From Teresa Plowright,
Your Guide to Family Vacations.
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New in 2006, the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge is a 200-suite Adirondack-themed family resort with two outstanding features:

• it's part of the Great Escape theme park across the street
• it's the first hotel with an indoor waterpark in New York state

Location is in Queensbury NY (Lake George area, a popular vacation spot). Distance is 50 miles from Albany, 210 miles from NYC, 175 miles from Montreal, Quebec.

Great Escape theme park- background

The Great Escape is owned by Six Flags, a big name in theme parks. Before purchase by Six Flags, The Great Escape was a storybook theme park, and still has many attractions for kidlets. A Looney Tunes National Park children's area was added in 2005.

Great Escape also has a wicked wooden coaster and other thrill rides, and an outdoor water park, Splashdown Kingdom. Opening dates for the theme park are mid-May through October; September and October are weekends-only, with October dedicated to the Halloween-themed Fright Fest. (Check site for updates.)

Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark- features

The Lodge is open year-round; when the theme parks are closed, guests can enjoy Fall Foliage in autumn and snow-sports in wintertime (if they find time to get outside the waterpark.)

Décor is in the style of an Adirondack Lodge: the two-story lobby has rustic beams and two fireplaces.

180 one-room "family suites" can sleep six, with two Queen-beds plus a pull out sofa. Twenty more suites have two rooms and sleep between eight to twelve. The Great Escape Lodge has a restaurant, ballroom, arcade, spa, and fitness center.

Indoor Waterpark, White Water Bay:

• exclusively for guests of the Lodge
• 38,000 sq. ft., with two body slides
• tube water slides
• family raft ride
• river tube float
• "FlowRider" (-- a continual sheet wave for body boarding or stand-up surfing)
• activity play lagoon with basketball court
• shallow wading pool for tots
• multi-level Tall Timbers Treehouse has three slides and 160 interactive water elements (squirters, dumping buckets, etc.)

Keep in mind that some of the giant indoor waterparks at Wisconsin Dells resorts are 70,000 sq. feet (and one giant spreads over 125,000 sq. feet) ; but 38,000 is certainly plenty of room for fun.

Nice touch: a towel attendant has warm towels for guests in the pool area. Also, a shop in the pool area sells bathing suits, etc.; if you need more gear, a Walmart's down the street.

Also of interest to families:

• Brunch With Bugs -- Bunny, that is; he and other Looney Toons characters put on a show and pose for pix
• story time at 8 p.m., with Looney Tunes characters
• you might also see Bugs and Daffy Duck around the Lodge
• kids program: arts and crafts, games, contests, scavenger hunts
• coin-op laundry

Meanwhile, for grownups, the Serenity at the Lodge spa has some serious treatments, such as stone therapy, maternity massage, and quarto mani (two therapists, four hands.)

Find out more about the Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark:

• see photos of the indoor waterpark
• head to the the Six Flags site
• check for visitors' comments at TripAdvisor.com and lots of tips (such as "wear your swimsuits under your clothes"). Just enter "Great Escape Lodge" in the searchbox
• call 888-708-2684

This brief profile is meant to introduce this resort to family vacationers; please note that the writer has not visited in person. Always check resort sites for updates.