21 Things to do at Kartrite Resort With Tweens

I am the mom to three boys. I love them all. My older two are teenagers. My youngest, the tween of the family at 10 years old, is the one who I think enjoyed the Kartrite Resort and Indoor Waterpark the most. He has a great love for adventure and is always willing to try new things, whether they scare him or not. Our weekend vacation at the Kartrite gave him plenty new of new things to try. When it was time to go, he’s the one who most wanted to stay a little longer. We are so thankful that the Kartrite Resort provided us with a complimentary stay for two nights. I can confidently say there are things to do at The Kartrite Resort with tweens.

 

 

 
When it comes to tween travel, it can be hard to find vacations that are perfect for them. Many locations might offer a lot of tween activities, but they don’t always do a great job of promoting what they offer.  As we move forward we want to help you and families like ours with vacation ideas for tweens. We hope you’ll find our tween travel series helpful.
 
While the Kartrite resort and indoor waterpark offers fun activities for all ages and you can read about them in this post. This story is about all the things to do at Kartrite with tweens. Take a look.
 

 

 

10 Things to do at Kartrite Waterpark With Tweens

Water play areas tweens will enjoy

• Kartrite Island is the water playground and sprayground for The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark. It offers a massive bucket drop of water and over 100 water activities where kids can play under water, drop or spray water on others, or ride waterslides. The area offers zero entry into the water and it never got deeper than my ankles. This water play area offers 3 water slides. My tween had a great time trying to dump and spray water on others, but his favorite part of the Kartrite Island were the green waterslides.

• • 1 wide open water slidethat looks like a traditional slide, but with water. It is low to the ground with no twists and turns.
  • 2 enclosed water tunnel slides that twist and turn, one on the first level. The other is up on a third level and twists three times before it reaches the end.
  • 1 other open water slide. It starts at the third level and twists 3 times before reaching the end.

 

 

• Cannon Ballers is the Kartrite waterpark pool area for playing basketball in the water. The area is 3.5 feet deep with steps to enter. It offers 3 basketball hoops and balls in two sizes. It is also handicap accessible. Other guests had a hard time trying to win a game of aquahoops against my tween and teens.

 

• Puddle Ducks is an area designated for preschoolers and the littlest of guests of Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark. Zero entry, showering fountains, colorful slides, and playful water areas will lure in your children. Even the domes of water were too much for my 10 year old and 13 year old. They couldn’t help themselves; they crawled under them and had fun playing with the water.

 

• Endless Summer Flowrider is where Kartrite guests can ride the waves. Guests can ride for as long as they can stay on the board. This looks like such fun, but my tween wouldn’t giveit a try. I did like how the lifeguards were working with each kid to help them learn how to surf, but it still didn’t help me convince him to be brave enough to try it.
  • 42″ Minimum Height Requirement
  • 1 guest per board

 

• The Later Gator Crossing is where guests can travel across log pieces and lily pads to get to the other side. There are 6 pieces in all. I found the rope to be lower than I’ve seen at other waterparks. My tween couldn’t keep off of this. Each time he passed the Later Gator Crossing he asked if I would let him cross the water again. How could I say no?
  • 48″ Minimum Height
  • 1 passenger is allowed across the pads at a time.

 

• Empire Bay is Kartrite’s version of a lazy river. Float along the river and relax and enjoy the ride through the plants and manmade waterfalls. Take a tube for one or share a double tube with a kid. Watch out for the leaky leaves and waterfall. While the leaves will only ‘leak’ water on you, you could get stuck under the waterfall and get drenched. My tween and older teen didn’t spend much time being lazy on this river. They kept moving ahead of the rest of us. LOL
  • 48” Minimum Height
  • Riders use a double or single tube on this lazy river.

 

Waterslides for heights of 42″ and taller

• The Jiggerty-Jaggerty waterslides at the Kartrite waterpark are their mat races. You can slide alone or race against the guest in the tube next to you. My tween described the two slides as being identical in all ways. He said sometimes you can look to the side and see the other person you are racing against. Portions of this waterslide are enclosed tunnels and other portions are open.
  • There are 4 flights of steps to the platform where this waterslide is located.
  • 42″ Minimum Height Requirement
  • Riders use a mat on this waterslide.
  • 1 Passenger Per Ride
  • There are 2 Jiggerty-Jaggerty waterslides

 

