A Visit to the Cape Codder

For those of you who are local (or, if not local, interested in Cape Cod), I want to quickly talk about our recent visit to the Cape Codder.  (And share some photos.)  Around here, folks still head to Cape Cod during winter months - the big draw of the Cape Codder is their indoor water park.  We headed down there a couple of days after Christmas with family friends for a winter swim break.

I wrote a long, detailed post last year about our 2018 stay at the Cape Codder and I don't plan to rehash all of that here again today, so if you want more information, head over to that post.  Today, I'll just give you the updates.



I do want to reiterate that the Cape Codder is a wonderful alternative to Great Wolf Lodge, especially if you have kids in elementary school (6 to 10 years old.)  It's less expensive and usually less crowded than GWL.  And when I say less expensive, for popular dates (weekends, vacation weeks) I'm talking by hundreds of dollars.

I was discussing the Cape Codder with friends at dance, and we all agreed that it would be a fun place for visitors to Cape Cod during summer months, especially if you are not able to rent a house, condo, etc.  The great majority of rentals are on a weekly basis and turn over on Saturdays.  Sometimes that doesn't work for certain vacation schedules.  Even though it's not located on the water, Hyannis Harbor is a short car ride away and there are plenty of beaches nearby.  And, if there happens to be rainy, chilly days, you have the benefit of a heated indoor water park for the kids.




Room Renovations

As noted last year, if you read reviews of this hotel online, outdated rooms are a major source of complaint.  If that is a concern for you,  the Cape Codder has been updating their rooms.  Here's what a renovated rooms looks like now.



I do not have a photo of the bathroom, which was also updated, but we adults did notice that while the tile and other items had been replaced, the old wallpaper still remained.


Water Park on Departure Day

I had researched staying here years ago and, when comparing to Great Wolf Lodge, was turned off by the fact that the Cape Codder's website stated how guests were only permitted to use the water park until 11:00 a.m. on the day they check out.  Last year, the website was changed to say that guests could use the water park until 2:00 in the afternoon on their departure day.  The website has been changed back to state 11:00 a.m. but when we were there, guests were told they could use the water park until 2:00 on their departure day, not 11:00 am.  I believe management is making that decision daily based on occupancy and the sale of day passes.  During our visit, rooms and day passes were still available.




Snack Bar

You are not allowed to bring outside food or drinks into the water park but (of course) there is a snack bar.  Last year, we were not impressed with the menu, but they've made changes since then and we ate lunch poolside.  The current menu is quite extensive and consists of salads, sandwiches (the chicken caesar wrap was a hit), pizza, nachos and the typical "kid" items such as chicken fingers, mac and cheese, etc.  We all enjoyed our food - no complaints.




Palio Pizza

We ate dinner at Palio Pizza, located along the main strip in Hyannis with all the shops.  This wasn't our first time eating here and it does have good online ratings.  For me personally, the cheese:sauce ratio on the pizza is slightly off with too much cheese and not enough sauce, but it's still good pizza.  Next time, we'll ask them to add more sauce.  (Forgot this time around.)  The garlic breadsticks are perfection though.