We’ve just finished up a quick trip to Lake George, NY, where we stayed at The Great Escape Lodge, the hotel (and indoor waterpark) adjacent to the Six Flags theme park, The Great Escape & Splashwater Kingdom. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we decided that sleeping in the same building as a waterpark with an amusement park across the street could only spell F-U-N! And we were right!
http://www.sixflagsgreatescapelodge.com
We checked into the hotel and were pleased to find our room to be quite spacious. Two queen-size beds, a bathroom and dressing area were in one room separated by a door to the main room which had a kitchenette (complete with microwave, mini ‘fridge and granite counter for eating), bathroom, dressing area, pull-out sofa and queen-size bed. There was plenty of room… we rolled the crib into one of the dressing areas for the youngest and each of the boys also had his own bed. Plus, we had a lot of space for our luggage and the minor groceries we bought. (Not only can it be cheaper, but we have found it easier to eat breakfast in the room with a few groceries.)
After getting settled and eating dinner, we headed downstairs for a character storytime. Each night a Looney Toons character accompanies a staff member to the library for an 8 o’clock story and song time. Many of the kids there were in PJs and all seemed to enjoy it… except our youngest who was terrified of Daffy Duck, as she is of all characters. She and I watched from a distance.
The next morning we went to The Great Escape for some theme park fun.
http://www.sixflags.com/greatEscape/index.aspx
School here is still in session, so we almost had the park to ourselves! There were only 2 rides that had lines more than one ride long. And those lines were still incredibly short. There are two sections of the park just for the younger set, Looney Tunes National Park and the all-new Wiggles World. We enjoyed riding those rides (mini roller coaster, mini boat ride, train ride, huge circle swings and in Wiggles World a world tour in the Big Red Car and ‘flying’ in the Big Red Airplane, among many other rides), although my children have no idea who the Looney Tunes characters or The Wiggles are. (Am I depriving my children?) Our youngest got a little brave watching the costumed characters during The Wiggles show. But not brave enough to leave my arms. The cafe in Wiggles World even served fruit salad, for all you fans. I’m sure it was “yummy, yummy.”
After that, I took the boys on the cable car ride over the park, where they got to ride in their own car and I floated along behind them. They loved yelling their observations of the park back to me. “Mom, look– Cinderella!” Wow! Our hotel… and a water slide goes outside of the building!” “Look at that shoe on the pole!”
Gary took our youngest to have her face painted and missed all the high flying action.
Another favorite ride was a mini car ride where the kids could ‘drive’ vintage cars along Route 66 and other famous highways. My 6 year-old was most impressed with the ‘50s music playing in his car. All three seemed to love it… even the two year-old who finally had got the chance to be ‘in charge’ and drive Daddy around (or at least she thought she did).
After all that miniature fun, my 6’2″ husband decided he was ready for something a little more grown up so he took off for the Boomerang Coast to Coaster, a roller coaster that shoots you through a few loop de loops and then sends you skyward, just to roll back down and do it all again… in reverse. He experienced the longest wait of our day (maybe 4-5 ride cycles) so I took the kiddos on a train ride through another part of the park. (No wait at all!! I love this time of year!!)
The Great Escape is certainly a family park. On all the trashcans and even the staff shirts (which are a bright neon green for easy spotting) are reminders to keep the park clean because “My family comes here, too.” All staff members were exceptionally polite and paid great attention to detail and safety. I was politely asked to leave my backpack off the rides as it would be unsecured. (No, I didn’t ride anything where my backpack posed much of a risk to hurting anyone, but I had to respect the rules. And I could understand the ‘no exceptions’ policy.)
At every ride the height requirements were clearly spelled out and the ride operators carried custom-made measuring poles to end any disputes before they could begin.
After many rides, face painting, cotton candy and the like, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel to try out the indoor water park.
Again, the staff was extremely polite and lifeguards plentiful. We floated along a river, slid down many water slides and even tried boogie boarding. There were two areas clearly designed for little ones: One with swings over the water, splashing fountains and tiny slides. The other had bigger slides, yet still designed for the kids, several wheels to control water flow, a flow fountain for kids to change the water flow or build a dam, splashing fountains and a massive bucket of water which sporadically would dump over the section, drenching anyone its path.
The next morning we explored the area, deciding on lunch and a little wandering in nearby Bolton Landing. Before deciding on our lunch spot, we found another interesting hotel and thought we might eat there. It was picturesque, but clearly not for children. A sign on at one area said that “Well-behaved children were welcome until 8 p.m.” Our children could tell they were not really welcome, and whispered that they didn’t like that place much. We attempted to stroll our way to their casual dining restaurant, but were unable to find it and the staff didn’t seem too interested in helping. Hmmph. Back to the car.
We decided on a quaint garden-looking restaurant in town called Cate’s. The restaurant served Italian food and had plenty of interesting things for the children (and grownups) to look at and talk about while we waited for our food. The tables were covered in butcher paper, which allowed for lots of coloring, tracing and tic tac toe playing. Cate’s was certainly not ‘marketed’ as a family oriented place– there wasn’t a kids menu and it seemed elegant and relaxing, yet it was extremely family-friendly with lots of dining options and friendly staff. What really impressed me was a large decorative and functional trunk in the ladies room. The trunk was positioned near the sink, serving as a great boost for little ones to wash hands in my case, but I couldn’t help notice it was also large enough to serve as a perfect diaper changing spot.
After Cate’s, we wandered to a whimsical children’s clothing and toy store called Happy Jacks and then to Mrs. Whizzy- Fizz Pop’s, a candy store owned by the same person.
We returned to the hotel for naptime for the youngest and Gary took the kids to one of the MANY mini golf locations. (They chose Pirate’s Cove and had a blast finding chocolate booty, among other things.)
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