The first thing that struck me the most was how dirty and unsanitary the waterpark was compared to before. Both are reasonable attempts at having a meal on the healthier side. We may also participate in other affiliate programs from time-to-time and be compensated for referring traffic & business to these companies. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. CamelBack (Aquatopia) has 453 rooms and there are 6 floors (above ground) to the lodge. The cabin was towards the front of the room and was semi-private for the kids. We have not yet patronized any of these establishments. Life-size animal statues adorn the outside. The short of it about the same as Great Wolf Lodge and FAR less than Kalahari! Thank you to management for a well-trained staff and an enjoyable time! EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. Thank you for pointing out my mistake! 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. The fact that Camelback ALSO has the Mountain Resort (skiing, tubing, etc), the outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its nightime illumination make it unique. We went for the Italian the second night and the food was again wonderful. I'm going to breakdown each part of the resort that we visited and give you the key points: Hello, Erika! Across from that there is a small decent sized souvenir shop / store and a small dessert kiosk. The water facilities were great and there was a nice assortment of water slides. 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! 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. We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. Fortunately we only live about 2 hours away. We like archaeology and the lost river archaeology theme was interesting and well done. Let's talk about the Royal Hospitality Suite at Kalahari Pocono. It had its own TV and was adorned with a lot of cute character images. Embarrassing that I never realized it was the same picture! > We look forward to seeing you again! For our 6 and 8 year olds who have never been to an indoor waterpark, were doing GWL first and will get to the others later. Both resorts have huge water parks and other indoor activities. Yes there were two night stands on either side of the bed in the master suite. The clothing line in the bathroom was broken and the bed covers had an unpleasant smell. 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. 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. I look forward to hearing back from you. Lately we have been hitting the snack bar (Pizza Pub) down in the arcade for the burritos and then the store (Marrakesh Market) right at the edge of the lobby for some of the soups. A side-by-side comparison of Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelback's Aquatopia by size, # of slides, room pricing, activities, hours of operation and many more metrics to help you select the BEST water park for your family vacation! Kalahari also has a wide variety of types of water slides drop slides, mat racer, raft slides, etc. Read on to find out which one is the BEST water park for your family vacation! (But It Wasnt Horrible), Using United Miles to Increase my Relatives Chances of Getting Hungarian Visas. Salaries are taken from job posts or reported by employees and are not adjusted for level or location. The setting for them seems nicer, and they seem more elaborate than the ropes course offered @ Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf Lodge has more traditional tube, body slides, and a bowl slide. Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. We are still having a debate on what it actually was. Arrive as a family and leave as a pack at Great Wolf Lodge. Wet bar, fridge, microwaveIMPRESSED with the upkeep.WATERPARK - The place is absolutely huge. Click here to go to the Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Water Park website. 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. Definitely two thumbs up for the adults area at Kalahari! Many of the activities are located right on the main level off to the left of the main lobby so they are very visible. It reminds me of Disneys Wilderness Lodge. Seriously, I'm not being dramatic. It had a pretty good selection of desserts and chocolates. Please email me directly at PAConnect@kalahariresorts.com. There is a very small / non-standard sized bowling alley, a miniature golf course, an arcade, MagiQuest, etc We have done some of the other activities in the past but only if they were included with our stay or one of the bundled package passes (Paw Pass, Pup Pass and Wolf Pass). Water park access was included. Much more concise! Great Wolf Lodgeis the best for younger kids because it has the most charm and does a better job of theme ing with its characters throughout the entire experience (lodging, dining & water park) compared to either Aquatopia or Kalahari. We like all three. Kalahari features a number of signature sit-down restaurants (Sortinos Italian Kitchen (Italian food), B-Lux Grill & Bar (Burgers & Shakes), Double Cut (Steakhouse). Once again, the food was mediocre at best. 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. bellyrubbah1 3 yr. ago. 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. Thats theming! The fact that Aquatopia ALSO has an outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its night-time illumination make it unique. The smell permeated EVERYTHING to the point of needing to open the door to air it out. