Kalahari Resort Review

  I paid a visit to the Kalahari Resort and indoor water park in Sandusky, Ohio on April 9th. I will have to say, it is a very nice and comfortable resort, which made the 5 hour drive worth it! Clean floors, nice staff, great water slides, and great dining. I also visited the arcade which was also nice. My room didn't have as much African theming as I thought it would, but it was still nice and comfortable.

   The water park itself was wonderful; clean floors, fun slides, relaxing lazy river, spacey wave pool, and convenient food shop. The only things I didn't enjoy was the crowds, but other than that, everything went smoothly. On the first day, I rode every slide except Swahili Swirl, Zip Coaster, Tanzanian Twister, and Victoria Falls because of the length of the lines.
   Cheetah Race (Third Picture) was an interesting mat racer slide. It starts in a dark tunneled helix followed by a drop. In comparison to those found outdoors, this version is a lot less intense.
   Leopards Lair body slides are two small open flume body slides that snake their ways out of the water playground. Plenty of tight turns can be found on these slides.
   Rippling Rhino is like any other long and dark raft ride, except you use the four-seater clover leafs and 2-seater whirly wheel inner tubes to ride down it.
   Zig-Zag-Zebra (red water slide on the above photo) is a really fast body slide that completes a g-force inducing helix, and then a U-turn before ending. This slide is known for scratching your back a little more than Zimbabwe Zipper (purple water slide on the same photo). Zimbabwe Zipper is a quick dark body slide that has a lot of sudden turns in it.
   Wild Wildebeest (green) and Elephant's Trunk (blue) were quite fun inner-tube slides, Wild Wildebeest being significantly faster than elephant's trunk.

   On the second day, I tried the Zip Coaster and I honestly have to say that I would never recommend the slide to ANYONE with back problems because the ride has a very powerful launch at the beginning and produces a lot of airtime on the hills; other than that, it was the best water slide I've been on at the Kalahari water park! Definitely the most thrilling slide in the park too!
   I also tried Swahili Swirl (pictured to the right) which I thought was massive in is ability to be able to fit in the waterpark. The slide was fast on it's drop, but like any other Proslide Behemoth Bowl, it slowed down quickly. It's a very fun slide with the only thrilling part of it being the drop into the bowl.

Tanzanian Twister was (unbelievably) my first body bowl water slide and I must say, I was having a blast because of its fast entrance speed and finish into a 6' deep pool. I must warn you though, I have seen this and many other body bowl slides close and reopen because people are unable to swim when they hit the water because they may have gone in head first or they didn't know how deep the water would be. So please don't ride it unless you know how to resurface and swim after entering a deep pool in any direction. Kalahari's Lifeguards are there and are prepared to help if you do have a problem.

   On my third and last day, I first rode Victoria Falls raft slide, which was the water park's first raft slide and was quite impressive. The first-half is partially lit inside, before entering the darker-half and completing a set of left and right turns along the way. Even though the machine to bring the rafts back to the top may sometimes stop for some reason, its still worth any wait.
   I didn't get to try the Flow Rider, but one of my family members did and he said it was fun, just make sure you're swim trunks and swimsuits are on tightly. The water was warmer in the lazy river than the water slides, but the water temperature in the water slides were never cold either.

^Cheetah Race

The Kalahari is a great place to spend with your family and friends, not because some slides require you to have two or more riders, but because the resort is perfect for a group with kids, teens, and adults of any age. One last thing I want to add is that if you do go to the resort, remember that Cedar Point is just a couple of miles away, you might want to pack to go there too!

Water Slide Ratings (N/A= not available):
Cheetah Race: 6/10
Elephant's Trunk: 7/10
Leopard's Lair (2): 5/10
Rippling Rhino: 6/10

Swahili Swirl: 7/10
Tanzanian Twister: 8/10
Victoria Falls: 5/10
Wild Wildebeest: 7/10
Zig-Zag-Zebra: 7/10
Zimbabwe Zipper: 7/10
Zip Coaster: 9/10

Other Rides/Attractions:
FlowRiders: N/A
Lazy River: 6/10
Wave Pool: 6/10

Overall Water Park Rating: 8/10                                                 ^Tanzanian Twister

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