A neat family trip … this time, close to home

Posted in Mom Stuff, Things to do, Travel
by Shaun Bennett

My daughter Stephanie finally got her dream vacation this month. No, not Disney World. We do that every two years. No, not historical venues like Philadelphia and Washington D.C. She’s been to them all. Not even a geographical wonder like Niagara Falls – she’s been there three times – was a top priority for Stephanie when it came to her getaway wish list. No, my daughter wanted to pack up the car and travel the whole 40 minutes to the Kalahari resort in Sandusky.

It started four years ago – Stephanie is now 7 – when we received a Kalahari vacation-planning DVD in the mail. Whether I sent away for it or the resort somehow knew a demographic sucker when it saw one is still up for debate, but my daughter wore the silver off that disc. She watched the ride descriptions, toured the virtual “hut” rooms and oohed and ahhed over the baby tigers and bears they had on hand for guests to take pictures with – all for the low, low price of $32 and up. She even memorized the Kalahari theme song that is sung by a chorus of kids and played on a loop during the menu screen of the DVD.

Kalahari fun

“I want to go … to … the Kalahari, I want to play … at … the Kalahari, I want to stay … at … the Kalahari, Mommy and Daddy … pretty please?”

It’s really a catchy little tune. At least the first 100 or so times you hear it. Imagine the destruction a toddler can do on your eardrum with four years of begging, using the song to illustrate her need for an African-themed adventure. So my wife and I finally gave in and took the kids to Kalahari during spring break. I scoured the resort’s Web site for the months leading up to our vacation week, and finally found a family “deal” that looked like it would only run us around $600 for a two-plus day excursion. The package included our room and four passes to the indoor water park, and we received breakfast buffets for both mornings we were there, a dinner buffet the first night and a medium pizza and four soft drinks that we used for lunch on the final day. The hotel even kicked in a free in-room movie voucher, which we used to watch “Paul Blart: Mall Cop.”

We spent the two days spinning through water tubes, racing down the speed slides and jumping up and down in the wave pool. Stephanie made it her personal mission to cross the pool on top of hippo heads and lily pads – kids used a rope netting that hung overhead to help them keep their balance – at least 50 times during the 20-plus hours we spent in the park. We rolled around the lazy river ride about four of five dozen times total, and I was the only family member daring enough to try the FloRider – the surfing simulation pool you jumped into with a body board – or the Tanzanian Twister – body slide ride that finished in a huge “toilet bowl” with a hole in the bottom that you unceremoniously plunged through at the end.

My son Jacob hit the toddler area and splashed through the water jets that shot up from the ground, and in true autistic fashion, went down the same 4-foot slide – on the same side – about 200 times during the trip. The smile never left his face, except a couple times when my daughter insisted on joining him and nearly squeezing the life out of him on the way down. The family members were waterlogged, red-eyed from the chlorine and tired from the many miles traveled in the 1,000-square foot area that held the water park. But we enjoyed every minute of it and immediately said it was a vacation worth repeating during out next open vacation slot. If my daughter starts humming that theme song again, it’ll be a lot sooner than four years this time. –Shaun Bennett