Nick Hotel policy: guests not allowed on property until 1:00pm?

I booked a 1 night stay for my DS's 12th birthday at the Nick Hotel for Wednesday, July 22.

I booked directly with an agent at the hotel.

She said that Guests are not allowed on the property until 1:00pm.

Now, I understand that check-in is not until 4:00pm and the room may not be ready until then, but I'm trying to understand not being allowed on the property and getting an early start enjoying the resort's amenities.

She said I can try to come in earlier on the property but it will be up to the security guard whether or not he lets us in.

I called back again and spoke to a different agent who said the same thing to confirm this.

We will be arriving on my son's actual birthday. Which means, we will have to find something to do until 1:00pm.

It's already bad enough that on Wednesdays, there is no Double Dare Live Show.

But from all of the reviews I read (Tripadvisor, yelp etc.), I haven't come across this yet where families who arrived early in the morning, were turned away until 1:00pm.

Have you heard of or encountered this problem?

It says on their website (in the FAQs) that only registered guests are allowed to use amenities, and that there are security gates. They require everyone wear wristbands. Maybe they don't hand out wristbands until after 1:00??

I don't know about Nick, but I know the Great Wolf Lodges operate the same way. If you have a one-night reservation you are welcome to start using the amenities at 1 pm of check in day until close the next day (so the day of checkout), which is usually 9 pm or so. They control it by the wristbands, I believe the color changes each day.

You might want to see if it is the same policy and possibly book the previous night to get the full day of use. I'm not sure how it work with checking in though.

FWIW we stayed at Nick about 2 years ago - so its possible things have changed.

When we went, they gave us wristbands at 1pm, and we used the water parks (and parked in their gated lot), but couldn't get our room until 4pm. (Well, 4pm was the stated check in time for everyone, but we didn't get a room until 6pm. The line to check in at 4pm was long and very slow moving.)

Anyway, we arrived in the car (from a Disney hotel) with the kids already in their bathing suits, so we just left everything in the car except sunscreen etc. for the water park (and valuables), and had a great time.
HTH.

I can see this. Nick is already crazy crowded enough with the guests already checked in. I would say it is a way to limit the crowds a tiny bit. We use to love the Nick Hotel but it has declined. Luckily when we use to go each of my little kids was paired up with an older kid because you WILL lose sight of your kid if you are not in the pool with them. My kids are now 12, 13, 20, 22, and one older kid had to stay with a younger one at all times. I use to say that place was the perfect place to abduct a child because it is so very loud and kids screaming from all directions and common to see kids taken away by parents in tantrum mode. If someone was to snatch a kid the kid could scream their head off and be carried out with no one blinking an eye. We enjoyed our trips but I am so glad my kids are out of that stage. We now enjoy Gaylord Palms which is much more relaxing even next to the kid water play/slide area and the kids being loud, there is no comparison.

What is the appeal for Nick Hotel for your son at age 12? Anything specific or just the water play/slide area? There are other hotels with water play/slides that I would consider better than Nick. Is the theme appealing to him?

Just a note for those reading about Nick. Their annual cheer camp they have had for the last 5 years is July 5-10 this year. I wouldn't anticipate anyone staying at Nick to try to avoid girls chanting since the entire place is extremely loud anyways. LOL. A few of my friend's girls have attended this camp and they enjoyed it. I think it's overpriced and they take them to theme parks alot. Living an hour away, I don't see the need to pay that price to go to theme parks.

http://www.cheersurge.com/home.html

I do the exact opposite. I send my daughter to summer cheer camp in Pennsylvania.