Last week was an epic trip for me. For our elementary school senior trip, we went to Rocking Horse Ranch by New Paltz, New York. Have you ever been there? Let me share my thoughts and opinions about the experiences.

The Pools/Water park: At the Rocking horse Ranch they have they have two pools and two water slides. The indoor pool has one pool that has three buckets that pour water on you, the indoor pool also as a line of barrels that you have to get to the other side of the pool without falling in. Also, they have a very tiny splashdown area for your little ones. The last thing that the indoor pool has is the water slide. The water slide is a tubular slide that goes a decent speed and takes about twenty seconds to get from the top of the slide all the way two to the bottom. A good thing about the water slide is if it is not peak season at the Rocking Horse Ranch, the water slide will never have a wait longer than five minutes. At the outdoor pool they have a very big pool with a volleyball net and another water slide. The water slide outside does not have a roof so it is open. The slide takes about ten seconds and is very slow, so some parts during the ride you have to give yourself a little push.    

The rooms: The rooms were very nice, clean, and comfortable. The room we stayed in had two queen beds and one bunk bed. Also, as soon as you walk into the room there is a hardwood foyer with some hangers for your clothes, a sink and and a bathroom with another sink. The room has a TV and a table with two chairs. Also the two queen beds have a night table in between the beds. The one thing I did not like about the room is the bunk bed is on the side of the TV so if you want to watch TV you either have to sit on one of the queen beds or on the floor in front of the TV.

The food: The Rocking Horse Ranch has a great variety of tasty foods from soft serve ice cream, to cheeseburgers, to croissants. Even if you are a picky eater during breakfast and dinner there is more than twenty food options for you during those two meals.

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Activities: There are so many things to do at the Ranch like play mini golf, go bungee jumping, take out a canoe or pedal boat, play tennis, ping pong, pool, air hockey,foosball, volleyball, go to the shooting range, archery, playground, horseback riding,go to the arcade, play mini bowling, Banana boating (seven dollars per ride), Mountain tubing (ten dollars for three rides), and so much more!

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Rocking horse ranch

Mamacheaps.comNYmetroparents                         Article by Jake Somerfeld

I was just at Kalahari Resorts in the Pocono mountains, and if you are going, we have some tips, tricks and advice for you.

                            TIPS

So as soon as you get your wristbands to go to the water park you will go down the stairs from the main lobby into the arcade, then at the back of the arcade is the water park. If you are staying at Kalahari and you plan to go to the water park the next day here’s what you should do, go to the water park as soon as it opens, and ride the slide Anaconda and Smoke That Thunders as soon as you get there because these slides tend to get the longest lines. The water park opens at nine thirty. The first ninety minutes have the least of a line. The water park will get jammed from one to three o’clock each day so you might want to do some of the other activities during that time.So as soon as you walk into the water park you are greeted with the massive water castle called the splash down Safari. The splash down Safari is a castle that has a huge bucket at the top and every ten minutes it tips. It also has ten mini water slides for your little ones. If you are an adult or a kid who is over forty eight inches and you like water slides, Kalahari has all kinds of slides ranging from vortex slides to drop slides that the floor opens up and you drop into the tube.

MY ADVENTURE THROUGH KALAHARI  

I just got at of school for spring break and hopped in the car with my family. We were ready for the two hour road trip…. We arrive at kalahari and we checked in at nine o’clock dropped our stuff in our room and headed to the water park around ten o’clock, thirty minutes after the water park opened. As we got in to the water park we saw everything from the slides to the wave pool to the Splashdown Safari. So we put our stuff down and went on some slides. Since it is still early, me and my dad head straight for Anaconda. Anaconda is a water coaster which means it can shoot you up a stream of water. We get into the raft and it slowly moves us towards the slide, it hits the end and we plummet down. After a few more exciting ups and downs and turns the ride is over. Right after that we go all the way across the water park to Smoke That Thunders… We think that Smoke That Thunders is over because it is going slow but out of nowhere we plumet forty two feet downward into a cone. After that we ride a bunch more slides. After that we go on a racing slide a vortex slide. Then right before lunch I road the slide where the floor opens up and you drop into the tube. Then for lunch i had a amazing grilled cheese with some lemonade in a coconut. Thirty minutes after lunch we go on another slide called Barrelling Baboon which is a slide where you go through some fast turns and drops into three barrels. After I rode on it, it took my spot for best water slide. And after that we did everything again!         

IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT THE WATERPARK

The indoor waterpark should not be the only reason that you should come to Kalahari. Kalahari has tons of other thing to do like go play some games in the arcade, do the escape room, the VR games, glow in the dark mini golf, the spa, the mini bowling, and so much more! Unfortunately me and my family only stayed for one night so we did not get do all of these experiences.

           FOOD AND TREATS

Food: We enjoyed the big breakfast buffet at Great Karoo Marketplace with great options: a top-notch spread with omelette station, crispy bacon, and Treats: Next, you’re family is faced with some interesting and sweet options: get sucked into The Last Bite candy factory offering a mouth watering assortment of caramel apples, chocolates — and our favorite — chocolate dipped Oreo Cookies with mini M&Ms. The family weekend provided ample opportunities to spoil my kids so we dabbled in their ice cream as well as slurping frozen Pina Coladas poolside in our refillable coconut cups.sh croissants, pastries and more. With full bellies and feeling refreshed from a great night sleep in their hotel, we were ready for a second day filled with non-stop adventure.

               THINGS TO NOTE

When you are at the waterpark  the bathrooms are pretty far from the slides so you should go before you start your day and during lunch. Around twelve o’clock everyday some of the lifeguards will go on lunch break so the whole back area of the waterpark is closed. Every time we went to the wave pool we had to keep asking the lifeguard how many more minutes into the waves turn back on? It would be nice if they had a countdown clock for that. Also most of the slides you need two or four people to ride most of the slides so if you are only one person you can’t go on many rides.

**Disclosure: Kalahari Resorts provided complimentary hotel accommodations for our family for the purpose of this review, but these are my honest opinions. ** I did not include anything about the outdoor part of Kalahari because we were not there when it was open.

THIS WAS OUR ADVENTURE!!!!!     

Photos by Tripadvisor, Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, wisconsinmeetings.com, TUBERIDES and our family!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton