Summer vacations are nice, but expensive, so this year we decided to save on air fare and go someplace local. As a bonus, not flying is good for the environment.
We’ve heard from multiple people how much fun water parks are, but never tried this type of recreation until this summer.
There are three major water parks in relatively close proximity to us — Camelback, Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari. We decided to visit two of them in order to compare and have greater variety. Camelback was recommended by my friend Erica, and Great Wolf Lodge by one of Daniеl’s coworkers.
So we booked Calemback for 3 nights and Great Wolfe for 2 nights. I have to say that it even though it was quite fun overall, 5 nights are definitely an overkill, and 2-3 nights in total would have been plenty.
We left on Friday, June 28th. It took us about two and a half hours of driving to get to Camelback resort. Our room was adequate, and the breakfast was good too.
On Thursday Arosha cut two toes on some sharp stone at Martin Pond, so I was a little worried about him getting an infection. Luckily, the resort sells water shoes, so those combined with band-aids proved to provide sufficient protection.
Camelback resort has inside water park called Aquatopia and an outdoor park called Camelbeach. Camelbeach requires a separate entry fee, but one day tickets were included with our stay.
There were a lot of people at the resort, but we mostly did not have to wait in long lines, with the notable exception of the surfing ride, which we did not even get to try because one had to wait close to an hour for a few minutes of fun.
I liked both indoor and outdoor parks. I especially liked the ski lift ride, with a beautiful view of the Pocono Mountains. It was a bit on the extreme side for me still, with the kids riding unfastened over the abyss and all. None of the people around us seemed to be scared, and I tried to hide my fear as well in order not to freak out kids or worry Daniеl.
One of the sad discoveries that I made on this trip is that I get motion sick on the water park rides after 2-3 rounds. What a bummer! I liked the thrill of it, but could not handle much. Luckily, nobody else in the family seemed to be experiencing this, so from time to time I lounged by the pool while Daniеl was in charge of rides with the kids.
There was a wave pool which kids really liked. Anna was wearing a life jacket most of the time. She got much better in the last few weeks with swimming by the way, and can go to the docks at Martin Pond by herself.
She also started swimming lessons last week along with Arosha. Sadly, she is prone to have swimmers ear, so even with ear plugs and swimming cap she is currently on antibiotic ear drops. But back to water parks.
We did a few other activities while at Camelback. Daniеl and kids took an obstacle course and climbed a rock wall. All of us painted some pottery, which was fun too. Aaron painted a lantern, Anna painted a puppy and Daniеl and I painted a Family sign, which is now proudly displayed among some other trinkets over the fireplace.
We visited a few restaurants, some are more expensive than others.
The Great Wolf Lodge is located a 10 minute ride away from Camelback. It was a little frustrating that we had to upgrade our room for $60 extra per night because the room that we originally got had one of the sleeping places right next to the air conditioner and there was no way to move it or redirect the AC.
The breakfast was very expensive (over $60 for the 4 of us). We pre-bought it while booking since it was advertised as themed breakfast and we thought it would be fun for the kids. The themed part consisted of a costumed person briefly appearing in the restaurant area and posing for pictures with willing patrons. Luckily, the hotel agreed to refund us the second breakfast and we just bought some bagels and cherries in the local supermarket and saved over $50.
There was no outdoor park at Wolf Lodge, but they did have an outdoor pool. The water was too cold for me and Anna, and the boys did not even try it.
There was a nice outdoors obstacle course, which Arosha tried. It was $20 per person and not included with the stay.
The indoor park was nice. It seemed smaller than Camelback, but had a few somewhat different exciting rides. There were lines at times, but it was not terrible.
We also played a game of mini golf and two games of bowling for variety.
By the end of our vacation, Anna and I got a chlorine induced rash on different body parts. It took a few weeks before it cleared for me and Anna still has some patches of itchy skin on her legs, even though I treated her rash with steroids and moisturizers. I guess, she is more sensitive to that kind of stuff.
Overall, it was a very nice little getaway. A bit more expensive than we hoped, but definitely cheaper than a full fledged vacation. I am willing to go to another water park next year, but as I said earlier, the stay should be maximum 3 days long in order to maximize the fun and not get worn out by the repetitiveness of this past time.
