Anyone been to the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio

[abbyndrewmom]

It does not look like we will be able to go to Disney this March so I am looking for a place we can spend a few nights a little closer to home, but still be fun for the kids. I was considering the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky and also found the Kalahari Resort. Has anyone been to both? Is one better then the other. Kalahari has the bigger park but also allows outside admissions where as Great Wolf Lodge is hotel guests only. We will probably go with another family and will have 4 kids between 7 & 11 years old.

Thanks for your help.

 

[WaltD4Me]

I have been to Great Wolf, but not to Kalahari. However my nieces and have been to both and they LOVED Kalahari. My sister said Kalahari is ALOT bigger than Great Wolf with more water attractions and she liked hotel better too.

 

[RPrincess]

Hi
I have not been to Great Wolf but I have been to Kalahari in Sandusky. We loved it and do want to go back! It is about an hour away from our house. We had the chance to go last weekend with some friends but we are leaving in less than a week for Disney and could not afford to let our kids take off more time from school.
In my opinion the rooms reminded me of AKL rooms. Our friends have been to both and say they like Kalahari better than GW. It is bigger so you have more room if it gets crowded. Most people from our area would not go and pay the $ for the day tickets they offer if you are not staying there. It could cost more for the day passes then getting a room. If you need anymore info just let me know.

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Thank you both, I think Kalahari looks like a better water park and it is less expensive per night so I am happy to hear that people think it is a better choice. I also like that they have a combination suite that includes a kitchen, we may decide to rent that for all of us and save on food costs as well.

Rprincess, How far is Cleveland from Sandusky? DH would like to go to the Rock n Roll hall of fame. Is it worth it? Would it be okay to take the kids? Is there anything else to do in the area that the kids would enjoy?

Once again thank you for your help.

 

[Order66]

Downtown Cleveland is about 1 hour 15 minute drive from Sandusky/Cedar Point area. It takes us 1 hour to get to CP and we live 15 minutes west of downtown Cleveland. It's a straight drive on I-90 so you can't get lost.

The Rock Hall is nice to visit if you haven't ever been there. We can do the whole museum in 2 hours, so unless you really want to pace it slowly it's not a whole day event. It depends on how old your kids are. Older kids that love music will like it even if they are thinking Elvis who? Younger kids will be bored by the mainly hands off exhibits. If your kids are younger I highly recommend the Great Lakes Science Center which is right next door. The 2 museums share a common parking garage. Nearly everything is hands on and they have some really cool things. There is also an excellent play area for the littlest crowd. We do this part last as I can't get my kids to leave it.

regards

 

[tinan]

I've been to both Kalahari and Great Wolf. By all means Kalahari is MUCH nicer esp. for your kids age. Great Wolf I would say is geared more towards families with younger children. Plus we found the accomodations nicer at Kalahari as you heard every sound from other rooms in Great Wolf. When I brought that to their attention they were pretty unresponsive, "we know that guests can hear others and that is the way the building is made, there's nothing we can do about it". The only thing I didn't like at Kalahari was the wild animals caged and a situation could have turned ugly very fast while we were there. The animal was agitated and they still continued to take the animal from the cage through a very crowded lobby area. They almost lost control of the animal.


Rock and Roll hall of fame is ok too, but as someone else mentioned you wouldn't need a whole day to tour it. The Great Lakes Science Center is great for children and most of it is hands on. In addition to the Science Center, they also have an IMAX and on some weekends various extra programs. Plus not far from there is Tower City Shopping Mall. Have a great time!

 

[tinan]

I also wanted to add I don't recall you mentioning when you would be going, but of course Cedar Point is right down the road and a great amusement park known for their roller coasters!!! Or you could Jet Express over to Put In Bay or Kelly's Island for a day too.

 

[PirateKitty]

My little sister had her birthday party at Kalahari & my mom asked me to come and chaperone. We had the best time! I loved it. Another option in the Sandusky area is Castaway Bay. You can find more info at www.castawaybay.com.

 

[bigskyernurse]

Not in Sandusky but we have been to both in Wisconsin Dells and LOVE LOVE LOVE Kalahari. Everyone had a great time (Me, DH, DS 9 and DS 3). Definitely has a AKL feel. They even have sessions in the lobby where they bring out baby leopards, monkeys, tigers etc and do a q and a for the kids. The rooms are nice, good food/restaurants and the indoor park is incredible. The do allow outside entry with purchase but I didn't really notice anyone who didn't seem to be staying at the hotel. From the website it seems the Sandusky one is similar to the Wis Dells one. We had such a great time that we did nothing else all weekend! We had all these plans of going to the amusement parks and other attractions in the Dells but the kids never wanted to leave the hotel park and there was no reason to!

