Illinois
Our family visited the brand new Key Lime Cove resort and water park in Gurnee Illinois for one night in March of 2008. This resort just opened in the past month and we thought we would try it out over spring break. Key Lime Cove is in Gurnee Illinois and is right next to Six Flags Great America and across the highway from Gurnee Mills Shopping Mall. It is located between Chicago and Milwaukee. It is one hour from both cities. Since it is located 3 hours away from the Wisconsin Dells, Key Lime Cove is being advertised in Illinois as an alternative to traveling to the Wisconsin Dells.
Key Lime Cove is not opened to the public, so you must stay as a guest in the hotel to use the indoor water park. You can visit the restaurants and other areas of the resort if you are not staying in the hotel. We were staying there on Easter weekend during spring break, so the resort was crowded. The check in line was kind of long when I went to check in, although there were lots of front desk people and the process went fairly quickly. When we were leaving the resort, the check in line was huge and almost flowing out the front door. The staff was giving people drinks and appetizers as they were waiting in line. Key Lime Cove is a keyless and cashless water park. This was new to us and we liked it. Your wristband that they gave you had a computer chip in it. To open your hotel room door you just waved your wristband in front of the senor on the door to unlock it. This was very nice, because you did not have to carry around a room key. You could also have your wristband activated so that you could charge stuff to your room account. This was nice, because you did not have to carry cash around with you. You could charge food on it and make purchases at the shops and arcade with it. When checking in I assumed my wristband was already activated. They didn't ask me when I checked in if I wanted it activated. I later found out my wristband wasn't activated, so I had to later go to the front desk to have them activate it.
I loved the decorating in Key Lime Cove. The theme is Key West/Key Largo/Jimmy Buffet atmosphere. The lobby is active and you feet like you are walking into a party atmosphere on a Caribbean boardwalk.
I really loved all the colors of paint that is used throughout the resort and in the hotel rooms. The bright Caribbean colors of yellows, pinks, greens, aqua blues, and corals made me feel so happy. I almost wanted to run home and paint the walls in my house those colors.
We happened to get a room in the Key West Section that was very close to the elevators and lobby area. It was nice because we didn't have a long walk to get anywhere. Since the resort is brand new, the room was super clean and fresh. Our room had two double beds, a sleeper sofa, coffee table, table and chair set, flat screen TV, classy white furniture, and a bathroom. We were in a handicapped accessible room, so I am sure there were a few aspects of our room that were different from a regular room.
The indoor water park was very nice. It is 65,000 square feet. There are two or three expansion projects that are planned for the future of Key Lime Cove. Therefore, the current indoor water park is the "starter" version. The water park was crowded when we were there. There was a lot of seating. Although, it was hard to find a spot to put our stuff. Once Key Lime grows and expands, it will become bigger and roomier. This is how all the big resorts start out and then they eventually expand and become so much more accommodating. We did enjoy the Key Lime Cove water park and our kids ages 6 1/2, 4, and 21 months had a great time. The water park provides towels and you can get a life jacket for your child if you want. The water park includes a wave pool, although the waves are the weaker variety. There are two body slides, 2 tube slides where you can slide single or double, a hurricane vortex (which our family calls the toilet bowl) where you shoot down a steep slide and spin around a circular bowl until you slide out the bottom.
All of the larger slides are accessed by one stairway. The only bad things is that there are not roped off lanes on the stairway to separate the lines for the different slides. Sometimes it was confusing which line you were standing in. On the hurricane vortex slide, they are going to have a camera that takes your picture on the slide. You are going to be able to scan your wristband at the top of the slide and then it takes and registers your picture on the water slide. You can then view it on a computer screen. There is a good lazy river that is a nice length and you don't get splashed much. There is a big interactive play structure with slides and a dump bucket. Some interactive play structures you can avoid getting soaked, but not this one. This one is super wet and you can't avoid the dumping water and the splashes. There is one large hot tub and the water is luke warm so that kids can go in it. There is also a Lil Limers Play Pond that has three small kiddie slides. There is a short, very slow baby slide and a curved small slide. There is also a super wide kids slide where several kids can go down it at once and the kids don't have to wait in line. This is a nice area for little kids. It is also nice that this area has a gate around it, so your kids can't suddenly escape and run away from you.
