This past July, my family and our friend’s family met at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. They live in Minneapolis and we’re in Chicago, so “the Dells” makes the perfect meeting place for us. This area is a popular Mid-west tourist destination and proclaims to be the “Waterpark Capital of the World”. Other area attractions include boat tours, zip-lining, golf, mini golf, go-karts, water sports, horseback riding, a water ski show known as the Tommy Bartlett’s Thrill Show, museums, amusement parks, and a casino.

As you can see, you could easily spend several days here and be able to fill the time without a problem. For us, this was a quick one night trip, so we left our house bright and early so we could get there by lunchtime. The plan was to enjoy Kalahari’s water parks all day before leaving the following morning.

There are three main water park resorts in Wisconsin Dells. Wilderness Hotel, Great Wolf Lodge and Kalahari Resort. Great Wold Lodge only has an indoor water park and we knew we wanted to be outside. Wilderness had a two-night minimum the weekend we were staying, so that wasn’t an option. Kalahari had both indoor and outdoor water parks and had availability for just one night. Due to these factors, Kalahari was the right choice for us this trip.

Lodging

There are many lodging options at Kalahari. There are single rooms and suites, two bedroom suites, three to five bedroom suites and lakeside villas.

Royal Two Room Family Suite

We had seven people total, so we opted for a two room family suite. The Royal Two Room Family Suite features one king bed, a separate room with two queen beds, a full-size sofa sleeper, two full bathrooms, fireplace, two televisions and a large patio.

The room was big and comfortable. The decor is nothing spectacular but just fine for a weekend stay with kids.

Dining

After a day of swimming, everyone was really hungry. Kalahari has quite a few dining options right on sight so keep your car keys in the room.

For a more casual experience, there’s Carnival Cafe which serves pizza, hot dogs, tacos, etc. and is located right in the heart of the indoor theme park. There’s also the Great Karoo Marketplace Buffet which is located at the entrance to the indoor water park and serves breakfast and dinner, buffet style.

For a still casual but slightly more upscale dining experience, Ivory Coast has a relaxing and cozy atmosphere and is located right off the main lobby. You can get classic breakfast entrees and for lunch or dinner you’ll find burgers, wraps, salads, and pasta.

For the steak lover, there’s Double Cut Grill located near the convention center. This is a typical steakhouse and has the prices to match.

Wisconsin Brew Pub

We wanted something casual but also were I could find a good local beer. Just before the entrance to the indoor theme park is Wisconsin Brew Pub. We were able to get a large round table for the seven of us in a semi-private little alcove. It was a classic brew pub themed restaurant with a pretty extensive beer list. I always like to try local beers when I can, and the Bubbler from Next Door Brewing Company was an easy drinking, tasty blonde ale.

The menu had the expected items like burgers, sandwiches, flat breads, BBQ and mac and cheese. Of course, this being Wisconsin, the kids ordered cheese curds as an appetizer. They were the lightly beer battered kind that are so delicious. In fact, they looked so good that I ended up ordering the Cheese Curd Burger for my entree.

However, the clear standout item was the Pub Pretzel. Not only was the pretzel very tasty, but it was served with two dipping sauces. Both were amazing! The beer cheese is exactly what you’d expect and goes great with the pretzel. It also came with a cranberry honey mustard sauce and after one taste, we could not stop eating it. We even (embarrassingly) ordered an extra one so we could dip our french fries with dinner.

For a nightcap, you can get Starbucks® coffee from the lobby cafe. And if you have any room for dessert, you can satisfy your sweet tooth 11pm each night.

Activities

We went to Kalahari specifically because of the outdoor water park. Lots of resorts in the area have indoor water parks, but in the summer, who wants to be indoors?

Outdoor Waterpark

The outdoor water park has seven different slides, a lazy river, three pools, a grill and bar, and 14 private bungalows. When we arrived, there were plenty of lounge chairs available. The resort gives you free towels as well, so you don’t need to worry about bringing your own.

The outdoor ZanziBAR had a nice selection of local craft beers, as well as huge 32oz tropical drinks in souvenir cups. ZanziBAR Grille left a lot to be desired in terms of food choices and quality, but I also wasn’t expecting much from their poolside restaurant. You order from a counter and can take the food to nearby tables or to your lounge chairs. Stick to the basics and order a hot dog or chicken fingers if you must.

The slides were great! There are individual and group slides and we loved them all. The kids made sure to get on every single slide at least once and we could’ve stayed out there forever. There’s a great variety of individual vs group rides, and mat vs intertube rides. There’s something for everyone!

Indoor Waterpark

The Kalahari Resort has the area’s largest indoor water park. This is certainly a great option during winter or when the weather isn’t good enough to use the outdoor water park. It has slides, a lazy river, and private cabanas. The best part of the indoor water park is the Flowrider surfing simulator, which only exists at the indoor park. But the issue I have with all indoor water parks is the humidity level and chlorine. We spent about an hour at the indoor water park, mainly to get out of the sun for a little while. I was sweating the entire time and I was only sitting in a chair. The humidity was so high, it was uncomfortable to be there. You could also really smell the chlorine and the levels were so high, multiple people in my group complained of eye irritation. This is probably true of all indoor water parks so it’s not a knock on this resort specifically. The experience, however, makes me think that I’d only stay at resorts with outdoor water parks.

Indoor Theme Park

We didn’t have time for the indoor theme park, but it has 100,000 square feet of attractions and activites. Features include thrill rides, climbing walls, go karts, laser tag, ropes course, carousel, virtual reality rides, bowling, arcade, ferris wheel, golf simulator, mini golf, virtual sports simulator and a vortex tunnel. With that many attractions, you could spend hours and hours having fun with the whole family!

Bottom Line

Everyone really enjoyed their time at Kalahari Resort; I would definitely go again. There’s just so many activities available both on-site and off, you would have enough to do to fill an entire weekend.