The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark Review

The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark is the largest waterpark in New York. There are slides, pools, an arcade, ropes course, and more.

For similar trips, check out all of our waterpark posts.

Michelle went with her family to the The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark, the largest waterpark in New York.

The Kartrite is part of the Resorts World campus in the Catskills, which includes Resorts World Catskills Casino.

With that disclosure, take it away Michelle …

The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark Review

Recently, we stayed at the Kartrite resort and indoor waterpark in Monticello NY.

We found a Groupon deal for The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark and booked a one night Saturday stay for almost half the price of booking straight through Kartrite’s website.

Monticello is about an hour away from where we live, so we got a room at Resorts World Casino in Monticello for Friday night so we didn’t have to rush or be too tired for our fun day at Kartrite. Resorts World Casino is right down the block from Kartrite, and the rooms at the casino are cheaper than the waterpark.

Our family is a mom and dad with three boys (ages 12, 4 and 2). Our boys love the summer so when the 4 year old told me he missed the pool I went looking for indoor waterparks to surprise him.

We have been to Great Wolf Lodge, but I wanted to try something closer and newer. After a quick search online, Kartrite came up and the pictures from the website sold us.

Since it was October when we went, the walk from the parking lot to the entrance was decorated for fall and Halloween, which thrilled my boys. They cannot wait to go trick or treating this year.

Once you enter the Kartrite’s, a host guides you to the check in area. The lobby is large and spacious. It’s hard keeping three kids occupied when checking into hotels, especially when the hotel is busy, but the Kartrite knows kids are coming and is ready for them.

There are two medium sized sets of Connect 4 that my kids ran to play with, comfortable chairs and couches, and an enclosed fireplace. I was impressed with the set up.

I was even more impressed that even though we arrived around noon, were able to check in two hours early! If you arrive early and your room isn’t ready yet, you can check your bags and head straight to the waterpark. Your hotel stay includes waterpark admission for the day you check in and the day you check out (plus all the days you’re staying). So, you can head straight to the waterpark portion of the hotel while you wait for your room.

Rooms At The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark:

Our room was right near the elevator, which I liked because we didn’t have to walk too far to get to the room. But the downside is it was very noisy at night. So keep that in mind if you get an option of where on the floor you want your room to be located.

The Kartrite has over 300 suites, with various room options that accommodate families really well. We got the Junior Double Queen Suite, which comes with two queen beds and pull out couch, and sleeps six.

There’s also a Junior King Suite, with a king bed and a pull out sofa that sleeps four; a Family King Bunk Suite, which has a king bed and two twin bunk beds and sleeps six; a Two Bedroom Suite with one king bed, two queen beds, and a pull out couch that sleeps eight; and Three Bedroom Grand Corner Suite, with six beds that sleep up to 12.

Kartrite does offer Accessible room options, if needed.

Our bathroom had a tub, which was great for bathing the little ones. And that’s totally necessary after playing in the water all day.

The rooms also come with a mini fridge, microwave and coffee maker (plus K-cups), an in room safe, a hair dryer, and an ironing board. The rooms also come with an HD TV, which is pretty standard for a hotel room. But, what isn’t standard and what I really liked is that the remote control was in front of the television in a plastic bag so we knew it was sanitized.

After we got to our room, we changed into our bathing suits and went down to the waterpark.

The waterpark:

You walk past two restaurants, a huge arcade and an indoor ropes course before you get to the waterpark. So try to keep your kids focused as they walk from the room.

And don’t feel pressured to purchase food at one of those restaurants before you enter. And actually, you can’t bring outside food or drinks inside the waterpark area. But, inside the waterpark, there’s Surfside Grille, a cafeteria to purchase food, and Bar Mez, which (as the name implies) is a bar on the mezzanine level of the waterpark. We got some hot dogs, drinks, a slice of pizza, and a pretzel from Surfside Grille. The hot dogs and pretzel were really good.

An attendant scans your wristbands and you enter the waterpark.

I was surprised by how warm it was when we entered. The Kartrite stays at a consistent 84 F year round.

