My husband is very picky about where we go on vacation as a family. He says his criteria are simple. We must go somewhere that has something for everyone, must be all under one roof because constant traveling is not a vacation, and most importantly the kids can entertain themselves so we’re not always “on” and have to keep them occupied. Now you know why we stay home a lot. It’s tough to find vacation spots like this but I’m happy to report that we found it and it’s just a short road trip away!
We were invited to the Grand Opening of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in the Pocono Mountains and this trip even put a smile on my picky husband’s handsome face. Kalahari is Pennsylvania’s largest indoor water park measuring in at 100,000 square feet (that’s almost 2 acres) and it kept my kids busy for a full two days. Kalahari is an authentically African-themed experience with all the amenities of an upscale resort. It’s also privately owned by the Nelson family who created it with the idea of “protecting an endangered species—family time”.
For almost 6 hours on our first day, my kids were going down water slides, body surfing, relaxing on the lazy river and making new friends, while my husband and I got to spend a few precious hours at the swim up bar talking to friends and just hanging out…together. I cannot remember the last time we had such a fun day like we did in Kalahari. When we weren’t on our “date”, we went down water slides as a family. I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat so I put on a smile and went down the HUGE water slide because my 8 year old daughter batted her eyelashes at me and begged me to go down with the rest of our clan. How could I say no? The first time I screamed it was out of fear, after that all the screams were from fun. I have never been on water slides like this, not even when I was a kid. Sitting in the raft with my daughters and my husband, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of gratitude for the opportunity to reconnect as a family. Not a single electronic device or TV was turned on once while at Kalahari.
Our days were full of water park fun, but the nights were reserved for the 30,000 square foot Family Entertainment Center. My girls spent hours in the arcade, went mini-bowling and even played a round of black light mini-golf.
After breakfast on the second day of our trip my 8 year old was vibrating in her seat waiting to get to the water park. “Chloe” my husband told her, “relax, it’s open for another 11 hours.” To which she replied, “I know Dad, I want to make the most of it and not run out of time.”
This trip was such a huge hit with my family that Emma has already planned her 11th birthday later this year at Kalahari. Before we even checked out of our room she declared, “I love Kalahari, it’s my favorite resort. If we come back for my birthday I don’t need any other presents.” As you can imagine, that’s high praise indeed for any family destination.
So what are you waiting for? If you love an all-under-one-roof vacation experience with something for everyone then update that summer bucket list and book an adventure at Kalahari by clicking HERE. It gets the thumbs up from this mom, an 8-year old, a 10-year old and a picky husband.
