Great Wolf Lodge has a woodland creature and forest theme, while Kalahari has an African theme. (We missed the burritos & soups from Kalahari!). It sounds like you were able to experience nearly every feature our resort has to offer! Kalahari Resort's water park has more of everything and also includes a Flowrider, which is popular with older kids and teens. CLICK HERE TO VIEW VARIOUS CREDIT CARDS AND AVAILABLE SIGN-UP BONUSES, New Private Luxury Facility Coming to DFW, Virgin Atlantic Makes it Official and More, March Transfer Bonuses: Marriott, Avianca, Virgin Red, Royal Caribbean Quietly Reduces Housekeeping to Once per Day, Hyatt Announces 2023 Hotel Category Changes, Easy: Changing AAdvantage Award flight via Twitter DM. Kalahari has one indoor and one outdoor area - both are huge (Kalahari's is one of the largest indoors in the US). We ended up eating most of the fries and onions rings, while discarding the rest. Chip. Both resorts have huge water parks and other indoor activities. My son went to the prime rib carving station several times but the chef continued to serve him meat with chunks of fat on it - so he gave up. We recently made a trip to the Poconos in Pennsylvania to visit a water park resort but didnt know which resort we should go to so we went to all 3 of them! Note that it may be quite a walk from your room to the water park, or any other destination on the Kalahari Resort campus. Age and height requirements vary by location. Kalahari still boasts plenty of kiddie water slides, but it also has more thrilling slides for older children. It is hard to believe that Aquatopia/Camelback would actually be charging extra for the balcony /patios at this level! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this review. It was voted the #1 indoor water park in 2015 by USA Today. My household has loved a handful of stays on the water park lodge Nice Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas (and one go to to the GWL in Southern California). Klahari is themed and decorated as an African resort. The lobby is ringed by various shops and the floor has wonderful decorative murals inlaid in the marble (Im sure these are probably decals??). 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. Which do you prefer? 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. But the resort's smaller size makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids. It was nicely decorated and efficiently arranged. I'm going to breakdown each part of the resort that we visited and give you the key points: The floors were full of paper, tissues, dirty towels, used dippers, used shampoo packets etc and there was no attendant in sight. The bartenders were great, DAVID and ROBIN especially. The hostesses and the servers were professional and pleasant. It is so fun for my children (12 & 4 years old) and for adults too!! The room was very clean and up-to-date. 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. You can reach me at PAConnect@KalahariResorts.com. Still it was a frustrating experience that cast a pallor over our time and experience there. On the lower level by the entrance for the water park, there is a pizza place with some tables in the lower lobby area. This is an interactive game that has players moving throughout the Lodge on quests. TheParenthoodAdventures.comis owned & operated byChip Williamsonwho is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that enables websites like this to earn advertising fees from Amazon.com. 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. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. The water is warm, but not too hot. We didn't hear a peep after 10pm and slept soundly. There are a number of other activities available at the lodge. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. The larger of the two play areas also includes a splash table for babies. Many months later (due to COVID) we stayed at Camelbacks Aquatopia. 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. Both are great options for kids. I love the theming of GWL and my kids are obsessed with Magi Quest, but the adults only things at Kalahari cant be beat! Why do the adults with hearing damage always make the decisions with regards to volume level! Thank you for reading & for your comment / question! We did really like the lazy river at Aquatopia. Since we are usually there for just one night we resign ourselves to it being a pizza for dinner night. 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. Contemporary and tasteful.we give that an A+!Overall, we can't wait to return to Kalahari! Other than the water park & arcade our family hasnt really tried out any other ones. For part of our stay both lazy river attractions were open and there were other times when only one was open. I would like to further discuss the details of your stay. The day we went, prices were similar to GWL. Poconos Waterpark Comparison Guide: Kalahari versus Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge! At times Kalahari actually felt a littletoo bigfor us. That was almost inedible. We are happy to report that there were two night stands with our queen bed! We were on the bottom level and we had a small patio walk out area next to the ropes course. Great Wolf Lodge is known for their MagiQuest game. EXPECT IT and you will have a great time. Kalahari Resort has an African safari theme. To read more aboutHOW TO GET THE BEST DEAL& aPRICE COMPARISONof ALL THREE POCONOS WATERPARK RESORTS check out my NEW post:Poconos Waterparks: How to Get the Best Deals at Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari & Aquatopia! Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. If youre looking for other vacation ideas check out our Family Travel Tips for Niagara Falls! During our long walk to the room (the opposite end of the facility), he was VERY professional, engaging and helpful. So I guess you just dont need it that much. The hot tub situation was disappointing. We usually just order a pizza and eat it in our room with maybe a salad. Here's our overall review.. (Healthy, I know.) Camelback charged my card the correct amount when I made the deposit on November 24th and then on November 27th (2 days after we had left the resort) I was charged $25 for a parking fee. Our suite @ Kalahari was HUGE! We usually ordered and brought the food to our room. We visited Kalahari in the Pocono Mountains for a last minute trip with our two girls, ages 8 and 9. Kalahari vs Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Comparison - Kalahari Resort Poconos Top Flight Family 113K subscribers Subscribe 2.9K 310K views 3 years ago Are you trying to decide between. There were a few things that we liked about the expansion. WEBSTER, Texas Texas is set to add another Great Wolf Lodge location to its ranks. Activities could include yoga, character appearances, crafts, a nightly Forest Friends show, story time, and a dance party. https://www.theparenthoodadventures.com/waterpark-comparison-chart-kalahari-aquatopia-great-wolf-lodge/ 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. But having a wide variety of restaurants and foods was great! Very spacious, a flat screen TV in each room and in main living area with fireplace. Each wing of the resort is 8 floors high and it has 977 rooms in total. Located below the main lobby is both the entrance to the water park and the arcade. Welcome to Great Wolf Lodge! With that being said it does appear that the ropes course and zip lines are something that we may try in the future. Kalahari Resort has a huge upcharge for the one type of themed room. Lifejackets available, large amount of seating and tables!ARCADE - Another huge area! Keep in mind theres a third indoor water park resort in the Poconos: Camelback Mountain Resort. Staff always pleasant and friendly!FOOD - There is food available in the waterpark in addition to a steakhouse and Italian restaurant. Aquatopiais somewhere right in-between Kalahari & Great Wolf Lodge by almost every measure! It has a transparent Texlon roof that lets in natural sunlight while providing protection against the suns harmful UV rays. Which Poconos waterpark do you like best? Several hot tubs, twice the amount of slides as Great Wolf Lodge, and something for all ages. So if you are looking for a martini, you will have to hit one of the restaurants. Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. It smelled like an overcrowded SPCA. Sincerely, All six Pocono ski resorts have snowtubing hills. It felt like you were rubbing shoulders with other people all the time. Better selection of local foods near Great Wolf. 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. One of the other simple theming aspects we enjoyed were the 2 Great Wolf Lodge video book stories playing on the resort TV channel. Hence our balcony seemed to be under ground and we were looking at a high retaining wall for a view. The total cost for the night would have been $415.10. So the water park is what we usually focus on. 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. Learn how your comment data is processed. Ask erikas213 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask PinkHibiscus32 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask lljPa about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Royal hospitality suite not royal not hospitable, Ask kelismom14 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask mcapellan78 about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos, Ask Pamela C about Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Poconos. Choosing which resort to bring your family to can be daunting as both resorts offer very similar attractions and amenities. 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 liked some of the efficiency features of the room. As I mentioned earlier with 4 kids ranging in age from 2 10 we are not very often dining in @ a restaurant. Also, Outdoor pool and some small outdoor water slides (all seasonal). Great Wolf Lodge is smaller than Kalahari. If you want averykid-centricexperience from top to bottom we would recommendGreat Wolf Lodge. Kalahari is absolutely immense! And the staff was friendly. The room was nice and clean but nothing particularly memorable. Across from that there is a small decent sized souvenir shop / store and a small dessert kiosk. 