ZosoBeast Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 CoCo Key Water Resort is a brand new indoor waterpark located at: Sheraton Cincinnati North Hotel 11320 Chester Rd. Cincinnati, OH 45246 I made plans a few weeks ago to take my 2 children, Ashley (10 years old) and Emily (7 years old) to the park opening weekend. What makes this place unique is the fact that they offer day passes. This is a way for someone not staying at the hotel, a chance to visit the waterpark. As of now, day passes range from $20-$30 per person depending on the day you go. I was able to get 3 day passes for this past Sunday for $15 each after a discount I found in Reach Magazine. Upon entering the hotel lobby, we walk up to the front desk and exchanged our pre-printed tickets for green colored wrist bands. I also picked up a locker rental for $5. This gives me a second wristband to use as the key for the locker. Just hold the wristband up to the bullseye on the locker and your locker automatically opens up. I thought it was great not having to carry around one of those bulky locker keys all day. We walk through the arcade to reach the water park. After a quick visit to the locker rooms for us to change into our swim attire, it was time to see what this place had to offer.... After taking a quick tour, I learned that it offers 6 different swimming areas. The Dip-In Theater, Coral Reef Cavern, Palm Grotto Spa, Body/Tube Slides, Coconut Grove Adventure River and the centerpiece of the park, the Parrot's Perch Play Structure. The Dip-In Theater: This is the first swim area you see when you enter the park. In fact, you must walk through this area in order to reach the lockers/restrooms/changing area. It is reserved for the smallest of swimmers. With cartoons playing on the ships mast above, children can swim under mushrooms, falling buckets of water and slide down one of three slides. My thoughts: I thought the cartoons playing above the water was a pretty cool feature, however, the picture was very hard to see and there was no sound playing at the time of our visit. The video on the screen is more a decoration than anything else. Great idea with poor results. Coconut Grove Adventure River Grab a tube, settle in and let the water be your guide! A lazy river ride featuring spitting coconuts, waterfalls and a water canon. This attraction circles around the Parrot's Perch Play Structure. My thoughts: Typical lazy river attraction. The water canon was a nice touch as it makes for a sneaky way of getting some of the people traveling behind you soaked. But as we found out, not everyone wants to get drenched in such a manner! Use caution when shooting the canon! Coral Reef Cavern Basketball and a test of strength! Grab a ball and go for a 3-pointer or hold on tight and see of you can make it all the way across without falling in! Take a simple dip in the pool, make some baskets or hop from pad to pad! My thoughts: Area aimed for older kids. At times, the basketball area was so full, I was scared to let my youngest go in. A total madhouse! The rope swinging was popular with kids of all ages. Fun area, just keep an eye on the younger ones! Palm Grotto Spa Sit back and relax as thousands of bubbles surround you in hot whirlpool. In warmer weather, there is even a door that swings open so you can relax outside as well. A great place to forget about all the stress in life for a little while. My thoughts: The button to start the bubbles is a little hard to find for some reason. Other than that, this was one of my favorite activities to do! Let the bubbles take over while watching the TV hanging on the wall above you! I want one of these in my back yard! Body/Tube Slides 2 body and 2 tube slides to keep the adventure seekers busy! As an added bonus, one of each is in complete darkess all the way down! The entire length of the water slides runs out side of the building. Choose from: Sharks Slam A body slide in total darkness! My thoughts: Slower of the 2 body slides, this one actually freaked me out a little bit. I didn't think the darkness would get to me, but half way down, I could not wait for it to end! Gater Gush A body slide with speed. My thoughts: If your looking for speed, here is your answer. Almost as soon as you take off, you have a good size amount of speed going. My favorite of the 2 body slides. Barracuda Blast A tube slide, in the dark! My thoughts: This is my favorite slide in the entire park. Nice amount of speed and a nice little surprise in the middle! I suggest riding this with 2 people for a little more speed! This was also the place of my biggest let down of the day. One time, while riding with my daughter, I hopped on the back of the tube and as my foot hit the bottom of the slide, it hit a piece of sharp plastic and cut my foot open. I didn't realize how bad it was until we got to the bottom of the slide and I took a look at it. Use caution when getting onto your tube! Pelican Plunge Tube slide My thoughts: Good tube ride with some nice speed to it. When you get to bottom, it whips you out so fast that you end up on the other side of the pool right onto the steps! Another good ride that is better with 2 people! As a bonus feature, both tube slides will allow you to empty out into the lazy river if you want! Parrot's Perch Play Structure Children of all ages will have fun as they play with numerous water activities topped off with a huge bucket that dumps hundreds of gallons of water every few minutes. My thoughts: There is a lot of stuff for kids to do here. From slides in the back to spraying water on those in the lazy river below, a kid could stay here for hours and never get bored. A bell rings when the bucket is about to get dumped so stay clear if you do not want thousands of gallons of water splashing on your head! Great theming with bright colors. Video of the bucket dump: d3vceyLQSW4 After we played