In the back of the water park there is an activity pool with basketball hoops.
I was impressed by the Key Lime Cove lifeguards. They all seemed well trained and attentive. The lifeguards had a system that when something happened one guard would whistle and then all the guards whistled and pointed in the direction of the guard that needed help. While we were there are girl fell and apparently hit her head or hurt her neck. All the guards whistled and pointed and they had everyone out of the water and the rides shut down immediately. They cleared everysone away from the injured girl and her family, held the girls neck to keep it immobile, had the mom filling out the incident report, and had the ambulance there to take her away within a few minutes.
Key Lime Cove has a large arcade. There are lots of games to choose from and the games are spread out so that you don't feel crowded. Some of the games were expensive, such as two tokens for a kiddie game. We had fun there and won lots of tickets. The prizes were decent. There is nice seating around the perimeter of the arcade. There are colorful picnic tables and cute little kids seating. Key Lime Cove also has a spa, although I did not go there.
Key Lime Cove is a resort where they make it so that you never have to leave the resort once you get there. Everything you need is right there, which is good for you and all your money is spent at the resort, which is good for the resort. Key Lime Cove has lots of dining options. We liked the Crazy Toucan Margarita Grill, which was located in the main lobby by the front door. They serve food, cocktails, appetizers, the basic kid menu, and there is live music in the evenings. My husband and I had the best chicken sandwich ever here. It was a tender chicken breast with a tropical salsa on it on a super soft and yummy bun. They also served things such as fish tacos and peel and eat shrimp. We also ate at D.W. Anderson's Eatery & Ice Cream Parlor. This place is down by the arcade and is an old fashioned soda fountain setting. There is lots of seating in the restaurant and they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There is an extensive ice cream menu, although it wasn't the most fabulous ice cream creations I have ever had. They also had a basic menu of hamburgers, sandwiches, and salads and soup. There was a basic kids menu. We like the food at the Margarita Grill better. On the other side of the arcade there is also two concession food stands where you can walk up and get food. There is Anna Covy's Pizzeria where you can get pizza and there is Hot Diggety Dawg's where you can get hot dogs, burgers, Italian beef, shakes, brats, and fries. Inside the water park there is also a concession area called Sharky's Big Bites. They served snacks and drinks. In the lobby of the hotel there is a grab and go area called Island Temptations. You can purchase candy, huge bakery items, beverages, coffees, hot chocolate, breakfast bars and cereals, and packaged fruit and yogurt. For breakfast we purchased some stuff from here.
There are also several stores within Key Lime Cove. There is Island Hoppers Outfitters which sells Key Lime Cove apparel and collectibles. Outside the water park there is Leapin Lizards' where there is daily activities and crafts for the kids. Our kids went in there to draw and color. While we were in there a wandering magician came by and did some magic tricks that our kids thought was very funny. There is also a gift shop in Leapin Lizards' that sells toys and kids items. In the lobby there is LuLu's Beach Shop that sells swimwear items. There is also a Mangrove Jack's 24 Hour Trading Post. This is a convenience store that sells snacks, drinks, small toys, and other essentials you may need or have forgotten to bring with you. Lastly, there is Pinki's Pet Palace which is a very small version of a Build A Bear Workshop. Here you can stuff your own teddy bear.
We had a good time at Key Lime Cove. We enjoyed the water park, although I will be interested in going back after they expand it and add more to the water park. We liked the hotel itself and loved the atmosphere. The room was lovely and we liked the entertainment, arcade, and the numerous restaurants. I would recommend this resort. It is pricey, but remember the price includes not only the room, but your water park passes. To save money for food, you can bring your own food to have in your room. The room has a fridge, but not microwave like some of the resorts do in the Wisconsin Dells. Key Lime Cove is a good choice if you live in Illinois and don't want to drive or spend the money on gas to get to the Wisconsin Dells.
No comments:
Post a Comment