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. Kalahari is newer and more efficiently run. Kids hearing is much more sensitive! Try getting on the email lists of both of these resorts to learn about the discounts they offer throughout the year. 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. Apart from those issues, I appreciate the detailed comparison. After learning about the aspects of both of these resort, which one will your family choose? I can't honestly say that anything bit me in the room, we may have been bitten while we were sleeping, or in all the time we were forced to spend on the patio because of the smell.The resort was fine, but I'd avoid this "upgraded suite". A night at either place costs a small fortune, and the food is over-priced and mediocre. Welcome to Kalahari Resorts & Conventions - Round Rock 223,000 square feet, filled with wet, wild, fun. You all have multi room suites as well as an African Queen Suite.Let's talk about the African Queen Suite for a moment. Thats theming! Water park temperatures at all three Poconos water parks is the same @ 84 degrees, year-round. We have not yet patronized any of these establishments. We are still having a debate on what it actually was. (Remember that Kalahari is actually a desert in southern Africa.) 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. Ax throwing, ropes course, zip line, off-road Segway tours through the forest & switchback UTV tour. The overnight costs for both of these resorts can vary widely throughout the year. Finally, we did have a rather poor experience one morning ordering from the Cafe & Bar (AKA, Mountain Market, World Bazaar Coffee Shop). 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. They did a fabulous job with the design of this place. Both are reasonable attempts at having a meal on the healthier side. The view felt somewhat private and we really enjoyed it! "The advent of Great Wolf Lodge represents one of the most monumental accomplishments in the City's history," Webster city officials said. Kalahari Resorts water park has more of everything and also includes a Flowrider, which is popular with older kids and teens. Yes My oldest daughter and wife voted for Kalahari. I would request a higher floor again because the 2nd floor gets all of the foot traffic as that is the lobby floor and the waterpark and arcade are on the lower 1st floor.Take a minute to just look around and notice the dcor, architecture, and design. 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. We appreciate it! The lobby is big but not massive like it is at Kalahari! Life-size animal statues adorn the outside. 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. Finding fun places to take your kids in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. The short of it about the same as Great Wolf Lodge and FAR less than Kalahari! That makes it easy for families traveling with toddlers (and their little legs!). If you can't afford it, don't bother making the trip. There is one primary restaurant on the main level on the left side of the lobby / front entrance. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. 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. Comparison between Kalahari and Great Wolf Lodge water park 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. Our obstinate 2-year-old was NOT able to enjoy ANY of these activities / attractions, or even the wave pool due to the fact that she refused to wear a life jacket which Kalahari required children under 4 feet in height to wear at all times when in any water. Looking up to the roofline Aquatopia does feel more open and expansive since it is more of a sweeping semi-circle in shape. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. We stayed from Tuesday through Thursday during July. (especially Aquatopia & Great Wolf Lodge) If you were to drive from Kalahari, to Great Wolf Lodge, and then to Aquatopia the total distance would be approximately 11.3 miles and take just 26 minutes. It is a wonderful family vacation spot that offers a lot of adventure & nature! 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. On our previous visit a couple of years ago we felt the place was showing some wear and tear. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. included with your stay Waterpark Admission Waterpark admission is always free when you stay with us. Thats an AMAZING 425,000 square feet of indoor water parks in a very small geographical area!! Check there and compare prices with their website to find the lowest prices for your stay. Here is a quick breakdown of the outdoor activities offered at each resort: Kalahari: Monkey climb ropes course, zip lines and mini golf. This was because: 1) We are a family of 6 and eating out is not usually relaxing or enjoyable! Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg, built in 2005, is listed as one of the five top things to do in Williamsburg by visitwilliamsburg.com.