for a couple hours, it was time to eat! A&W/Pizza Hut Express Grab a burger or a slice of pizza when your hungry hurts! My thoughts: We decided to eat at the A&W since the girls never had it. A&W is all over the Dayton area where I am from, but they are pretty scarce in the Cincinnati area where my girls live. We were able to get 3 combo meals for $20. A little steep, but the food was pretty good. I did have a MAJOR complaint about this visit to the A&W. The young lady that waited on us CLEARLY did not want to be there. She rushed our order paying no attention to detail. Both of my girls orders were wrong because of this. Now I realize it was opening weekend, but I would think their attention to detail would be even greater at this time! A major disappointment! Wet Rooster Bar In the mood for a tropical drink? Want a place to catch the game? This is the perfect place to rest and have a cold one while the kids are off acting like fish. My thoughts: I did not visit this area of the park, however, the drinks did look yummy and they had baskets of chips and pretzels out for the taking! A TV on every wall makes sure you don't miss a single play! When we wanted to take a break from the water, it was time to hit the arcade. Key Quest Arcade How about a round of Deal or Deal? What about some Ms. Pac Man? Virtual Jump Rope? There is something here for everyone! Win tickets and trade them in for prizes! My thoughts: Hey, ANY arcade that has Guitar Hero AND Ms. Pac Man is a winner in my book! The Deal or No Deal game is outrageously addictive! Instead of playing for money, your playing for tickets! Win 100 tickets on a single play or double play and double your chances for 200 tickets! Final thoughts: While not as large as Great Wolf Lodge, CoCo Key is a lot of fun. The addition of a wave pool would have brought this up the par a little more with Great Wolf. The availability of day passes is a huge plus for this park and will give a cheap alternative to the winter blues. From a kid level, my 10 year was bored with the park after a little more than 4 hours. On the other hand, my 7 year old was not even ready to leave after being here for 9 hours! In fact, from the moment we left until she went to sleep, all she would do is ask over and over when we could go back! For more information on CoCo Key Water Resort, please visit their website at: http://www.coCokeywaterresort.com/ You can view a few more photos by clicking here. Thank you for reading! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 The similarities between that resort and the Great Wolf are astounding. Even has the Pizza Hut Express. Glad to hear you had a good time. I always found the atmosphere of the Great Wolf to be nothing short of amazing. Every time I've dealt with them (on a personal or professional level) they've been more than eager to help. I sure hope this CoCo resort can retain that type of hospitality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuskin Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Wow im gonna have to check that place out when I get home for thanksgiving =^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kwindshawne Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Looks nice. Might have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Nice detailed report Bill, I’m glad at the end you did give a brief comparison to GWL. I agree with you a wave pool is a nice relaxing area to spend some down time while others are out riding the slides/attractions. Glad to hear you had such a great time with your daughters, Wow 7 and 10 already where does the time go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 I thought about going there, but opted for GWL instead. When my family goes to the GWL, only its guests will use the water park. But at CoCokey, the guests from 2 hotels plus day pass people can use the water park. Hence, I estimate that the water park will be more densely populated than the GWL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Perhaps, perhaps not....but then again, CoCo Key is new right now. The real test for both is not now, but several years from now, when the newness is long gone. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Posted November 21, 2007 Share Posted November 21, 2007 Whoa! What a nice water park But that giant bucket must be a nightmare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
italianchef Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 I've done some research and CoCo Key Water Resort seems like a pretty nice place. My family will surely visit there in 2008. Nice trip report - and I appreciate the pictures! Italian Chef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZosoBeast Posted December 24, 2007 Author Share Posted December 24, 2007 Just trying to figure out what "research" you did to determine that "CoCo Key Water Resort seems like a pretty nice place??" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoaster Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 Wow Great pictures/descriptions. It just seems it may not be as much a destination resort as the ones up north or Great Wolf Lodge. But for a few hours seem's great; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 Just trying to figure out what "research" you did to determine that "CoCo Key Water Resort seems like a pretty nice place??" Look for a post soon from the gentleman pointing out he 'found' a nice article about "CoCo Key Water Resort" on the net, along with a link... Terpy, extrapolating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Butcher Posted December 24, 2007 Share Posted December 24, 2007 HAHA, isn't that the truth! I think its funny that he aways states that he 'found' an article. I would so claim credit for how well he writes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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