Castaway Bay Review

"Castaway Bay is Cedar Point’s new indoor water park resort. Built in the former Radisson Harbour Inn, the Castaway Bay complex includes a water park, large video arcade, children’s activity center, three shops, two restaurants, a deli and a lounge. The resort is themed to a tropical Caribbean island setting, which it pulls off very successfully. The entrance to the parking lot is marked with an attractive island themed sign, complete with palm trees."

Read Pete's full review

I really have to make reservations to that place. The review makes it sound really cool.

If only I was 18!

January 5th and 6th. Can't wait for it to come!

CP4eva'04 said:
If only I was 18!

To reserve a room, guests must be 21 years or older or accompanied by a parent or legal guardian during their stay.

Taken from castawaybay.cedarpoint.com

The only problem I had with my stay was the obvious lack of theming in the rooms. I'm not sure if they ran out of cash or just didn't try very hard in that area. If they are going to compete with Great Wolf and Kalahari they are going to have to create a "total experience" throughout Castaway Bay.

My room's theming consisted of a bedspread with some shells and the window between the kids room and main room had bamboo bars and a blind to close. I did not see any difference otherwise between CB and the Raddison.

A little repainting in some nice tropical colors and maybe some wicker furniture would create a nice atmosphere. *** Edited 11/30/2004 3:57:22 PM UTC by tambo***

But was the furniture new? Last time I stayed at Radisson it was all trashed junk.

I honestly cannot remember.

Do you really want themeing in your room that bad? For me just looking at pictures they thrashed GBL up and down.

thrashed GBL

In the waterpark, maybe. But, for this property, the rooms have to carry water too, so to speak. You aren't paying $200 just to get four people into a waterpark, and a waterpark is not an "all day" destination in the way CP is. People will be spending time in those rooms, so the rooms are an important part of the picture. That's certainly true of the two *other* examples I can think of---Kalahari and Great Bear.

I've said this in other threads, but it bears repeating: CF treats their hotels like hotels (or, sometimes, motels), not resorts. That's fine if guests do nothing but sleep in those rooms, but otherwise, not so much.

i dont know, i was looking at pictues of castaway bay and watching the videos and it doesnt seem very spectacular. "Cedar Point’s new Castaway Bay indoor waterpark resort will be a $22 million renovation to the park’s existing Radisson Harbour Inn property." that was taken from http://castawaybay.cedarpoint.com/public/factsheet.cfm

$22 million is a very large amount of money. was $22 million spent just on the waterpark? or other things too?

I'll post a review of my trip after I come back (leaving tomorrow morning -- whee!) Interesting comments about the rooms. I guess my expectations for a room in a hotel are mostly that it's exceptionally clean and in good shape, has a decent TV with some good channels, a comfy bed, and possibly a bathtub, as opposed to a shower, for the relaxation aspect. I don't worry much about the pattern of the wallpaper or the color of the comforter on the bed as long as it's not in disrepair or fiendishly ugly, but I can see what you mean about the extension of the theme as being a nice part of the overall experience. (Perhaps it's just that I'm a college student and don't find myself in resort-hotels all that often. $$$, y'know... ^_~ )

As for $22 million, I'm not about to suggest that I know the first thing about a construction budget at all, but I imagine that paying for the design of all the special themed elements and blueprints, as well as the cost of surveying, land preparation, contractors, plumbing, water, electric, cement, etc. etc. etc. as well as the actual cost of labor probably is quite a stack of cash.

I'll be interested to see how this Kalahari place measures up to both Castaway Bay and the GBL, and then, what Castaway Bay and the GBL do in response.

When I was a college student, I lived in a fraternity house. Clean was above and beyond what I expected.

(OT: I visited my old fraternity house for this year's Big Game. I can't believe I ever lived in that dump.)

However, now I visit high-end hotels on business trips. I do so often. Both those located in cities and those in resort areas. The differences between a "hotel" and a "resort" lie in the *quality* of the room elements, not necessarily the theme. For example, soft sheets with a very high thread count that haven't been laundered to death. Big, fluffly, soft towels, and plenty of 'em. A nice down comforter rather than a quilted one. Quality glassware. Good lighting. A comfortable, overstuffed/upholstered chair. Maid service that includes turning down my sheets at night, and noticing that I've used the hand lotion and placing another one for my future needs. A concierge who not only can make dinner reservations for you, but knows *where* to make them based on what sort of ambiance you are looking for. These sorts of quality touches make a difference in the experience of a room.

Here are some examples of resort-area places that I have been to recently, and found exceptional:

Kiawah in the South Carolina lowcountry. The Sagamore in upstate New York. Rosario on Washington's Orcas Island. Copper Mountain, a ski resort in Colorado. Schloss Elmau in the German Alps (a personal favorite on this list, but possibly thanks to the post-conference evening spent watching Munchen Bayern win the UEFA Champions Cup in a Munich beer garden. That's the European equivalent of watching the Red Sox break the curse in a Fleet Street bar---the locals get pretty excited!)

These places are resorts. They are no more expensive for a nightly stay than standard rooms at Breakers. They are all in exceptional locales with abundant recreational opportunities, and all are surrounded by expensive real estate---they are not in out-of-the-way places, but rather in places of high demand.

Compared to these, *nothing* owned by CF could be classified as a "resort", or even a "nice hotel". The settings of CP's properties are often quite nice, but the amenities and services offered are barely motel-quality, let alone "resort" quality.

Hopefully, Castaway will be different. I haven't seen anything that suggests it will be, though.

*** Edited 12/20/2004 4:06:39 AM UTC by Brian Noble***

Here's a link to my trip report:

http://www.pointbuzz.com/cpplace.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=15697

Brian, what you are talking about doesn't even describe what I've experienced at Disney (and I thought their themed hotels were pretty neat). In that case, using your definition, Castaway Bay's rooms and amenities would probably be of the "quite nice" hotel/motel variety. It sounds like you travel to a lot of upper-class (read=fancy) locales, and there would be upper-class type expectations for what the places you stay in would offer.

Though I definitely would enjoy staying in such a place as you're talking about, I'm not sure if the middle-class families that come to Cedar Point's hotels would even imagine -- let alone expect -- such services. However, those nice touches you've talked about would certainly impress people, that's for sure, and make them want to come back just to be treated so well.

I guess since these things aren't part of the usual guest's expectations, though, perhaps those that run the hotels feel the extra effort and, well, cost, to provide such services isn't necessary. I don't have much experience with CF hotels, though, so maybe someone else wants to present their views on this.

Edit: Grammar...argh *** Edited 12/22/2004 4:48:57 AM UTC by Lee***