Affordable indoor water parks (or other fun outings) in the Northeast

October 24, 2014 11:09 AM

My 13-year-old stepdaughter has gotten to the point where all she wants for holiday gifts is gift cards, which doesn't provide a lot of excitement when unwrapping gifts. My partner and I want to surprise her with a fun yet affordable overnight trip no more than about a 4 hour drive outside of NYC. She's always wanted to go to a water park with us, and Great Wolf Lodge is way out of our price range. Any suggestions for alternatives?

I've found a few water parks online that seem like they would fit the bill, but Yelp reviews invariably make every water park that isn't Great Wolf Lodge sound like an unsanitary hellhole, so I'm finding it hard to choose.

Additionally, since we're trying to keep this on a budget, I want to avoid water parks that require you to stay in their hotel. I have Starwood points where I can get a free night's stay, so our plan is to stay in a hotel and only pay for gas, admission, and meals. (So proximity to a Starwood hotel is even better!)

Here are the parks I've looked at so far:

Sahara Sam's - West Berlin, NJ
Cascades - Cortland, NY
CoCo Key - Mt. Laurel, NJ
CoCo Key - Waterbury, CT
CoCo Key - Danvers, MA
H20000hh! - Lake Harmony, PA

So here are my questions/requests for suggestions:

1) Are there any other indoor water parks in a 4 hour radius that I haven't found?

2) If you've been to any of these water parks, what's your experience been like? Do you recommend it? Any tips to keep in mind? Is it suitable for older kids, or is it more geared toward little kids?

3) I figure that we won't spend more than half a day at the water park, so recommendations for which area would be the most fun and have other attractions would be great.

4) The trip doesn't HAVE to be a water park - I would consider another indoor entertainment attraction. (We'd want to take the trip in the winter - nothing fun about getting a present in December that you can't use until May.)

Thanks for any suggestions that might help us make a decision!

posted by Neely O'Hara to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

Great Escape in Lake George, NY Can stay there (and pases included) or buy daily water passes for I think $29. If you go in the dead of winter, there are other great cold weather things you can do around there. Lake Placid is not too far.
posted by 724A at 11:17 AM on October 24, 2014

If you poke around the 'deals' area on the Great Wolf Lodge site, you might be able to find something affordable. For example it looks like you could go on Jan. 4th and get the room plus wristbands for about $325. That's under the "snowland" deal.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:19 AM on October 24, 2014

I would add that my kids loved it (Great Escape)when we went. There is a Johnny Rocket's on site that they loved too. If you spend one day at the water park and then the next up in Lake Placid doing the bobsled run and the biathalon course, it will be a great weekend.
posted by 724A at 11:22 AM on October 24, 2014

If you can go in the middle of the week Great Wolf (or any of them) will be a lot cheaper.
posted by COD at 11:32 AM on October 24, 2014

Hurricane Harbor in NJ and Splish
Splash in Riverhead are both really fun, affordable, and they're easy drives.
posted by bleep at 11:36 AM on October 24, 2014

I've been to Great Wolf Lodge and CoCo Key. My kids were under 12 when we went to CoCo and they loved it. They were 13 and 16 for Great Wolf and....didn't really enjoy it very much, even though it was actually "cooler" than CoCo. They really are geared for the younger crowd, and it's especially difficult if they're alone (the 16-year-old was gone for a good part of the trip and the 13-year-old felt really lonely and awkward without someone to hang out with).

This doesn't mean your kid won't have fun, that's just been my experience.
posted by cooker girl at 11:37 AM on October 24, 2014

Hurricane Harbor in NJ and Splish Splash in Riverhead are both really fun, affordable, and they're easy drives.

Those are both outdoor waterparks and are closed until May.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:37 AM on October 24, 2014

Best answer: I just took the kiddos to the Sahara Sam's in West Berlin (my ancestral homeland!)... while it was chlorine-y and loud, it seemed totally pleasant and really fun for everyone involved. I think a lot of the bad reviews are due to people expecting something as nice as Great Wolf, which it AIN'T. If Great Wolf if like Disney, then Sahara Sam's is like Six Flags - not the same boutique experience, but lots of fun all the same.

By the way: the Mt. Laurel CoCo Key and the West Berlin Sahara Sam's are literally within 15 minutes of one another, so you could conceivably hit them BOTH up in a single trip! If you need recommendations for where to eat/stay/play while in town, let me know - I spent my entire childhood within splashing distance of that area.
posted by julthumbscrew at 11:58 AM on October 24, 2014

Best answer: Also within your radius: this is gonna sound weird as hell, I know, but there is a small stretch of Oaks, Pennsylvania that features an indoor rock gym, and indoor trampoline park, AND an indoor amusement park/go-kart track. While most of that area is pretty non-descript and industrial, I've always thought that a kid could have a FUN AS HELL day in Oaks by hitting up all of those attractions.
posted by julthumbscrew at 12:00 PM on October 24, 2014

Best answer: Hello from South Jersey!

Everyone I know loves Sahara Sam's and CoCo Key here. Also in Mount Laurel is the Funplex which has an arcade, indoor go-carts, laser tag, etc.
posted by kimberussell at 12:07 PM on October 24, 2014

There's an indoor water park in Lancaster, PA. I've never been there, so I can't vouch for it, but it looks affordable and within your 4 hour window. If you go during the holidays, you could tack on a trip to Hershey Park for their Christmas Candy Lane. There aren't a lot of rides for big kids open then, but the whole park is covered in lights and it's fun just to be there.
posted by jrossi4r at 12:24 PM on October 24, 2014

There's Cascades Waterpark at Greek Peak in Corrland, NY. I've never been there (or any other waterpark), but it's in your travel range.
posted by Kriesa at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2014

The great wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, MA "New England" is pretty great. It opened in Jun 2014 and I've been twice. We have been paying about 50 bucks per person (for 5) - it includes water park from 1 pm until close the first day, overnight stay, and water park the whole next day. It also has a free ropes course (which was surprisingly the biggest hit with our 10-14 crowd).

The rooms are nice and clean. The food is typical and expensive but there is fridge, microwave, etc. We brought food and order out pizzas.

We do Disney just about every year for the last 5 years and I am happier with the service at the Great Wolf Lodge.

It's just about 4 hours from NYC.

(It used to be a Coco keys which, as I understand, was pretty dismal compared to this)

If you do somehow end up at Great Wolf PM me and let me know if you'd like some local recommendations.
posted by beccaj at 1:48 PM on October 24, 2014

A trip to SpaCastle in Queens, and let her bring a friend. Not water slides, but they have all different baths and saunas and snacks and a couple swimming pools - the place is HUGE. I bet they'd have a lot of fun running around :) it's especially nice in cool/cold weather.
posted by jrobin276 at 2:28 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]