Waterslides for 48 inches and taller

• The Krakken is one of two tube waterslides at The Kartrite. It’s a closed tunnel waterslide with twists and turns. The slides goes outside of the building before returning back into the building. There are three areas along the waterslide’s path where you might get pulled into a bowl-like area and spin around before exiting towards the bottom. Just a note, the more weight on the tube the bigger splashes and faster speed you’ll have on the slide. With my tween we didn’t go too fast and there were no big splashes at the end. With my husband, there definitely was a big splash when we hit the end. My 10 year old’s review of this waterslide is that he “liked the Krakken because it has parts that make big loops. There are a lot of bumps so hold on.”
  • There are 4 flights of steps to the platform where this waterslide is located.
  • Riders use a double or single tube on this waterslide.
  • 48″ Minimum Height Requirement
  • 1-2 Passengers Per Ride
  • There is one Krakken waterslide open. It looks like they are still developing a second one.

 

• The Nor’Easter is The Kartrite waterpark’s family raft ride. It was one of my favorites. You start the ride with a big drop before sliding up a very high wall (it doesn’t go up as high as it looks.) In the raft, you’ll go up that wall before sliding back down then through the tube to a shallow pool of water at the end. My tween (the 10 year old) said, “The four-person slide is so cool because there is a big drop. Then, there is a wall you go up and then down.” Truth be told, he also got a kick out of hearing me scream on the way down. He said the Nor’Easter was his favorite because we could ride that one as a family.
  • There are 5 flights of stairs to the platform where this waterslide is located.
  • Riders use rafts that are brought to the top with a conveyor belt.
  • 48″ Minimum Height Requirement
  • 2 or 4 Passengers Per Ride

 

• Time Warp is another tube waterslide at The Kartrite Indoor Waterpark. It’s similiar to the Krakken in that it’s a closed tunnel waterslide, but it doesn’t have as many bowl-like areas to spin around in. The majority of the tubing is also on the outside of the Kartrite building. My 10 year old said, ” I like the orange slide because it has a part where it is a whirlpool. You can go really fast on this ride.”
  • There are 4 flights of steps to the platform where this waterslide is located.
  • Riders use a double or single tube on this waterslide.
  • 48″ Minimum Height Requirement
  • 1-2 Passengers Per Ride

 

11 Things to do at Kartrite Resort With Tweens

Kartrite Resort amenities for tweens

Take advantage of the special events and activities available for hotel guests.

These were some of the special activities going on during our visit

• Duck Scavenger Hunt
• Family Candy Bingo
• Erik’s Reptile Adventures

 

• Donut Decorating
• Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt
• Pictures with the Easter Bunny
• Character Meet & Greets

 

• Sand Art
• Candy Bingo
• Brains & Brawn Challenge
• Family Game Night

 

Play at the outdoor playground. Walk the beam. Climb the spiderweb. Crawl over or through the tunnel.

 

Lounge around on the outside deck.

 

7 Kartrite Resort indoor activities for all ages at the Playopolis

Everything your tweens could possibly want for for thrills and fun is on the lower level of The Kartrite Resort and Indoor Waterpark. If the waterpark wasn’t enough The Kartrite offers arcade games, bowling, air hockey, billards, crane games, rock wall climbing, laser tag, a ropes course with zip line, two virtual reality experiences, and a dark ride. On your traditional arcade games kids can earn tickets to redeem for prizes in The Vault. You’ll need to purchase a rechargeable game card in order to play, but that card will also store your tickets. We list some pricing information for these activities below, but always check the Kartrite website here for the most up-to-date information and specials. 

• Whether it’s the classic ones you enjoyed as a child or the latest interactive learning games, the Kartrite arcade offers games for 1-4 players. My tween’s favorite games were the Batman video game and air hockey. He battled each one of us in the family and beat us all.
  • The arcade games costs 4-10 credits.
  • Some experience-type virtual reality games will cost more.

 

• Van Winkle’s Alley is where kids and adults can bowl. It is a little smaller than the standard bowling alley, but has 4 lanes for play. Kids can also play with bumpers up or down. Check out these luxurious couches.
  • Open to any age that can bowl.
  • Kids can play with or without bumpers.
  • This activity costs $6 or 24 credits.

