KeyLime Cove Water Resort: Gurnee, Illinois
Property
This gigantic indoor water park right next to Six Flags Great America is new, shiny and fun. KeyLime Cove maintains a vacation atmosphere better than other indoor water parks I’ve seen, with colorful storefronts mimicking a beach town and bars and restaurants keeping the party going even after the kids are (hopefully) in bed.
Location
Gurnee is on the northern outskirts of Chicagoland, a location that makes it likely this place will be busy year-round. It’s right next to the Six Flags Great America amusement park and outdoor water park, and they sell package deals, which is a great idea for those who travel from out of town to hit the amusement park but get rained out.
The Gurnee Mills mall is also right across the Interstate. Naturally, tons of fast-food and family dining restaurants have also settled into this suburban fun-and-shopping mecca. Although it’s all the opposite of “atmosphere,” we guiltily loved the location because it was so easy to escape the pricey restaurants in the resort and grab burgers at a nearby drive-through.
Sleeps
Our queen/queen room slept four; there was also a couch that could have accommodated one more and there was room for a crib had we brought one.
Highlights
Obviously, it’s all about the water park. The water play areas and slides are not different from other indoor water parks, but everything is a little bigger and more than most. The climbing structure is taller, there are lots of big water slides, and there was also a wave pool and a nice kiddie-area.
Another thing we appreciated was the dry kids’ activity area, which is great if you have one little person who isn’t very into the water or gets tired of it. The kids area has activities all day, like a scavenger hunt, crafts, bedtime stories and even an extremely loud tribute to Hannah Montana at the end of the day.
The thing that delighted even us adults was the high-tech nature of the wristbands. Adults’ wristbands serve as room keys AND you can use them to buy drinks and food, eliminating the need to carry a wallet down to the water area or rent lockers. But if you need to rent lockers, you can charge those to your room via the wristband too.
Good to know
My biggest piece of advice would be to pack earplugs or a white noise machine, especially if you have hopes of getting your little ones to sleep at any normal time. Plenty of other families there had no such goals, and kids (some very little) were running the halls and yelling until past midnight. Groups of teens were none too quiet either. If you bring a laptop, you may want to bring your own Ethernet cable. Rooms are equipped with Ethernet and the desk will loan you a cable, but they were all checked out when I asked. There is wireless in the lobby and in the sitting areas at the end of each floor.
Contact
https://www.keylimecove.com/index
Key Lime Cove from TravelSavvyMom on Vimeo.
Written by Carrie Kirby
