Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina
Life is short. Live it well.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2008
Hello, regarding visiting these waterparks and visiting Americana indoor water park verses Greatwolf lodge and Niagara Fallsview indoor waterpark. For the money, which would be preferable for a 1 year old and a 3 year old, both girls and not very brave. Of course i would accompany the 3 year old on any daring (in her eyes) slides if I need to. She is 36 inches high. Thank you in advance
I have been to both Great Wolf (6? maybe 7? times) and Americana (once), but not Fallsview. The Americana waterpark is much, much smaller than GWL, but also much more manageable for parents with small children. Great Wolf is much better themed, with more dry activities (story time, wolf walk, cub club, magiquest, bowling, arcade, mini golf, etc.). Some of those dry activities have a cost, some do not.
Parking is included in your nightly rate at the lodge. Its an extra fee at the Americana and the Fallsview hotels (Skyline, etc.) with the exception of the Clifton Victoria Inn. In the case of the latter, though, the hotel is across the street from the waterpark and not connected by an indoor walkway.
Great Wolf is nice for one night, but too over priced if you are to stay more than a night. I would movie to Skyline one the next day if were you.
We adore the lodge.....even with our older family. Even the basic room configuration (family suite) at the lodge offers way more amenities (fridge, microwave, sofa bed, separate sitting area, balcony) than most of the rooms at the Fallsview waterpark hotels. The Antler Shanty offers better food than most of the restaurants in the tourist district, and at a comparable (and often better) price.
With our special needs daughter, we find that Great Wolf works well for her since one of us can take her to the water park for a little while and then back to the room to veg/recuperate for a bit. If she wants to go back to the water park later, she can. We've never tried the Skyline and the shared waterpark, but I would think leaving the water park to go back to a different hotel would take a lot more time and effort.
Catherine
For folks with little ones, especially in the winter, I would think staying at GWL would be very advantageous for those reasons. Everything is inside the one building, so you never have to go inside and outside when enjoying the resort. Small kids love the little touches.....the talking Forest Friends in the lobby, the howling wolves. And its such a comfortable atmosphere.....not your typical "hotel" feel.