 

• Carabiners is unlike any indoor ropes course I’ve seen before. You can’t miss it! As you walk towards the Kartrite Indoor Waterpark, the ropes will be suspended overhead. The course starts out going one story up to a platform. From there, climbers can go in two different directions. Then, there’s maybe 12 platforms with multiple ways to cross between them. Swing from one to another. Walk across a rolling beam. Wrap yourself around one bar to get to the next. Step from a floating hexagon to another one. Zip across the floor while others watch from the ground. It’s part obstacle course, part ropes course, part zipline and all fun. Kids can cross and climf from one platform to the next for up to 15-minutes. I challenged my tween to walk across every path and he did. I was wowed and proud.
  • Participants must be 48″ tall to go alone or 42″ if accompanied by an adult 18 years or older.
  • This activity costs $12 or 48 credits. 

 

• The Skyscraper Climbing Wall presents kids and adults with 3 unique climbing walls: a wall with curves, a wall with blocks, and a zig zag wall with LED lights. Climb one or all. Climb to challenge yourself or another kid. Get to the top to ring that bell and then glide back down to the bottom. Climber Guides are on hand to help even the most timid climber. This was one of the first activities my tween did on our first night at the Kartrite.
  • Participants must be 40″ or taller and 6 years or older.
  • This activity costs $7 or 28 credits.

Watch our video of my 10 year old climbing the walls of Skyscraper and then his review.

 

• The Dark Side takes you into a 3D adventure (or should we say, XD theater adventure)! Strap into the seats and select your own adventure: Haunted Mine 6D, Dino Safari, The Adventures of Jett and Jin, or Canyon Coaster. My tween, younger teenager, and I chose the Dino Safari. When it started it was clear that our ‘seats’ were set in a jeep. We raced through scenes that looked like something out of Jurassic Park. At times, dinosaurs crashed through our windshield. We swirved this way and that to avoid becoming a meal for the dinosaurs. We heard the roaring, felt the wind through our hair, and narrowly avoided being eaten.
  • Open to any age that can remain seated and belted in.
  • This activity costs $7 or 28 credits.

 

• Battle your family in AmazeQuest. Kartrite’s Laser Tag Gear is unlike any laser tag you’ve played before. My older teenager describes it like this.“I had the chance to play a more advanced version of laser tag. This version of laser tag was more customized and granted more opportunities to score points. The players could target and destroy the other team’s base and other obstacles (not just players) for points. You could also get certain power ups to help you in a sticky situation. I enjoyed this unique version and I am sure others will love this new spin on laser tag.” What I most appreciated about the game, is the fact that your laser vest never runs out of bullet. Time is not wasted by having to run back to a base to power up. The entire experience is 15 minutes including the instructions, warm up, and actual play time. Unfortunately for me, my tween and teenagers had a fun time ganging up on me in this Kartrite Resort activity. I didn’t stand a chance, but I still enjoyed playing with them.
  • Open to any age that can wear the Laser Tag gear.
  • This activity costs $12 or 48 credits.

 

• Don’t just play a game, be in the game! The Virtual Reality experience lets you do that. Nonparticipants can watch guests play on different screens and in person. It was my 14 year old who played this virtual reality game at The Kartrite (but tweens would enjoy it too). My teenager stepped in suited up and came out declaring it AWESOME. I’ll let him explain it.
  “At the Kartrite arcade and games area, I had the chance to play with the VR system they had there. The VR game displayed was Beat Saber. Beat Saber is a game that requires quick-timed dodges and strikes. Beat Saber is played by using sticks of light (like lightsabers) to hit targets in time with the beat of a song. Needless to say, doing it in VR, was exhilarating and tiring. However, I greatly enjoyed playing It, and would do so again. I think others will enjoy it too.”
  • • This activity costs $12 or 48 credits.
    • Open to any age that can stand in one place for a 7-10 minutes to play while wearing virtual reality head gear.

   

 

Additional Kartrite Resort activities for tweens

• The Kids Korner in the spa offers treatments for tweens 12 years old or younger. Treat your tween to one of these two options:
  • A 45 minute Milk Shake Facial designed by the flavor of your tween’s choosing and using soothing botanical oils to restore hydration and deliver soft, beautiful skin.
  • The 15 minute Yummy Hands or Tasty Toes lets tweens soak their hands and feet for some chilling out that includes a sugar scrub and spa wrap, topped with a hand and foot massage with polish application.

 

Want to know more about The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Waterpark?

Visit these articles on Jersey Family Fun.

• The Ultimate Mom’s Guide to Visiting The Kartrite Resort With Kids & Teens
• Things to do at Kartrite With Kids
• Things to do at Kartrite With Teens
• Things to do at Kartrite With Preschoolers