KeyLime Cove Resort and Indoor Water Park in Gurnee, Illinois

Located right outside of Chicago at 1700 Nations Drive in Gurnee, Illinois is KeyLime Cove Resort and Indoor Water Park. This water park offers tropical scenery and activities all year long. My family and I have visited this water park during the winter months to take a little break from the cold weather and snow.

The water park area of KeyLime Cove has activities for children of any age including infants, toddlers or preschoolers. A lazy river, thrill slides and a kiddie play pond are the main attractions of the water park, which is kept at 82 degrees year round. One thing that I like about the water park, which is open from 10 am to 9 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 9 pm on weekends, is that lifeguards are on duty at all times while the park is open.

KeyLime Cove offers a host of amenities. The resort offers a full service spa. For some rooms, like the two room suite, you can add spa service for $89 per night. If you want to know if your room selection qualifies for this add-on, contact the resort at (224)656-8685. With your KeyLime Cove wristband, you can workout at nearby Gold's Gym. Numerous restaurants are located on the property, including a soda shop that serves breakfast, burgers and other meal choices, a pizzeria, hot dog stand, coffee and pastry shop, and a tropical themed eat-in restaurant. Shopping is available in various shops, including one that is open around the clock.

There are some special things that you must consider that require a little advance planning if you are travelling with little kids.

Passes

You have to have a room at the KeyLime Cove hotel to be able to enjoy the water park, so you can't just purchase passes to the water park. When you make your reservations, be sure that you include the correct number of adults and children as this determines how many passes to the park you get. When I first heard this, I was a bit skeptical because this seemed odd to me; however, during our first stay, I quickly found that having a room was wonderful.

If you are travelling with more than one child, I suggest that you get a Queen Deluxe room or a suite. The Queen Deluxe is the least expensive option. This room starts at $99 per night, but may be more expensive on the weekends and during high volume seasons. It features two queen beds and a sofa bed. This is the room we reserved on our first trip. We have since reserved the two room suite, which starts at $255 per night, since it is more of a home-like atmosphere for our children.

Be sure to bring your child's security blanket or any other items your child needs to feel safe and secure while at KeyLime Cove. Each room offers travel size toiletries, but for a family of five like mine, those don't go very far, so you need to bring your own. The one thing you don't need to bring is towels. KeyLime Cove offers towel for your room and towels for the water park-all of which are complimentary.

Swim Pants

If your child isn't potty trained or if you are worried about 'accidents' in the water, you have to make your child wear swimming training pants. Personally, I recommend Pampers Splashers Swim Pants. I have used a couple of other brands and those didn't come close to the Pampers Splashers Swim Pants. One of my toddlers didn't want anyone to see his underwear, so we let him wear swimming trunks on top of the swim pants, which worked well for him.

Conclusion

Having a room at the KeyLime Cove resort allows you to go to the room to rest with your young children as necessary. Since there isn't any limit to how often you can visit the water park during operating hours while you are a guest at the hotel, you can rest and go back to enjoy more.