Dolls and Doll-related Items for Sale

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Vacation!

Yep, it's early in the year to have a vacation, but Mr. BTEG's employer paid for him to attend CodeMash again this year. CodeMash gives a yearly tech conference, based out of the Kalahari indoor waterpark in Sandusky, Ohio. There are a handful of hotels that offer overflow rooms, and one of those is Great Wolf Lodge, also an indoor waterpark, and just down the street. Mr. BTEG has attended CodeMash before; you can read a review about the waterpark and general facilities here. You can see a doll-sized 3D printed tea set that I had printed at CodeMash here.

We as a family have very fond memories of Great Wolf Lodge. The first time we attended was in 2004, and we've been back several times since. Since Mr. BTEG knows how much I love GWL, he booked his room there this year, and I hung out and used the waterpark, while he was attending classes and functions at Kalahari. So I had a lovely vacation from Monday night to Friday morning.

Great Wolf Lodge is really targeted more for younger kids. There are no large water slides or more adult-friendly only water activities at GWL. There are several storytimes, including one at night when kids get to come down in their pajamas. There is a "dance party" where they play kid-friendly dance music, and the kids bop around in their jammies.
There is an "interactive, live-action, roleplaying game" called MagiQuest, that is really slanted towards tweens and younger, although I have seen some enthusiastic roleplaying adults running around the hotel. There are various treasure chests, and interactive screens and so on, situated throughout the hotel lobby area's four floors, and there is a scenario that you go through, after you buy a "magic" wand to activate the items. There are also accessories like capes and swords available for purchase. My niece had a great time playing this back in September. She was ten.
There's also a small craft area, where coloring pages and other simple activities are offered throughout the day. It was fun to see that the chairs are the same as the one as I have in the doll-sized Ikea furniture set that I bought. For some reason, I forget to get a picture of the doll-sized chair back then, so here it is, and then the (small) human sized chairs.
Here's a picture of the waterpark, and of the giant water bucket that fills up and tips every so often.

There is a doll (figure) involved here! The gift shop at Great Wolf Lodge offers some of the World's Smallest brand items. This trip, I picked up a Totally Hair Barbie mini. Despite the name, this Barbie is definitely not the world's smallest Barbie doll. The mini original Barbie, that I got with the 40th Anniversary Barbie doll, is much smaller. The stand is a nice touch with Totally Hair, though.
There was also another figure involved in the trip, a 3D printed one. Thursday night, CodeMash paid Kalahari to keep some of their water attractions open late, and there was food and free beverages, as well as alcohol to buy. There were also a bunch of board games available in one of the conference rooms. Some of the CodeMash coordinators hid mini, 3D printed Baby Yoda figures around the conference area, and if you found one and turned it in, you got entered into a drawing to win a larger Baby Yoda, about a foot and a half high, or 31.75cm.  Mr. BTEG found one, but he didn't win the big Baby Yoda.
He did win an Artistic Achievement award in the Badge My InternetofThings Life competition. Badges were given out (run by an ESP32, if you're a geek) and people customized them. Mr. BTEG designed the 3D printed case, but he also created a program on the screen that Rickrolled other convention goers.
Lastly, I wanted to share this picture with my Australian readers, especially. It's a ride at Kalahari, that gives you the chance to surf, if you can get up on the board. Most of the people that tried it couldn't stand up. A few did a 360 in the wave; most just held on. It's the closest thing that we have to surfing here in Ohio, although I did have a Surf Ohio shirt when I was in my twenties. :)
I hope you don't mind this mostly off topic post! It's what has taken up most of my time so far this year!

11 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed your break. The role playing thing actually sounds fun and that baby Yoda is awesome! Did Mr BTEG get to keep the little 3d printed one at least?
    The little surfing thing looks terrifying, but then I can't swim, much less surf, lol.

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    1. I did have fun in August, playing MagiQuest with my niece and my sister-in-law. Nope, Mr. BTEG turned his in, but he didn't want it, or the big one, anyway. One of his co-workers who found another one, did keep his.

      I'm not a very strong swimmer either. That's part of the reason that I prefer Great Wolf Lodge. A lot of the water rides at Kalahari are a lot more intense. The only thing I like at Kalahari is a water roller coaster. Yep, a roller coaster! It has a small "lift hill" and an accelerator, and it's kind of scary, but fun.

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  2. It looks like you had a much needed vacation. I love seeing the Barbie dolls.

    I echo Rachael above, I can't swim either.

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    1. I'm not much of a swimmer either. When I'm at Great Wolf Lodge, I splash around in the pool, and relax in the lazy river.

      It's nice to have mini dolls for your dolls!

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  3. Yes, it was a great way to kick off a new year! I didn't notice that Totally Hair mini had a stand until after I bought her, but it's such a nice little accessory.

    Mr. BTEG didn't want the Baby Yoda, so he didn't mind turning it in. Once you turned it in to try to win the big Baby Yoda, you didn't get the little one back. He wouldn't have wanted the big Baby Yoda either. He just wanted the fun of finding one.

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  4. What a fun beginning to the new year Barb. So pleased you enjoyed yourself and that Mr. BTEG won himself an award. Used to surf when I was a teenager, but it's been years since I've been near water (except for my daily shower LOL!) I don't look so great in a bikini these days. :)
    Big hugs,
    X

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  5. Hi Barb! Nice to see that you had a great time during your holidays. I would have gone crazy trying to find the Baby Yodas in order to win the big one, as I'm a bit obsessed this days. The Totally Hair mini could still work as a doll for a doll, specially if you collect larger dolls like Integrity Toys. I've seen videos online of people trying to surf on those type of rides, and most of them ended up failing miserably.
    Take care and have a great weekend.

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    1. I have a 12" Tonner girl doll who might look good holding the Totally Hair mini. She's cute to have, in any case.

      I only saw one person even get to his feet on the board, but people seemed to enjoy the ride anyway.

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  6. That lodge looks like so much fun! We have a similar type of place near me in Lake George called the Great Escape Lodge which I've been dying to take the girls. I would love to just lounge in the lazy river. I love the little mini Barbies..how cute!
    Glad you had a nice trip. :)

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    1. That does look very much like Great Wolf Lodge, although the size of the waterpark looks more like Kalahari. It even has "kid cabins" like GWL, which my daughters loved as kids. It's owned by Six Flags, which I didn't know owned any waterparks. Cedar Point does have an waterpark too, though, so I guess it's not surprising Six Flags would have one. I see it as a great way to keep tourists coming to the areas where amusement parks have to shut down for winter. I think you and your family would have a great time there.

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