The Poconos is quickly transforming into the water park capitol of the east. A few weeks ago we told you about Aquatopia, opening next to Camelback Mountain this March, and this week we toured of ANOTHER enormous indoor waterpark opening this summer. And here’s the really amazing part. When it’s complete, it’s going to be the largest in the world.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions, a hotel and water park company which already owns and operates two huge waterpark hotels — one in the Wisconsin Dells and another in Sandusky, Ohio (currently the largest waterpark in the world) will open their third property on a 150-acre piece of land in the Poconos this summer in either June or July.
Like Kalahari’s other two properties, the Poconos resort will be African-themed and will feature a 100,000 square foot indoor water park. The second phase of the resort (scheduled for completion in late 2015, early 2016) will expand the water park by an additional 100,000 square feet, making it the largest indoor waterpark in the world. Wow.
The resort will open with 457 guest rooms and will double that in phase two. The complex also includes a 10,000 ft. spa, an 18-hole golf course, bowling, laser tag, mini golf, restaurants, a convention center and a huge arcade. You do not need to be an overnight guest at the hotel to visit the water park.
We toured the resort grounds this week – check out the pictures below to get a glimpse of what you can expect.
The rendering of the water park area includes attractions by age – kids as young as 4 months will have their own splash/play area. See that loop around the middle with the small yellow circles in it? Yup, that's a lazy river.
This is what the grounds around the water park building look like now – that big green tube in the background is destined to be a huge slide in a few months.
Here’s a rendering of what the resort will look like as you drive up.
Here’s what one of the hotel wings looks like now.
