Dinner and a Show at Woodloch!

Every year I look forward to the new “theme” at Woodloch Resort. The idea of Theme Night is so exciting to not only the guests, but also the employees. The theme always includes fun costumes, delicious desserts at dinner, and best of all - the new family-friendly show. I enjoy the anticipation of walking through the greeting line admiring every staff member in their festive attire; which family member has the flashy costume; what the “horse” in the parade looks like this year or until I find out what Randy is wearing – or more accurately what Randy is NOT wearing. There’s nothing better than the fun atmosphere and excitement I feel in this Pocono family resort!

Dinner and a show at Woodloch is that time when the girls bring out their best dress, men put themselves together with a collared shirt and some nice shoes and the dining room looks like a party for 600. My personal favorite thing about Theme Night is the dinner part of “dinner and a show in the Poconos”. You’ve got a 4 course meal - appetizer, salad, entrée (prime rib, salmon, chicken) and as I said before, the new dessert! - hopefully something chocolaty (fingers crossed). Following dinner is my next favorite part - everyone rushes to the nightclub to find the perfect table for their family and friends to get the best view of the stage, luckily, anywhere in the nightclub is great seating! As everyone gathers, music is being played by The Company to entertain us as we wait for the show to begin.

This year the theme is The Majesty of the British Empire. Now take it from me - I had no idea what that meant going into the show! I was excited because not only is it a new theme - but it’s something I’m not familiar with. To my surprise I was surrounded by some familiar sounds of James Bond, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ozzy Osbourne, The Beatles and even the Spice Girls - That’s right the SPICE GIRLS! Not only were the dinner costumes entertaining but the theme show offered costumes recognizable to all ages-including Harry Potter and Queen Elizabeth. I also really enjoyed the unique British humor and the different charm it has compared to American comedy.

Needless to say, the Theme Show at Woodloch Resort has yet to disappoint. Even with my lack of knowledge in the material - I found myself laughing and dancing around to the sounds (and humor) of THE BRITISH EMPIRE! Our own Woodloch talent and our Broadway loaners set out to create yet another pleasurable experience, different and entertaining, for adults and children alike – wow, they really nailed it, again!

Woodloch’s Kids Splash Zone = Unending Giggles

As a member of the Woodloch Family Staff, we are afforded many privileges working here.  I could go on and on about what Woodloch does for their staff, but that would take all day.  On Sunday nights in the off-season, staff are welcome to enjoy the facilities, specifically the pool and sports complex.  So that’s what I did last night, went to the pool!

I have a ten month old daughter named Savannah, who just started walking, and on a recent vacation we found out she just loves - I mean LOVES – the water.  Bath, pool, lake, ocean, whatever – as soon as you take her out of the water she cries, she could live in an inner tube in the middle of Lake Wallenpaupack and be perfectly happy.  So my wife and I decided to take our little one to the pool because Woodloch has their new Kids Splash Zone!

The Splash Zone is designed for kids 12 and under, but really it’s more suited for little kids.  Perfect!  We all got changed easily and stepped through the double glass doors into the pool area.  First thing I thought was – how comfortable the 82° felt as we escaped the -2° wind chill outside, but the pool waters felt even better!  We started off nice and easy in the kids wadding pool, it was about 9” deep all around the circular shape.  The ledge around the pool was perfect for sitting and watching the wee ones scamper around.  Ok, good warm-up we thought, lets enter the WOODLOCH SPLASH ZONE!  

The place is really impressive; the super tall (25’) walls are decorated with a beautiful perspective mural of the creatures of the forest, pine trees and rolling hills – very appropriate for the area and really cute and fun for the kids.  My daughter fell in love with the mamma and baby bears.  There are a bunch of little water slides, jets, waterfalls, fountains and even a few water guns.  There’s a little rubber rowboat with whirlpool jets in the seats which was a blast.  The water is about 9” deep or less all around.  All the water toys are made out of a rubber or foam material for safety. 

My little girl found the toy that was just the right size for her; it’s a little otter, sitting on a log and you can slide from his head down to his long fat tail.  He can’t be more than 2’ at most and there’s a little water jet to make it slick.  Savannah was just full of deep belly giggles as she slid down the otter’s tail.  I had to hold her of course, but as soon as we reached the bottom she jumped over and started to crawl back up.  So we’d slide down again and again with her laughter filling this room. 

We all had such a great experience in Woodloch’s Splash Zone, it really entertained my little baby girl.  She used so much energy and had so much fun (as did we) she was fast asleep before we got back home (6 minutes away…).