Both resorts have themed rooms that accommodate a wide-range of family sizes from two queen rooms to much, much bigger. It needs to be checked more often. Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. You can use the water park at 1pm on the day of check in until close on the day you leave. Overall, my family prefers Kalahari Resort. 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). There are a number of other activities available at the lodge. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. See All Waterpark Features Waterpark (and more!) Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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. 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. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. 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. Second, certain areas of the waterpark, especially the hot tubs, the wave pool and small kids areas were overcrowded. You could definitely capture everything this place has to offer in 2-3 days. People who got there after her were served well before her. Were going in January. Our suite @ Kalahari was HUGE! Kalahari Resort, positioned in Spherical Rock, Texas, is analogous in some ways to Nice Wolf Lodge. It was voted the #1 indoor water park in 2015 by USA Today. All three resorts are located very close to each other in the Poconos. In my mind, Kalahari works best if you have a family with kids of different ages so each can be active. Recently, my family visited Kalahari Resort for the first time. 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. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! Staff always pleasant and friendly!FOOD - There is food available in the waterpark in addition to a steakhouse and Italian restaurant. Check there and compare prices with their website to find the lowest prices for your stay. 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. The sound system is rather poor and the performance is rather loud. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park Snow tubing in PA requires no special skills or equipment and is appropriate for almost everyone. What are you waiting for? If you're not up and about a 4:30 a.m., though, you can still get a. The kids do enjoy the characters and overall lodge experience. There were a total of 3 TVs one in the Family Room where the pull out bed / couch was, one in the master suite and one in the second bedroom with the two queen sized beds. They also enjoyed the Wiley & Friends video stories that you can find on one of the dedicated TV channels. 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! 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. However, please be aware that Camelback / Aquatopia charges for general parking I think it is $12 if you are just coming to engage in one of the activities. There was a large selection, with an emphasis on Italian cuisine. Thanks to Amanda at the front desk for helping facilitate this! You might prefer the chart we put together along with our conclusions. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. This is probably the one area that Aquatopia beats both Great Wolf Lodge & Kalahari. It is always wonderful to receive complements on our dcor as we want our guests to have as authentic an experience as possible. Clean, safe & staff so friendly! Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! It had a pretty good selection of desserts and chocolates. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. Great Wolf Lodge has an especially fun indoor water park and the "under one roof" makes the stay warm and easy. Burger and fries for $12, other sandwiches $12-$15.not excessive. We can engage in many of the other activities closer to our home (and probably at less expense). 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). Great Wolf Lodge has 18 locations, all of which offer indoor water parks with multi-story forts, 1,000-gallon soaker buckets, wave pools, lazy rivers, waterslides of varying heights and speeds, raft rides, whirlpools, kiddie pools and more. That is with just 2 adults and 4 kids. We stayed @ Great Wolf Lodge on a Tuesday night and then Kalahari on Wednesday night of the same week. It felt more intimate and clean, less crowded and sufficiently staffed. 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. So these mini-vacations are a perfect and necessary thing for our family. We like archaeology and the lost river archaeology theme was interesting and well done. Thank you, again. We usually just order a pizza and eat it in our room with maybe a salad. We did the empirical research so you dont have to! When we were last at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos we did not stay in a themed suite. Come splash around! Im guessing the youngest of your children voted for GWL? Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint. Kalaharis water park does the same, except with a jungle theme. It can be more expensive but it's a better place to relax and see your kids enjoying without having to worry too much. DreamWorks Water Park - East Rutherford, New Jersey. Hello, Erika! 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). Otherwise, it far exceeded our expectations and we will definitely be choosing Kalahari over Great Wolf for many years to come. 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. Every room at this resort is air conditioned and has a TV with cable channels. Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! There is also a cafe (Cafe & Bar) and a restaurant (Horizons) located right off the main lobby. The total cost for the night would have been $415.10. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. For the price I would expect better service. Water park temperatures at all three Poconos water parks is the same @ 84 degrees, year-round. Speaking of loud There is usually a dance party in the evening which we found to be extremely loud! One of the other simple theming aspects we enjoyed were the 2 Great Wolf Lodge video book stories playing on the resort TV channel. Robert, Mind you definitely not Disney level theming or branding but a good job. Better selection of local foods near Great Wolf. Klahari is themed and decorated as an African resort. Also, Outdoor pool and some small outdoor water slides (all seasonal). Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. Unfortunately, the kids loaded up on an assortment of dessert and we went back to the room to change back into our swimwear for a last hurrah in the water.Off the lobby there are also a sweets shop, bakery, and ice cream shop, with what appears to be a nice selection of goodies.The next morning, the kids wanted to get in a few hours at the waterpark before our 11:00 checkout. The view felt somewhat private and we really enjoyed it! 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. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. Various restaurants, childrens amenities and retail establishments will also be included in the new development. We stayed in the Desert room which was sufficient in size for 2 adults and 2 small kids. One of Kalahari's Kiddie Areas Top Educational & Inspirational YouTube Channels for Families 2022, Waterpark Comparison Chart: Kalahari, Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge. I felt the prices were reasonable for this type of American Pub food. The toddler splash park area is very big at Kalahari with a lot of water-table type attractions and activities for the little ones. Sincerely, Offers more free activities in the main lobby. The kids really enjoyed the cabin themed suite which was adorned with a lot of cute character images. Thank you for your support! It was unpleasant to see and to step on. (assuming same accommodations we had for this past trip) and this is how they all answered. I will note as a previous reviewer did that Great Wolf Lodge had SPECTACULAR lifeguards. Rooms are bigger and have fun themes. The wolf mascots host a nightly dance party and pj story time. My six year olds love the slides, and they are allowed to ride on everything at Great Wolf, but my teens get bored very quickly. Waterpark admission included with your stay! Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge is often a topic debated by indoor water park visitors. I look forward to hearing back from you. Shooting Range (tourist favorite) is closer to Great Wolf. I also added a note how COVID-19 has delayed our plans to stay @ Aquatopia. Kids jumping in and out, the areas are not guarded by staffsame problem as Great Wolf. As the kids went ahead, employee Jeremy helped to take bags upstairs. We really liked the 2 water falls that were present on the lazy river. My sister, who was also staying at this resort had the African Queen suite and there was PLENTY of room for all of us if they would have moved us. You used the same bathroom photo for both resorts. It's located in the Rockvale Outlets Fox Meadows Creamery has two locations, one in Ephrata, Pennsylvania and one in Leola, Pennsylvania. Each play area includes slides and swings. Just about everything seemed to be swimming in butter or oil, including the overcooked/overheated vegetables. All six Pocono ski resorts have snowtubing hills. Located below the main lobby is both the entrance to the water park and the arcade. The side-lite mirror was a nice feature that we enjoyed. 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. 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. The development is expected to break ground during. There is also a fountain near the middle of the lobby with chairs and tables to sit and eat. Hi there, I appreciate you taking the time to write a review of your most recent stay. To the credit of one observant & kind employee he noticed the exceedingly poor service my wife had received and apologized to her later in the day when he saw her. Socks are required in order to bowl. I'm going to breakdown each part of the resort that we visited and give you the key points: (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) If I was ever to get a weekend alone with my wife we would go to Kalahari since there are more amenities and it is not so kid-centric. Is the higher food price of Kalahari worth it? Thanks for your review! Since we are usually there for just one night we resign ourselves to it being a pizza for dinner night. Water park access was included. 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. They did a fabulous job with the design of this place. Location: 1 Great Wolf Drive, Scotrun, PA. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. Kassie R, Social Media Coordinator at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, responded to this review. 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. Kalahari even has a five bedroom suite that can have a maximum of 22 guests. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. We liked the artwork in the room. The other kids and I voted for Great Wolf Lodge. Naturally, the hotel offers an indoor water park, plus character meet-and-greet experiences, live entertainment, an arcade, ropes course, bowling alley, mini-golf course and spas (one for kids and one for adults). Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. The TV in the room seemed to be new and was the largest of any we saw at the three resorts. Admission: Rates start at $277 a night for a standard four-person room. Featuring free WiFi and a seasonal outdoor pool, Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine offers accommodations in Grapevine. The food was not good at all. 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.