Hojo waterpark

[Goseethemouse]

I am still undecided about which hotel to stay at The main reason for the Howard Johnson would be their water park. Can someone who has been there tell me how fun it is? Are there things to do that would be fun for a 7 and 10 year old? Would it be worth booking the hotel for this?

 

[bardays]

We stayed there when DS was 7 and he loved it! I liked that we adults could sit in the hot tub while he played.

 

[skiingfast]

I am still undecided about which hotel to stay at The main reason for the Howard Johnson would be their water park. Can someone who has been there tell me how fun it is? Are there things to do that would be fun for a 7 and 10 year old? Would it be worth booking the hotel for this?

If you are calling it a waterpark, you may be dissapointed. It's a splash play area with a small waterslide that makes a loop. For 7yo very good, for 10yo ok, for teens not good. Are you going to go swimming a lot? This may or may not be a reason for you to stay there.
http://www.hojoanaheim.com/what-you-get/castaway-cove

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks so much. I have watched the video but just can't tell how much fun it would be. We are going the first week in September so the weather should be fine for going to the pool and I think we will spend a bit of time there. How busy does the pool area get? The main pool is in a different location, isn't it?

 

[Midnightred]

I have 2 boys ages 8 and 10. They could not get enough of the waterpark. They enjoyed the waterpark every bit as much as spending time over at Disneyland and CA. My children are not as mature as some, but I did see bigger kids enjoy the water slide too. My cousin and her kids stayed in Bldg 2 by the garden pool, and they spent most of their time in that pool. She has a 9 and a 12 yo who like to swim. We utilized both pools at the hotel, but my kids loved the water slide and kiddie pool.

Midnightred

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks, Midnightred, that is good to know. Sounds like it might be worth it after all. The 10 year old will be newly ten (just a week or so before) and neither of the boys is a daredevil so the slide might be just fine. Do you happen to know how deep the garden pool is? Also, how far is the garden pool from the play area?

 

[kwgilley]

My boys were 8 and 10 when we stayed at HOJO. It was the 2nd week of May, so temps weren't high. We stayed a full week and they only went to the splash area once. They are not daredevils at waterparks at all, just not that impressed. They thought it was really too "young" for them. I know a LOT of people on the board love it though, so maybe it was just my kids.

 

[yngsj]

The last time we stayed my 9 year old thought it looked like a lot of fun, once she suited up and got in the water she lasted all but about 3 mins. and then asked to go back to the room. So it's hard to say if your kids will be impressed or not. HoJo is still my first choice though!

 

[LucasandMickey]

I am still undecided about which hotel to stay at The main reason for the Howard Johnson would be their water park. Can someone who has been there tell me how fun it is? Are there things to do that would be fun for a 7 and 10 year old? Would it be worth booking the hotel for this?

I HIGHLY recommend it. My kids are tiny though and DS had SO MUCH FUN!! (DD was too little to care!) but there were tons of bigger kids running around playing. The bigger pool isn't too far, but they definitely aren't connected. It's not like you can easily jump back and forth or see one from the other.

 

[BayAreaMom]

We love HoJos but I can't say the waterpark is the main reason we stay there- we just really like the kid suites. My daughter who is 5 loves the waterpark and can easily spend an hour there. We like the hot tub. BUT I can see her not liking it as much after age 8 or so? ALSO, I do not like that it takes time away from the parks (where i'd rather be, personally...). In Jan it closed at 6pm, and my daugther made us leave the parks early (like 4:30) to hit the waterpark. She loves it...

 

[awdsmama]

We haven't stayed there yet (in 46days I can say we have!).... but I've shown my 7yo son the online pics of the water play area and he is VERY excited - he really likes the "water cannons" that spray water at people.

He thinks we're going there "someday" maybe this summer. Little does he know we'll be there next month ;-)

 

[abouley]

We love HOJO's...in fact we're checking in tonight there. But, my kids are 7 and 5 and the pirate play area is starting to lose it's charm for them. The last time we were there, they played maybe 20-30 min (mostly wanting to be in the hot tub) and then we finally just went down to the pool (where it was cold and shady!). They are both good swimmers so this might be partly why they'd rather swim. I wish the 2 areas were together, that'd make it easier. They aren't far apart but 2 distinct areas separated by a few buildings. But, we really like the hotel especially when we can get a room for $69/night!

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thanks, everyone. It sounds like it might be fun - or not so much. Actually, I think my younger son would quite like it, the older not so much as he likes to swim. It would be preferable if the two swimming areas were close to each other.

I wish I could make up my mind about this...

 

[Midnightred]

The garden pool is big and fairly deep if I remember correctly. I think HOJO has something for all ages. I saw a large group of Australian guests playing a fun game of tossing a beach ball around to each other in the garden pool. I don't know if I mentioned my kids are autistic and a little delayed developmentally, but I saw teens having fun on the water slide.

Midnightred

 

[Jaymcee]

we went in January - with my 9 and 7 yr olds boys and their cousins 8 and 6. They all loved it! And were not impressed as they only got to go twice bc we were so busy at DCA and DL!! They also liked the main pool so we had to trek between the two as well. However the waterpark did keep them all entertained and I think bc there were 4 of them they had fun together. The second time there they made friends with others and I think that makes it all the more fun. If your two like large water buckets being dumped on them then I am sure they will enjoy.