Summer vacations are nice, but expensive, so this year we decided to save on air fare and go someplace local. As a bonus, not flying is good for the environment. 
We’ve heard from multiple people how much fun water parks are, but never tried this type of recreation until this summer. 
There are three major water parks in relatively close proximity to us — Camelback, Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari. We decided to visit two of them in order to compare and have greater variety. Camelback was recommended by my friend Erica, and Great Wolf Lodge by one of Daniеl’s coworkers.
So we booked Calemback for 3 nights and Great Wolfe for 2 nights. I have to say that it even though it was quite fun overall, 5 nights are definitely an overkill, and 2-3 nights in total would have been plenty. 
We left on Friday, June 28th. It took us about two and a half hours of driving to get to Camelback resort. Our room was adequate, and the breakfast was good too.
On Thursday Arosha cut two toes on some sharp stone at Martin Pond, so I was a little worried about him getting an infection. Luckily, the resort sells water shoes, so those combined with band-aids proved to provide sufficient protection. 
Camelback resort has inside water park called Aquatopia and an outdoor park called Camelbeach. Camelbeach requires a separate entry fee, but one day tickets were included with our stay. 
There were a lot of people at the resort, but we mostly did not have to wait in long lines, with the notable exception of the surfing ride, which we did not even get to try because one had to wait close to an hour for a few minutes of fun. 
I liked both indoor and outdoor parks. I especially liked the ski lift ride, with a beautiful view of the Pocono Mountains. It was a bit on the extreme side for me still, with the kids riding unfastened over the abyss and all. None of the people around us seemed to be scared, and I tried to hide my fear as well in order not to freak out kids or worry Daniеl. 
One of the sad discoveries that I made on this trip is that I get motion sick on the water park rides after 2-3 rounds. What a bummer! I liked the thrill of it, but could not handle much. Luckily, nobody else in the family seemed to be experiencing this, so from time to time I lounged by the pool while Daniеl was in charge of rides with the kids. 
There was a wave pool which kids really liked. Anna was wearing a life jacket most of the time. She got much better in the last few weeks with swimming by the way, and can go to the docks at Martin Pond by herself.
She also started swimming lessons last week along with Arosha. Sadly, she is prone to have swimmers ear, so even with ear plugs and swimming cap she is currently on antibiotic ear drops. But back to water parks.
We did a few other activities while at Camelback. Daniеl and kids took an obstacle course and climbed a rock wall. All of us painted some pottery, which was fun too. Aaron painted a lantern, Anna painted a puppy and Daniеl and I painted a Family sign, which is now proudly displayed among some other trinkets over the fireplace.
We visited a few restaurants, some are more expensive than others. 
The Great Wolf Lodge is located a 10 minute ride away from Camelback. It was a little frustrating that we had to upgrade our room for $60 extra per night because the room that we originally got had one of the sleeping places right next to the air conditioner and there was no way to move it or redirect the AC.
The breakfast was very expensive (over $60 for the 4 of us). We pre-bought it while booking since it was advertised as themed breakfast and we thought it would be fun for the kids. The themed part consisted of a costumed person briefly appearing in the restaurant area and posing for pictures with willing patrons. Luckily, the hotel agreed to refund us the second breakfast and we just bought some bagels and cherries in the local supermarket and saved over $50. 
There was no outdoor park at Wolf Lodge, but they did have an outdoor pool. The water was too cold for me and Anna, and the boys did not even try it.
There was a nice outdoors obstacle course, which Arosha tried. It was $20 per person and not included with the stay. 
The indoor park was nice. It seemed smaller than Camelback, but had a few somewhat different exciting rides. There were lines at times, but it was not terrible. 
We also played a game of mini golf and two games of bowling for variety. 
By the end of our vacation, Anna and I got a chlorine induced rash on different body parts. It took a few weeks before it cleared for me and Anna still has some patches of itchy skin on her legs, even though I treated her rash with steroids and moisturizers. I guess, she is more sensitive to that kind of stuff. 
Overall, it was a very nice little getaway. A bit more expensive than we hoped, but definitely cheaper than a full fledged vacation. I am willing to go to another water park next year, but as I said earlier, the stay should be maximum 3 days long in order to maximize the fun and not get worn out by the repetitiveness of this past time.
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