Family All Rights Reserved. One time a lifeguard came out and caught one but without constant observation, it is impossible to parole this area. Hopefully you can come again soon but until then, take care! Kalahari has the largest indoor waterpark of the 3, and is the largest resort located in the Poconos. Let's talk about the Royal Hospitality Suite at Kalahari Pocono. 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 Lodge also has a small bowling ally, gem mining, outdoor ropes course, arcade, and glow golf. Both resorts in the Poconos have a water coaster. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this sites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. I will say we were on the 7th floor..and it was perfectly quiet. We stayed in the Desert room which was sufficient in size for 2 adults and 2 small kids. There was a nice variety of the treats and each of the kids was able to find something appealing to them. Definitely two thumbs up for the adults area at Kalahari! (But It Wasnt Horrible), Using United Miles to Increase my Relatives Chances of Getting Hungarian Visas. We had a cabin themed room for this stay (KidCabin Suite) and the kids enjoyed it more than I had expected! @Kelly We ate dinner off-site so I cant really compare the food fairly. It felt cozy and definitely complimented the whole lodge theme & experience! When looking at Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari as destinations for families, they both offer plenty of fun activities. The 3 "kids" (ages 12-20) and I were impressed with the front of the resort. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. 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. We liked the luggage rack near the door and the shelf over the microwave. The theming is carried throughout multiple aspects of the total experience. Towel check-out is something new since our last visit. My husband was brave enough to continue exploring as I sat out on the ground level patio. This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC. As a native New Yorker, a bit of grit and grime doesn't scare me. Great Wolf Lodge has an outdoor ropes course and indoor arcade. Kids under the age of 6 were coming in and out with no parental supervision. It reminds me of Disneys Wilderness Lodge. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. I found the photos pleasing to look at and relaxing! There are a lot of food choices @ Kalahari of which we have only sampled a few. Which do you prefer? We LOVED IT!More. Although I am admittedly not a big fan of buffets, we figured it would be easy for everyone to find something they liked. 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. Castaway has the wave pool, but the Kalahari has a great lazy river. Hello! So we decided to check it out and see how things had changed. They looped continuously so they are readily accessible at any time. 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. The outdoor small kids area with slides was a nice addition to the park however my daughter who is 53" tall was not allowed to go on them. The employees at Great Wolf are s. I worked at Great Wolf Lodge for a year, and I have been to Kalahari before. 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. Robert, It doesnt extend to the guest rooms and amenities. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July.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. Its really a question of what the individual family prefers, as far as water park size, features and resort amenities. Both are reasonable attempts at having a meal on the healthier side. Thank you for reading & for your comment / question! 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! (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) For part of our stay both lazy river attractions were open and there were other times when only one was open. We also enjoyed the balcony. There are 2 lazy river type rides, the wave pool is immense, there are 2 hot tubs that are partly inside the building AND partly outside of the building with a narrow channel to traverse back and forth.