Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. In November 2020, a competitor to GWL opened in Texas. We put together this side-by-side comparison of Kalahari, Camelbacks Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge to help you choose the right resort or water park for your family vacation! > We look forward to seeing you again! The food was overpriced but tasty. With that being said it does appear that the ropes course and zip lines are something that we may try in the future. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. ==> Kalahari: Kalahari is the BEST indoor water park & resort for families looking for a balance between kid activities and adult luxuries on vacation. The fact that Camelback ALSO has the Mountain Resort (skiing, tubing, etc), the outdoor water park (Camelbeach) and its nightime illumination make it unique. Likewise the lobby is magnificent! 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. Chip Williamson All Rights Reserved. Hopefully you can come again soon but until then, take care! On a subsequent trip (after COVID) we also visited Camelbacks Aquatopia. 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. Thank you for your feedback. We love knowing that our attractions were fun for both the children and adults in your family! Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! This happened before on our previous visits but given the number of people this time, they kept closing the areas for cleaning constantly. The room was nice and clean but nothing particularly memorable. 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? Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Camelbacks Aquatopia resort are all located in the Poconos and are VERY close to each other! The town is also beyond tacky. The cabin was towards the front of the room and was semi-private for the kids. Many months later (due to COVID) we stayed at Camelbacks Aquatopia. The room was very clean and up-to-date. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park The view felt somewhat private and we really enjoyed it! Click here to go to the Aquatopia Poconos Indoor Water Park website. Great Wolf Lodge has more traditional tube, body slides, and a bowl slide. Great Wolf Lodge was nearly as inexpensive during the week as Aquatopia ($249 vs $238), and the cheapest on Saturday night. Kalaharis waterpark is the largest at 220,000 square feet & Camelbacks Aquatopia indoor waterpark is right in the middle at 125,000 square feet. Great Wolf is good for the small children, Castaway is good for everyone, and Kalahari is beautiful but I find it leans more toward the older children and adults. Kalahari was definitely newer and nicer but also more expensive. There isnt any story that goes along with any of the characters as far as we were able to discern. Another note worth mentioning the bathtubs @ Kalahari are huge! Hello, Erika! Great Wolf Lodge vs. Kalahari vs. CamelBacks Aquatopia! Report inappropriate content Elveric 3rd Chaise to the. Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. Were going in January. If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. We just stayed at Camelback the night before Thanksgiving and are actively working on updated the post. 111 Things to Do in the Adirondacks & Upstate New York! Camelbacks Aquatopia also had the highest resort fee and the prices quoted on the website do not include the $25/night parking fee. First, Great Wolf Lodge is a decent size. The water park @ Aquatopia was nice. Imagine what it takes to run this place?!? Both resorts also have onsite dining that continues the decor. Both seemed to make a small room work a little better and not feel as small as it actually was. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. 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! The Great Wolf Lodge resort in the Poconos was constructed in 2005 and is one of roughly 19 locations for the chain. It is disappointing to hear that you did not have as great of an experience this time around compared to your first two. Great Wolf Lodges water park continues their wildlife theme. Level Contributor 1,490 posts 39 reviews Fortunately we only live about 2 hours away. Jamison is a small town in Warwick Township, Bucks Ringing Rocks County Park is located on the border of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, along Ringing Rocks Road, in Upper Black Eddy, QuiNBy's Playground recently opened in 2022. We also enjoyed the Lazy River and the wave pool. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this sites author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Please email me directly at PAConnect@kalahariresorts.com. It was HORRIBLE! As a native New Yorker, a bit of grit and grime doesn't scare me. The food was not good at all. We were really looking forward into the expansion since we really loved how great Kalahari was the first two times we visited. Staff always pleasant and friendly!FOOD - There is food available in the waterpark in addition to a steakhouse and Italian restaurant. Kalahari Resort, located in Round Rock, Texas, is similar in many ways to Great Wolf Lodge. Seriously, this place is awesome! The water park @ Kalahari is HUGE. We LOVED IT!More. Best Indoor Water Park Winners (2021) | USA TODAY 10Best 2.) Some of the profit from any sale may merely make it intoourpocket instead of Jeff Bezos'! 14 Best Indoor Water Park Resorts in the U.S. - FamilyVacationist Winner: Tie Water Park Both resorts have huge water parks that include a wave pool, lazy river, splash areas and of course water slides. Although I am admittedly not a big fan of buffets, we figured it would be easy for everyone to find something they liked. 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. 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. 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. Splash Lagoon . > Reserve the Desert or Hut Room, Sunday - Friday through June 30, 2006 at Kalahari Resort - Sandusky, Ohio for $99 for up to 4 guests! Friendly, accommodating, informative.we were very happy with the initial interaction. Advice: you can't come to a place like this and complain about how much things cost. Expect to spend money on food, games, etc. Great Wolf Lodge also has a small bowling ally, gem mining, outdoor ropes course, arcade, and glow golf. From the accommodation standpoint it was a much more memorable stay! The ladies bathroom and changing area looked tike a war zone! We have never patronized the restaurant as it does seem expensive. There are a lot of food choices @ Kalahari of which we have only sampled a few. Great Wolf Lodge is the perfect family vacation destination resort all year round. It's small enough to feel cozy but large enough to feel like you are actually at a hotel. But, if or when we do return, I look forward to spending more time in that adults-only grotto. The main dry activity, however, is the MagiQuest interactive wand game. Kalahari Resorts and Conventions Water Park. Towel check-out is something new since our last visit. The entire Kalahari Resort is enormous. Aquatopiais somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! Standard rooms in both hotels come with two queen beds, a pull-out sofa bed, and a small table with chairs. The lobby at Aquatopia is more spacious than the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge but far smaller than the lobby at Kalahari. The setting for them seems nicer, and they seem more elaborate than the ropes course offered @ Great Wolf Lodge. Chip, I am planning to go to waterpark with three kids, so I really enjoyed all details! Here's our overall review.Right away we were looking for and expecting a wonderful customer service experience, and Kalahari did not disappoint.