{"id":159,"date":"2009-01-19T08:59:59","date_gmt":"2009-01-19T14:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/family-vacation-water-parks-offer-close-to-home-getaways\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T13:44:06","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T19:44:06","slug":"family-vacation-water-parks-offer-close-to-home-getaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/family-vacation-water-parks-offer-close-to-home-getaways\/","title":{"rendered":"Family vacation: Water parks offer close-to-home getaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Family-vacation-2\"<\/a> By Samantha Chapnick<\/em><\/p>\n

While a family vacation<\/a> may sound great right about now, those who can't get away do have a reasonable alternative. A plethora of indoor water parks<\/strong> are ready to give staycationers a warm-weather escape without a trip through airport security.<\/p>\n

Most waterparks have these features:
\u2022    A 50,000- to 175,000-square-foot space, with air kept at either 82 or 84 degrees
\u2022    A big main interactive \u201cplayground\u201d that is topped by a bucket that dumps water every 7-25 minutes; includes smaller slides, stairs, rope climbs, water cannons.
\u2022    Water games like basketball or giant lily-pad leap frogging across the water
\u2022    Small or large wave pools
\u2022    Kid-friendly hot tubs, (lower temperature, bigger)
\u2022    Zero entry pools, slides for younger children
\u2022    Chaise lounges and tables
\u2022    Plenty for kids to do when they are finished with the water, including arcades. The resorts and larger parks also have shows, kid spas and indoor theme parks.<\/p>\n

Most are concentrated in the Northeast where the weather gets coldest and water is relatively plentiful. Elsewhere, the Wisconsin Dells<\/a>, which bills itself as the "Waterpark Capital of America," may possibly be the most denselypopulated area for indoor water parks, with other tourist-centric areas rapidly nipping at its heels including Niagra Falls, Minnesota and Canada. Although there isn\u2019t one good site listing all the water parks in the U.S., I\u2019ve made a map of indoor water parks<\/a> I found for this article.<\/p>\n

The three biggest names in indoor water parks are Great Wolf, CocoKey and Kalahari.  <\/p>\n

Great Wolf<\/strong> offers an immersive resort experience that is great for a <\/strong>family vacation over a short or long weekend. The main advantages include:
\u2022    The rustic Northwoods is the theme here, and all the rooms are made to follow this theme. My daughter loved her \u201cWolf\u2019s Den\u201d cabin<\/strong> that included a \u201clog cabin\u201d styleroom within our larger room with a bunk bed and her own TV.
\u2022    Disney-esque resort experience: The entire lodge is focused on kids, with themed characters and decor<\/strong>, a kid spa<\/strong> (ice-cream pedicures and manicures were popular in our family), an animal-filled tree that comes to life in the lobby (and has a show), an arcade, and a do-anytime electronic scavenger hunt requiring kids to wander around hunting out clues and picking up rewards with a magic wand.
\u2022    Only Great Wolf guests are allowed to use the water park to keep from overcrowding.
\u2022    Filled with kid-friendly restaurants and an ice cream parlor.<\/p>\n

Places like the CocoKey<\/strong> chain are ideal for a day trip or overnight visit. Its theme is 100% tropical Key West, with colorful signage and murals making the Caribbean just a glance and some imagination away. Where Great Wolf has gone all out for kids, CocoKey is more about balancing the comfort of adults and kids. They partner with a value-priced attached hotel that offers packages that include water park tickets.<\/p>\n

\"Family-vacation-1\"<\/a> The one we stayed at in Waterbury, CT, was absolutely perfect for a quick inexpensive weekend from New York. The water park is just big enough to keep the kids busy for a few hours, but not so big that I was nervous about losing them. The Holiday Inn Waterbury<\/a><\/strong> far beat our expectations. After a $7 million renovation, the rooms were impeccably clean, the service was better and friendlier than what we\u2019ve had at several five-star hotels, and there were features most adults would have ignored that the kids adored — especially the indoor balconies.<\/p>\n

CocoKey features:
\u2022    VERY affordable<\/strong> option; can either stay at attached value-priced hotels<\/a>, or just get a day pass
\u2022    Locals can get annual passes
\u2022    Better for younger kids (under 10), much more manageable for parents
\u2022    Hotels often offer Kids Eat Free (2 kids per paying adults)<\/p>\n

Kalahari<\/strong> is the Vegas of the water park world. With 173,000 square feet, it offers amenities few others can, for a family vacation with some truly unique elements:<\/p>\n

\u2022    Private cabanas with flat-screen TVs<\/strong>
\u2022    A Boogie Boarding \u201cschool\u201d
\u2022    A super-fast raft uphill water rollercoaster<\/strong>
\u2022    Swimming lessons
\u2022    Bigger rides like the \u201cSwahili Swirl\u201d — a giant toilet bowl-type ride that rotates you in a bowl until it sucks the tube and you down into the colder waters below
\u2022    Animal-safari themed rooms and activities<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n