Weekend Recap: Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells

Last weekend we met my family at the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells.

Thursday night we took Chester over to Curt and Robin's. They kindly offered to watch him while we were gone. We got Chester all settled in, and then went home to pack. Friday, we both got off of work early, and were on the road by 2:40. We picked Caroline up at college in Menomine, and were in the Dells by 6. We met the Kroner's and my family at Uno's Pizzeria for dinner. After checking into the hotel and unpacking, Adam and I went swimming. It was a great time to go because the pool area wasn't very crowded. That being said, we still waited in line for 20+ minutes for the Kalahari's best ride, The Master Blaster. It's like a waterslide rollercoaster. It was fun, but we didn't think it was worth that long of a wait. Adam went on his favorite slide, the Toilet Bowl (proper name, Pro Bowl), a few times while I relaxed in the hot tub. Then we went back to the room where everyone was just hanging out in the kitchen area.

On Saturday, Adam and I went shopping at the Tanger Mall. We got a lot of shopping done in about an hour and a half. Then we met my dad, Tim, Stine, and Sam back in the room before heading down to lunch at the Great Karoo. This restaurant overlooks the pool area at the Kalahari. It used to have great food, but they really scaled back and simplified their menu. We weren't that impressed with it. After lunch we went right to the pool area again for a few hours. It was PACKED. The Kalahari opens up their pool area to non-guests as well for a fee, and actually had a sign up that due to capacity they weren't allowing in any more outside guests. That's how busy it was. When it's that crowded, it's not that much fun. We still went down a few waterslides, but completely avoided the Master Blaster area as that line was ridiculous.

That night most of the adults went to dinner, so it was us with the kids. We had snacks, ordered pizza, and just hung out in the room. It was nice for me to spend time with Ava. She's learning to read and sound words out, which was really cool to experience with her. We got ice cream, and then Adam and I went to bed while the kids all joined the adults for the dance. It got a little hectic when people started to come back from the dance and knock on the adjoining doors while we were sleeping. I was not a happy camper.

Sunday morning was a little crazy because of the late night and daylight savings time. It was a rush to get packed up and checked out. Once the car was loaded up, we went to the pool for a few hours before heading back to the cities at 2:30. We missed Chester, so we were eager to get him and get home.

For the most part, we had a really fun time, but realized next time we definitely have to get our own room. Even though my parents had a big room with two parts, it was still just too chaotic. We need our own space. Lesson learned.

I still prefer the Great Wolf Lodge over the Kalahari. I just think it seems bigger. My favorite waterslide is The Tornado which is at the Great Wolf. I also really like the mat slides that you can race each other down. The Kalahari gets just so crowded because they do let in outside guests. I don't like that you have to walk through a locker room; it just doesn't feel like you're a guest at a hotel. I also don't like how far away the waterpark was from where our rooms were (over the skywalk by the convention center/Kahunaville). It was about a 10 minute walk through the halls, so you had to make sure you didn't forget anything in the room.

Sadly, I don't really have any photos because my camera died and I can't find my battery charger so I had to order a new one. I should've taken photos on my iphone, but I didn't even think of it. My mom forgot her camera so she didn't take any photos either. Bummer :(