Sopleaseclick on a link or two if you wish tosupport us& and our endeavors here. Kalahari was definitely newer and nicer but also more expensive. There is a huge fireplace towards the back of the lobby that is adjacent to a huge window that overlooks the water park. The distance between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos is a mere 7 miles. As part of the U.S.' largest group of family-friendly water parks, this indoor water park has perfected how to maximize family fun for all ages. Aquatopia at Camelback Lodge in Pennsylvania is 125,000 square feet. The development is expected to break ground during the first quarter of 2022 and construction of the facility will begin no later than April 2025, according to KPRC. Then to get to the lower level you have to take the stairs. Overall, my family prefers Kalahari Resort. There was also only one sink in the room (as well as only one bathroom which had only a standard sized tub). 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. Please see our partners for more details. Our Dallas, TX resort offers an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park and exciting land attractions for the entire family. The IVORY COAST restaurant had a great selection of food and we thoroughly enjoyed doing takeout from there. Can I ask how the service levels compared at the two as well as the food? On the lower level by the entrance for the water park, there is a pizza place with some tables in the lower lobby area. Speaking of loud There is usually a dance party in the evening which we found to be extremely loud! We LOVED IT!More. Looking up to the roofline Aquatopia does feel more open and expansive since it is more of a sweeping semi-circle in shape. We did really like the lazy river at Aquatopia. From what we saw of the pricing most of the activities were on the more expensive side. 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). Finally, we did have a rather poor experience one morning ordering from the Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). The NACHOS did not disappoint. However, there seemed to be a noticeable amount of debris at the bottom of the pool which seemed to a combination of plastic and dirt. The KSAT 12 News Team provides a look at local, regional, statewide and national news events and the latest information on local traffic and weather issues. Part of the joy of Great Wolf Lodge is its size. Thanks to Amanda at the front desk for helping facilitate this! We really liked the 2 water falls that were present on the lazy river. Location: 3001 Kalahari Blvd. Located in America's Historic Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown, it was Great Wolf Resorts' first East Coast location. Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge is often a topic debated by indoor water park visitors. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The wolf mascots host a nightly dance party and pj story time. We were told that the elevator was on the convention center side, which was not really convenient for her. Thank you! Here is a quick breakdown of the outdoor activities offered at each resort: Kalahari: Monkey climb ropes course, zip lines and mini golf. Hopefully you can keep returning and finding even more ways to have fun with us as the kids grow. We recently took a little trip to the Poconos and stayed one night @ Great Wolf Lodge immediately followed by a one-night stay @ Kalahari. Just bundle up and head for the hillsdon't forget your gloves and boots! Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. My husband was brave enough to continue exploring as I sat out on the ground level patio. Just about everything seemed to be swimming in butter or oil, including the overcooked/overheated vegetables. Just a small thing that can be easily rectified. Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park Toddler Play. The Poconos Great Wolf Lodge location has more kiddie water slides than the Williamsburg location. Let's talk about the Royal Hospitality Suite at Kalahari Pocono. No outside food or drink allowed. Socks are required in order to bowl. This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Located below the main lobby is both the entrance to the water park and the arcade. There are a lot of food choices @ Kalahari of which we have only sampled a few. Great wolf is closer to shopping. 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 Resort also has an adult spa and fitness center plus live music entertainment at the steak house and piano bar. Winner: Kalahari Resort Rooms Both resorts have "normal" hotel rooms as well as themed rooms. At the towel dispensary you simply swipe your wrist band and the attendant will hand you the number of towels you request. Were going in January. The smell permeated EVERYTHING to the point of needing to open the door to air it out. Mary Claire Patton has been a journalist with KSAT 12 since 2015. My family recently visited Kalahari Resort in Round Rock, Texas. 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. Kalaharis water park does the same, except with a jungle theme. Inspired parents sharing the joys & adventures of the parenthood journey! Other than the water park & arcade our family hasnt really tried out any other ones. The entire Kalahari Resort is enormous. The Poconos and Williamsburg Virginia location both have a small indoor wave pool. Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. We had no problem finding a table and chairs to rest our towels and use for eating later. Hours: Depending on the day, the indoor water park is open from 9am to 9pm or 10am to 8pm. Life jackets are not required but are available as well as puddle jumpers. Kalahari Resort, located in Round Rock, Texas, is similar in many ways to Great Wolf Lodge. 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! It doesnt extend to the guest rooms and amenities. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. I felt the prices were reasonable for this type of American Pub food. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. Copyright 2022 by KSAT - All rights reserved. 