Hope this helps,

Amy

 

[momsgoofy]

Just a couple questions to add on here...

Can anyone...local maybe...give me an idea of exactly how far Kalahari is from Cedar Point? In the past we've stayed at Hotel Breakers, but Kalahari looks really cool.

Also, does the waterpark area have specific hours that it's open? Rough idea would be good enough for me.

Thanks!

 

[tinan]

I'm not local but I can answer those questions. The waterpark is open from like 10 am to 10 or 11 pm and the time between there and Hotel Breakers is 20 mins to 1/2 hour tops. I know some back roads so I don't think it even takes us that long.

 

[Order66]

I'm sure their website lists basic hours. It's about 8 miles from Cedar Point. Great Wolf Lodge is closer, right around the corner from the park entrance.

regards

 

[tinan]

Don't forget to check out their specials on their website too.

 

[lailah]

We live about 30 minutes from Sandusky and have been to all 3 waterparks. Kalahari is the biggest and my favorite! They all have something different in their waterparks. Kalahari has more tube rides and a wave rider (like surfing) and Castaway Bay has a wave pool. (In February, my girlfriend and I took our granddaughters, and I kid you not, we were the ONLY ones in the waterpark! ) Great Wolf is smaller and has more geared rides for the little ones. As a matter of fact, we are going Nov. 9-10 for their special 'hut-hut' rate (football) and the room is only 88.00 per nite. Sleeps 4 with waterpark passes. That is the best rate I have ever seen! We were their opening week and paid 109.00 then! So we jumped on this one. Then we're heading to Disney Nov. 16-24 as a wedding gift to my daughter and son-in-law. If you can go to Kalahari now, then jump on this rate!! Call and ask for the 'hut-hut' rate.

 

[abbyndrewmom]

We live about 30 minutes from Sandusky and have been to all 3 waterparks. Kalahari is the biggest and my favorite! They all have something different in their waterparks. Kalahari has more tube rides and a wave rider (like surfing) and Castaway Bay has a wave pool. (In February, my girlfriend and I took our granddaughters, and I kid you not, we were the ONLY ones in the waterpark! ) Great Wolf is smaller and has more geared rides for the little ones. As a matter of fact, we are going Nov. 9-10 for their special 'hut-hut' rate (football) and the room is only 88.00 per nite. Sleeps 4 with waterpark passes. That is the best rate I have ever seen! We were their opening week and paid 109.00 then! So we jumped on this one. Then we're heading to Disney Nov. 16-24 as a wedding gift to my daughter and son-in-law. If you can go to Kalahari now, then jump on this rate!! Call and ask for the 'hut-hut' rate.

I wish we could go now, unfortunatley we are not going to be able to go until March. Thanks for all the great information, I think Kalahari will be our choice. Now I just have to wait for them to come out with their rates for March. Has anyone been midweek in mid-March, I can't imagine it will be too busy.

Allison

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Does anyone have a web link for Kalahari?

 

[tinan]

I hope it's ok to post this......if not, please remove. The website is kalahariresort dot com

 

[mousefanmichelle]

We have been to both very recently - we went to GWL in Ohio this summer and the problem I noticed that was food could be allowed all over the water park vs. in a designated eating area. I have a problem with this - if your walking barefoot all over the place you don't want to step in someones nachos! The GWL in Traverse City, MI is so much nicer, cleaner, newer and bigger. I don't know about your travel from Cananda to there but just a thought - even though the prices are cheaper in Ohio.

The Kalahari rooms were smaller than the GWL but the price was better and the best part was the surfing lessons! Have fun whatever you decide!

BTW I did hear, like someone else posted, the the Wisconson Dells are wonderful!

Good Luck!

 

[ADisneyQueen]

How warm do they keep the pool and air at Kalahari? My girls are very thin and they get cold easily. Was it comfortable? We are thinking about going for a night during their Christmas break. I hope it wouldn't be too crowded.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I believe that it was warmer than in the GWL and that was pretty warm - somewhere in the high eighties I believe. I have a very thin son and it was fine for him - no complaints. If you go to their website it might say what the temp. is but I don't know for sure.