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Shooting Range (tourist favorite) is closer to Great Wolf. Winner: Kalahari Resort (especially for older kids and teens). There was one dedicated dessert/pastry kiosk located off the main lobby nestled in there with the souvenir shop. 6 big ones + Fort Mackenzie slides (medium sized) 14 Total, 15 big ones + Splashdown Safari Slides (medium sized), 8 big ones + Kartrites Quest slides (medium sized), 7,450 sq.ft.flexible air-wall system allows it to be divided into different sizes, SUNDAY THURSDAY: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM (opening 9:30 AM for Resort Guests), Yesilluminated at night, but gently, to make the waterpark feel like evening, Kalahari (Standard Room: Double Queen Sofa), Forfeit $100 if cancellation is at least 3 days prior to your arrival. Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! We also only stayed one night, so Im not sure how often housekeeping visits. For exact amenities lists, its best to view the Great Wolf Lodge or Kalahari website of the locations you are comparing. That is with just 2 adults and 4 kids. Heres a comparison guide for all three of these resorts. Hello! The other kids and I voted for Great Wolf Lodge. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Throughout the day those areas were also closed several times for about 15 min at a time for cleaning since the kids were pooping and vomiting in the water. 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. When we go to one of the three water parks in the Poconos we are usually going for water park & swimming fun so other activities are not our primary focus. Thats an AMAZING 425,000 square feet of indoor water parks in a very small geographical area!! We did not rent any of the cabanas that were located throughout. It is hard to believe that Aquatopia/Camelback would actually be charging extra for the balcony /patios at this level! At times Kalahari actually felt a little too big for us (both the resort & the water park). There was also only one sink in the room (as well as only one bathroom which had only a standard sized tub). The kids do enjoy the characters and overall lodge experience. Very spacious, a flat screen TV in each room and in main living area with fireplace. When you check in the lodge they should offer you and / or the kids wolf ears at no extra charge since, after all it is the Great WOLF Lodge!. 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. 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. Thanks! The main dry activity, however, is the MagiQuest interactive wand game. Overall we felt like Kalahari was much better before the expansion. > Reserve the Desert or Hut Room, Sunday - Friday through June 30, 2006 at Kalahari Resort - Sandusky, Ohio for $99 for up to 4 guests! We have been to both resorts in the past but thought it would be fun to do a back-to-back comparison. From the pricing you see above you can understand why we usually opt for the kids to miss a day of school when we head over to one of Poconos water parks! Magic wands are needed for this game, and there is a fee to activate them for a certain period of time. 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. Inspired parents sharing the joys & adventures of the parenthood journey! We really liked the 2 water falls that were present on the lazy river. Aquatopiais somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! This seems to be an archaeology /exploration theme that they incorporate to water park. 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. Especially liked the Learn to Surf place. 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! Which Poconos waterpark do you like best? 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 enjoyed the balcony. (Basically a jumpy seat for adults.) You might prefer the chart we put together along with our conclusions. So we decided to check it out and see how things had changed. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! (We missed the burritos & soups from Kalahari!). Likewise the lobby is magnificent! Adventure Update # 020: 10 Years and 1/2 an Inch! Thank you for reading & for your comment / question! I believe you get what you pay for--any insight as the the huge difference in rates?!!! Agreed, Great Wolf or Castaway would be better. Thank you, again. The lobby at Aquatopia is more spacious than the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge but far smaller than the lobby at Kalahari. Hello and thank you for the review! The wave pool was on par with that at Great Wolf Lodge. 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. So the water park is what we usually focus on. They also enjoyed the Wiley & Friends video stories that you can find on one of the dedicated TV channels. Yes, there were some healthy options just not a very good variety. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. Thank you for your support! 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. Castaway has the wave pool, but the Kalahari has a great lazy river. This was because: 1) We are a family of 6 and eating out is not usually relaxing or enjoyable! 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. GWL isnt fast either, but 2+ hours to pay triple the price wouldnt work either. 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. 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. I wouldn't pay a dollar to go to camelback. The new Italian restaurant had a nice design and the food was good. The room @ Aquatopia that we had was a double queen suite, a pull-out sofa and a balcony. My wife & I both agree we would, hands down, pick Kalahari.