We did a quick lap to find seating. All of the tables were taken, but we were able to find a couple lounge chairs off in a quieter section of the waterpark. At this point it was around 1:30 pm and our 2 year old was ready for a nap. Thankfully we had our Radio Flyer wagon. Not only is it convenient for carrying both of our younger sons, but it folds up flat for easy storage. The 2 year old laid down and napped comfortably for a little over an hour while his big brothers and dad got to explore and enjoy the slides.

When my youngest son woke up, we put the life jackets on the younger two and went over to Puddle Ducks, the waterpark’s kiddie section. There are four little slides in that section, which was perfect.

My 12-year-old went on all the slides (Time Warp, Jiggerty-Jaggerty, The Krakken, and Nor’Easter, all which are located next to each other) and played in the Canon-Ballers section (which is basically aquatic basketball). But his favorite was the Endless Summer Flow Rider! That’s a surf simulator, and my son got to try surfing indoors. He absolutely loved it.

We enjoyed Empire Bay, the lazy river, as a family. We went around about three times. And we finished up our day at Affinity Springs, an indoor/outdoor heated spring.

One thing I noticed, besides the waterpark being so clean, is the amount of staff constantly walking around. I really felt safe and everyone was very nice.

Dining At The Kartrite:

We went back to the room and got ready for dinner at Harvey’s Wallbanger, one of the restaurants located in The Kartrite. Harvey’s is set up like a sports bar with TV’s playing all kinds of sports. We ordered penne alla vodka and a French dip sandwich. The food was really good! I was impressed because we did not like the food at Great Wolf Lodge, so I wasn’t expecting much from this waterpark. I was pleasantly surprised.

Other options for dining are:

Bixby’s: A tavern and taproom serving upscale items like Truffled Lobster Mac & Cheese as a starter and Pork Osso Bucco for an entrée.

Eat Eat Eat: A breakfast and dinner buffet.

Pop’s Sweet Shoppe: A candy shop filled with homemade chocolates and pastries, artisan crafted candies, candy apples, and more.

Surfside Grille: The aforementioned café located within the waterpark.

The Highline: A coffeeshop serving all day breakfast.

On Sunday, we had breakfast at The Highline, a café near the lobby, which had cereal, oatmeal, bagels, and pastries — and, of course, much needed coffee!

Other Things To Do At The Kartrite:

After dinner we played in the Playopolis arcade until bedtime.

There are actually a bunch of indoor things to do at The Kartrite that aren’t the waterpark. These indoor activities do require an additional fee and aren’t included in the price of the waterpark pass or in the price of a hotel stay. The prices are listed below, but keep in mind that they can change at any time.

AmazeQuest: Laser tag ($12 per person)

Carabiners: A ropes course and a zipline ($12 per person)

Scrapeskyer: A climbing wall ($7 per person)

The Dark Side: A 3D gaming experience ($7 per person)

Van Winkle’s Alley: A bowling alley ($6 per game)

Virtuality: A virtual reality ride ($8 per person)

The resort has daily/nightly activities, and you can see them all on the waterpark’s website. Saturday night was movie night, and there were s’mores in the courtyard and a movie playing. After a full day in the waterpark, my kids were too tired to participate in the activities, but we were able to see them from the window in our room.

After breakfast the next day, we went back to the arcade to cash in our tickets and get the boys some toys, then we played in the courtyard. There’s a wooden playground, large Connect 4 sets, extra large chess, fire pits, rocking chairs and a large grassy area for the kids to just run.

We had a great time and can’t wait to return.

The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark: Frequently Asked Questions

Which popular attractions are close to The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark?

The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark is located in the Catskill Mountains. There are a bunch of hiking trails and state parks located nearby. A few other activities within driving distance are:

• Bethel Woods (the site of the original Woodstock concert which still holds concerts and has a museum on site)
• LEGOLAND New York (a family-friendly LEGO theme park) *pictured above
• Resorts World Catskills Casino
• Woodbury Commons (really great outlet shopping)

Did this The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark review help you plan your trip? Let us know in the comments.