CoCo Key Water Resort
January 24th, 2008 larryWelcome to Week 1 of the Crazy Kids Blog where we answer the question, “What will I
do with my kids today.” We start the conversation by discussing the new indoor water
park attached to the Sheraton Chicago Northwest by Arlington Park Race Track, CoCo
Key Water Resort. This indoor water park is part of a chain of new parks in Illinois
(Arlington Heights and Rockford), Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Missouri, and
Nebraska. If you stay at the hotel the water park is free during your stay. For a day
pass without a hotel stay, which are limited because the hotel gets preference, the
park is $19.00 per person during the week and $39.00 on the weekend.
The water park has the key features: there is a zero-depth entry pool for the little
ones with two slides, fountains, and a basketball hoop. Next to the little pool is
the standard combination of maze, jungle gym, and medium size slides. In this
section, kids can walk up stairs through waterfalls, shoot water guns at each other,
spray hoses at each other, and dump buckets of water on people. There is a small
slide from the first story, another slide on the second story, and two slides on the
top level. Our kid is 3 and all of these slides were perfect for him. He must have
gone down the small slide about 20 times to warm up, and then spent most of the
afternoon on the top level slides. All slides end in a small basin of water about 12
inches deep. Smaller kids need to be careful on the slippery stairs as bigger kids
are running by.
At the top of this structure is the huge bucket of water. When you hear the bell
sounding, you need to run underneath it because it is about to tip and dump water on
all below. For 4 years and younger I would not let the kids take the full brunt of
the splash but keep them just outside of the splash zone. Don’t worry, they will
receive plenty of water from the big splash.
On the largest structure, there are two body slides and two inner-tube slides. These
are for adults and older kids. There is yet another pool with basketball hoops.
Ringing all of the structures is a lazy river that you can float an inner-tube
around.
There were two main disappointments for the park. First, there isn’t really a place
where your kid can paddle around and swim. The little pool is too small and the
basketball courts are crowded with bigger kids. Second, to go down the largest
slides, you need to be 4 feet tall. And they don’t waive the restriction if they go
down with parents. Whereas at the Wisconsin Dells the height restrictions are more
of a guideline than the rule (they probably should say 48” and taller, unless you
aren’t). This means that for smaller kids, they only have access to about two-thirds
of the park. This decreases the amount of time you can spend at the park
significantly (we spent about 2 hours). On the upside, it definitely decreased the
amount of times we walked up and down the large structure.
Definitely don’t confuse Coco Key with the Wisconsin Dells, but for the money and
saving at least 2 hours in driving time from the city, it is a great alternative. We
had a ton of fun and our kid definitely wants to go back. However, every time he
hears a bell now he ducks his head and covers his eyes because he thinks a big bucket
of water is going to come down on his head. After the water park we had lunch at the
Sheraton restaurant. We loved that each booth has a TV- brilliant - which is a nice
way to wind down after climbing stairs for a few hours (and the food was pretty good
too). Definitely give CoCo Key a try during the winter.
Larry and Donna
Mom Says: Does not compare to the Kalahri in the Dells, but this place is fun and
convenient to the city. Great way to spend (part of) a day. Practical info: They have
lockers for rent and bags for wet clothes. No hairdryers, which can be hard for
little ones in this cold, cold weather.
Dad Says: It is really disappointing to not be able to take the younger kids down
the tube ride. If your kid is under 4 feet, you can avoid the mistake I made by
walking up the 150+ stairs to the top, only to be denied and have to make the long
walk back down with an upset kid because he couldn’t go on the rid.