kalahari

Hi all,

Talk to me about Kalahari.

We're only staying for 2 days and want to maximize our stay.

Places to eat? Should we stay on property to eat?

Do we bring our own towels, life jackets (puddle jumpers), etc?

Are water shoes permitted or used?

Is there one area of the park that's less crowded?

Should we rent a cabana?

Thanks in advance.

Re: kalahari

Hey! You are going to love it there.
2 Days is perfect. We've been twice. Once for 2 nights, 3 days and just last month for 1 night 2 days.
Definitely stay on property. Everything is there and you don't have to leave.
My fav place in the burger place right in the lobby. Great drink choices and food.
Go early in the morning so you get the entire day and stay till the next day.
We usually go early and get there around 10 - 11AM. After we check in we change and go straight to the waterpark. We like to find spots by the race slides. I forget the name but it's a quieter area by the lazy river.
Stay till late if possible bc it does start to get less crowded. We have lunch in the waterpark too. We sneak in snacks.
After we get changed and go to dinner then the arcade and ice cream. Next day we have breakfast in the room and the earlier you get to the water park the better.
Enjoy!

ETA - we never did rent a cabana. If you're going with a nice size group it's probably worth it. We kept saying next time we will. LOL
The drinks there are really good too.

Message edited 3/12/2019 11:14:56 AM.

Re: kalahari

It's awesome!
There are plenty of places to eat onsite, but if you want to venture out one night, Barley Creek Brewery is great and close by.
But it does get crowded on weekend nights.

You can bring your own towels- I like to pack light so I don't but the towels they give out in the water park are small and thin so it's up to you.

Kids under a certain height- 48 inches I think- check the website- need a life vest or puddle jumper. They have them there but sometimes they run out of the size you need so bring your own if your kids are under the height. They are super strict on that and walk around checking with a height stick.

You can wear water shoes around the park but I am not sure you can go down the slides with them. I always just leave them by my chair.

Cabana's aren't necessary. They are very expensive and to be honest you won't spend time sitting in them. Just grab a table and chairs to leave your stuff- and don't bring your valuables down- lock them in your room safe or you can rent a locker in the park. You do everything on your bracelet- waterpark admission, that's your room key too, and you can charge on it so you don't need a room key or cash when in the park.

In terms of crowds- the place empties out around dinner time. So if you can eat a late lunch and stay through like 6-8 pm, you will see a ton less lines for the slides.
We like to do that- you can always grab a snack in the snack bar inside the water park.

The huge boozy drinks in the refillable cups are pricey- but worth it. They have like 6 shots in them and you get a discount on refills if you have the souvenir cup.



Have fun! I think i have more fun than the kids there!!!

Message edited 3/12/2019 11:30:30 AM.

kalahari

Thanks for the feedback! Greatly appreciate it. :)

Re: kalahari

Places to eat? Should we stay on property to eat? Yes, stay on property so many food choices, but can get pricey!

Do we bring our own towels, life jackets (puddle jumpers), etc? You dont have too but I would bc they give you those ridiculous tiny thin towels that are basically useless. They have lifejackets and are required for kids under a certain height, but nephew in 2nd grade was MORTIFIED that he still had to wear one. I did bring the puddle jumper at the time for my daughter bc its just more comfortable.

Are water shoes permitted or used? Yes, both

Is there one area of the park that's less crowded? I found all areas are equally crowded. Kalahari differs from say Great Wolf in that the entire indoor area is in one giant area.

Should we rent a cabana? YES, A MILLION TIMES YES! Sometimes is was crowded and a table for all of us was hard to come by. I didnt feel comfortable just leaving my stuff and I didnt want to carry my phone and wallet with me everywhere. The cabanas have a safe. They were also just nice to go relax in when you wanted to eat lunch, or one of the kids got tired but they other wanted to stay at the park. Waitress service and unlimited bottled water was nice too. We used our Cabana A LOT. Worth every penny. It was especially useful on checkout day since you have to be out of the room in the morning. We stayed until late afternoon at the park though and had a place for everything, a place to go back to, a place to change the kids.

Message edited 3/13/2019 3:29:21 PM.

Re: kalahari

We usually stay on property to eat. We ventured to Double Cut last time and were impressed.

You can bring water shoes and puddle jumpers. I typically bring towels since the towels they give are tiny.

We did a cabana once when DS 2 was young but it’s a lot of money. There are typically a lot of tables available so we just set up there. I don’t bring any money, just my phone, and haven’t had an issue.

kalahari

The towels are tiny and they take them from you as you leave the water area,

kalahari

We just went over February break. It was great! I would bring towels as theirs are very thin and tiny. Under a certain height kids need to wear life vests so bring your own if you have. I have to say I found the whole park quite safe. My kids (both special needs) are not the best swimmers and they did great and I was not worried at all. We rented a cabana and it was so worth the money. Gave a place to relax for a bit out of the craziness and a place to store all our stuff. The foof was good. No need to leave the resort. We at breakfasts in the hotel lobby restaurant and it was good. Lunch we had in the water park and dinners we had both nights in the Italian restaurant. Expensive but we have a few gluten allergies and they had a great gluten free menu so it was just easier for us to eat there.