Grand Bear Falls Indoor Waterpark - North Utica, Illinois

jessica G.

We stayed for the first time this past weekend its not bad for the price you pay. The water park could use a little updating and deep cleaning. Water wasn't too bad. Friday the chlorine smell has strong but Saturday and Sunday it was better. Rooms were nice. Dont go expecting great wolf lodge. The restaurant and Cafe food was good.

Analise P.

This place has so much potential, but is sorely missing the mark. A view of the waterpark room is available through dirty windows in the main lobby. All windows in the waterpark room were filthy.. Access is in the basement of the lodge. Upon exiting the elevator, a small arcade is available without an entry fee. You enter the waterpark room through a locker room with showers and toilets. The waterpark has plenty of chairs and tables around the edge. However, the waterpark itself is DISGUSTING. I've never seen a Waterpark this filthy. From the windows to the walls to the pools, the whole thing needs to be drained, power washed, scubbed down and disinfected. Black scum coats the pool floor and side while mold grows openly on the parks' walls. The heart-shaped hot tub has piles of sand on the floor and brown scuzzy grout, which is probably coated with 30 years worth of thousands of peoples dead sluffed skin. My legs started burning and itching within minutes of being in it and a dead beetle floated by, (I wouldn't have gone in except I was the guest of a friend and didn't want to be an ahole). This place closes at 9 and was packed at 8:00 pm on a Friday night. The volume was overwhelming; between the echos of screaming children, water dumping, waterfalls pouring and the beeping alarm of the wave pools, chatting in the crowded hot tub was difficult.
There's a kiddy pool with a kiddy slide for babys, and a yellow slide into the wave pool that was packed with young kids. The wave pool connects to the lazy river through a double waterfall and a wooden staircase leads up to the two big slides. One is a body slide, and one uses an innertube. The body slide was painful to me, and forced a bunch of that nasty water up my nose, the innertube one was more enjoyable, but I still racked my ankle going down. These tube's go outside of the building but the ride down is mostly in the dark. It would be cool if you could see outside. These slides shoot you into a pool that feeds into the lazy river.
The wristbands came with the purchase of our room and were good for Friday and Saturday. When we returned to the waterpark on Saturday at 11, nothing was on. The lazy river wasn't moving, the slides were closed, the water was cold and the wave pool wasn't in action. (There were still plenty of kids playing, running either way up and down around the lazy river but it wasn't as loud) The waterfalls were off and The hot tub had part of a bandaid in it. We learned that nothing gets turned on until 4 pm. On a Saturday! We live 3 hours away and weren't sticking around till then .. If we hadn't rushed down on friday night we wouldn't have gotten to experience anything other than the cruddy hot tub. The Waterpark is staffed with young teenagers on their phones, chatting with each other and drinking slushies. At least I hope that was slushy on the floor.
I'm sure kids would love this place, but I wouldn't let a child in that water.
Update: Two days later and I now have a sinus infection. Don't go in this cesspool.

Cyndi B.

My girls and me drove an hour and a half, after I had called to ensure they were open to the public today, and after looking at their website— and “schedule”. The wave pool was never turned on at any point, as stated it would be on said schedule, the two main slides were closed down and looked as though they had been for a while which was also left out on the website or phone call. The pool itself, the bottom was breaking apart and cutting up our feet—overall not worth the $120 spent.
An hour and a half drive in the opposite direction would’ve warranted a better experience I think.

Amber W.