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. . One of Melani and my pet peeves with regards to hotel accommodations is when there is only one night stand for a queen bed. We like archaeology and the lost river archaeology theme was interesting and well done. Great Wolf Resorts told KPRC in a statement, Were always looking for opportunities to introduce the Great Wolf Lodge resort experience to new audiences, and we are excited about the prospect of bringing one of our family-friendly indoor water park resorts to southeastern Texas.. Yes, there were some healthy options just not a very good variety. The food was overpriced but tasty. Tom Foolerys also has a mirror maze, escape rooms, indoor ropes course, laser tag, rock climbing wall, XD dark ride and bowling. I will say we were on the 7th floor..and it was perfectly quiet. Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? To the right of the entrance is check-in / hotel services. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. However, we felt $26 for chicken parm was a little steep. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. Activities could include yoga, character appearances, crafts, a nightly Forest Friends show, story time, and a dance party. See All Waterpark Features Waterpark (and more!) My family has enjoyed a handful of stays at the water park hotel Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas (and one visit to the GWL in Southern California). Camelbacks Aquatopia resort opened their indoor water park in May of 2015. Both Great Wolf and Kalahari have very luxurious condos that can accommodate a whole family easily. You all have multi room suites as well as an African Queen Suite.Let's talk about the African Queen Suite for a moment. Address: 100 Great Wolf Drive Grapevine, TX 76051 Phone: 817-488-6510 Website: greatwolf.com EXPERT TIPS BY: Ilene Jacobs Dallas Local Expert Water Parks: "Day passes can be purchased online or. This happened before on our previous visits but given the number of people this time, they kept closing the areas for cleaning constantly. Both resorts have themed rooms that accommodate a wide-range of family sizes from two queen rooms to much, much bigger. I was wondering what your experiences have been with that. 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. 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. Answer 1 of 6: We want to take my son ( just turned 4) to either Kalahari or Great wolf lodge. It had a pretty good selection of desserts and chocolates. DreamWorks Water Park - East Rutherford, New Jersey. We were also advised that we would receive a text message when our room was ready. 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. 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. Kalahari Resort vs. Great Wolf Lodge. The clothing line in the bathroom was broken and the bed covers had an unpleasant smell. Book now and prepare your pack for adventure. I asked everyone in the family if we are going back down to the Poconos and staying at one of the resorts tomorrow night where would you want to stay? That makes it easy for families traveling with toddlers (and their little legs!). However, Great Wolf Lodge has a higher percentage of themed rooms available at a more reasonable price. During our long walk to the room (the opposite end of the facility), he was VERY professional, engaging and helpful. Hello, Erika! This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. Thank you for reading & for your comment / question! We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. Magic wands are needed for this game, and there is a fee to activate them for a certain period of time. The main dry activity, however, is the MagiQuest interactive wand game. It seems, for obvious safety reasons, that a toddler area would be better located on the lowest level of the water park. Especially around the holidays, it has a warm and fuzzy fireplace vibe. 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. Heres a comparison guide for all three of these resorts. 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. 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. 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. They did a fabulous job with the design of this place. 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. That said, I wouldnt pay triple the price for Kalahari. It is the best themed lazy river out of the three water parks in the Poconos! But we generally dont patronize too many sit down restaurants with 4 kids with ages ranging from 2-10. 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. I am on the mailing list and recently got a promotional offer that indicated the rooms had recently been renovated. Kalahari seems to have a bit more of a selection when it comes to very large rooms. The kids had a blast, and I think with some minor changes, this place will exceed 5 stars. included with your stay Waterpark Admission Waterpark admission is always free when you stay with us. 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? Coming Soon: Great Wolf Lodge in Webster! This 80,000-square-foot facility is perfect for families, although the water park portion is only open to hotel guests. This is probably a reflection of the fact that Kalahari is really a convention center first & foremost and the water park is just one of the many amenities they offer albeit a big one! Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Both are great options for kids. 2) With COVID still hanging around and the holidays right around the corner it seemed to be prudent. Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. 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. It reminds me of Disneys Wilderness Lodge. Virtual reality, tons of games, golf, bowling - this place though of everything. The water park @ Kalahari is HUGE. I would like to further discuss the details of your stay. Yes there were two night stands on either side of the bed in the master suite. We are still having a debate on what it actually was. Welcome to Great Wolf Lodge! (If we wanted to watch tv, we could go to our room.) Rooms are bigger and have fun themes. Great Wolf Lodge has an especially fun indoor water park and the "under one roof" makes the stay warm and easy. Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. Please email me directly at PAConnect@kalahariresorts.com. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. There are a number of other activities available at the lodge. (assuming same accommodations we had for this past trip) and this is how they all answered. Kids hearing is much more sensitive! It is especially better for younger kids ones who dont want or need a life jacket!