Hotel rated separately from waterpark.
Waterpark 2 out of 5: Bring your own towels or get the waterpark towels and make sure to hang them to dry. The waterpark towels are tiny and once they run out, they’re out. “Locker Rooms” consisted of one bench, two sinks, four bathrooms, and a few showers. When we used the lockers rooms, the waterpark had only been open for 3 hours and the bathrooms were already filthy. Only two of the toilets flushed. None had toilet paper so can’t imagine all the people going #2 then hopping back in the water. Mold in the showers. Oh and not to mention there are no lockers in the locker room so you’ll need to bring all your possessions to the table with you. As soon as you enter the waterpark, you’re hit with the chlorine. Been to plenty of indoor waterparks and I get there’s a normal amount of chlorine but our eyes all started burning immediately. By about six hours at the waterpark, everyone in our group had developed this horrendous choking cough. The adults recovered from it fairly quickly (overnight) but after 3 days I brought my kids to the doctor and they said chlorine cough and airway irritation from the excessive amount of chloramines in the air. Would’ve loved to have seen a water quality or air quality report for that day. Signs posted all over the place that no outside food and drink can be brought in but you can purchase snacks and drinks at the waterpark cafe. Cafe wasn’t open and everyone was bringing in coolers, snacks, you name it. So I guess that’s my fault for not preparing a cooler ahead.
All pictures posted on their website of the waterpark after likely from the day they opened. The kids splash tower is really just like an outdoor playground that only has water running on it when the giant bucket drops water on it. Some serious maintenance needs to be done on that thing including an overhaul with rust-proof screws. It honestly looks like it’s about one tetanus case from being condemned.
Redeeming qualities for the waterpark are zero entry wave pool, waterfalls, lazy river, and the yellow family slide. The tot play area was nice as well but an extremely rough bottom for gentle baby feet with multiple white grates that create tripping hazards (I would imagine that this is extra filtration for that pool though). Water was freezing throughout the facility though! Their posted temperature was 83° for the water but there was no way in h3ll. Maybe an extremely cold day in h3ll…

Ryan S.

Basically, this is a resort that has completely stopped investing in improving itself. It seems like everything is broken or on the verge of breaking. Will not be around for much longer.

Pros: Kind of cheap, but not cheap enough.

Cons:
1. Room condition: The rooms at Grand Bear Resort were OK. The furniture was stained and dilapidated, all three of our outdoor chairs had huge toilet-sized holes in them, things were ripped off the wall and not patched. It was clear that the rooms had not been properly cleaned or maintained in years. I don’t think we had bedbugs like we’ve seen others claim (we checked!).

2. Failing utilities: The utilities at Grand Bear Resort were a complete disaster. The heat and air conditioning was either broken or barely working, leaving us sweltering in the heat. And the Wi-Fi? Nope. Forget about it. It was like trying to connect to the internet with a potato.

3. Amenities: The amenities at Grand Bear Resort were a joke. The swimming pool was murky and reeked of chlorine, and the hot tub was so dirty that I wouldn't have wanted to get in even if it was working. The slide was not working with no notification to us, and apparently hadn’t worked for at least a week.

4. Customer service: The customer service at Grand Bear Resort was just as terrible as everything else. They weren’t rude, but they clearly were embarrassed about the state of their resort.

Overall, I would strongly advise against staying at Grand Bear Resort. It was like they had given up on trying to make the place even remotely decent.

Amanda K.

My sister and I took our four young kids here for spring break for a night recently. The kids had fun in the pool and arcade area, and the cafe had great paninis, breakfast foods, and ice cream. I was overall pretty disappointed in the customer service. There was no eagerness to assist the guests at the front desk…almost like I had to ask them for information instead of them just providing it for me…I also felt like I was being an inconvenience for asking them basic questions. Definitely not the level of service you would expect from a place like this. The pool area seemed outdated, lots of rust on the fixtures and slides. The wave pool was also not open at the expected 4pm time as advertised, so my 8 year old nephew was very disappointed, especially since we only stayed for one night. Pool water was also very chilly. Overall, we had a decent time and made some good memories but sadly we won’t be returning. I would recommend no more than a 1-2 day stay.

Theresa H.

Brought the grandkids here for Spring Break. I was very impressed by how friendly and helpful the staff is and how clean all the public areas are considering how busy they are. The staff is doing a great job here. The Waterpark is perfect for the kids ages 6-7-9. They are having a blast! We will definitely return.

Kristie B.

We went here for spring break with 3 kids 10 and under. It was a great experience! The staff was kind and accommodating. The rooms were clean, well stocked, and comfortable. The kids adored the water park. They barely got out of the water! What a family friendly, laid- back way to spend a few days!