A Fun Family Vacation at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa

If you follow the proverbial yellow brick road from the Cape Cod highway (Route 6) to Route 132 in Hyannis, MA, you’ll find the Emerald City – although you might not realize it until you walk through its front doors.

Set back from Route 132 is the Cape Codder Resort & Spa: the proverbial Emerald City. My family and I recently spent two days at the resort and when I walked into the lobby for the
first time, I truly felt like Dorothy when she opened the door to Oz in Technicolor!

The Cape Codder Resort & Spa’s lobby sets the tone for the entire resort. The Cape Cod classy décor, coupled with the lush flora in the patio and pool area, really wowed me. My son, niece and nephew were impressed by all the fun family activities this full-service resort offered for us to do by day and night.

Water Play

When I vacation on Cape Cod, I’m a huge fan of sampling the many family activities on the Cape. However, on this family vacation I was very content — as was my son Ethan (9 years old), nephew Seamus (11 years old) and niece Lindsay (13 years old) — to stay at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa and enjoy all its family-friendly facilities.

The Cape Codder sports a new heated outdoor pool (complete with mood lighting at night which changes in color and sets a romantic atmosphere. For those with rooms overlooking the pool, watching it change color and mood with your significant other from the balcony of your room — once your kids are in bed — is a lovely idea.

In the morning, the three kids and I really enjoyed the pool especially the section that has a small waterfall and water arches. The water arches were great spots for photo opportunities of the kids. The pool is heated
so that it is available three-seasons.

From the pool, we walked to the nearby deck area which featured outdoor dining from the Hearth n Kettle menu. (There is an indoor Hearth n Kettle restaurant at the resort too.) Between the children’s menu and the option of breakfast foods even at lunch time, my kids were more than content. I liked that we could put on beach cover-ups, have a great meal in a casual setting, and view the surrounding beautiful flower gardens at the same time.

Since all three youngsters have visited huge indoor water parks before, I was a bit concerned that they might be blasé about the Cape Codder’s 8,200-square-foot indoor water park. At lunch time, I forewarned them that the indoor water park was not massive. However, there was no need for that – the kids had an excellent time! Ethan, Lindsay, and Seamus really had a great time on the 80- and 50-foot water slides as well as in the wave pool. We also had fun taking photos under the water mushroom and in front of the murals
of picturesque Cape Cod beach scenes.

Family Friendly Activities By Day and Night

The Cape Codder has a roster of daily family activities throughout the summer, for Halloween, during the holidays and February and April school break weeks. The staff provides guests an activity sheet upon check in and activities are also posted on a board in the lobby.

Summer activities vary depending on the day of the week. Some of them include: a nightly outdoor family movie on a large screen; balloon animals made by two-time world champion balloon artists; volleyball games; face painting; making crafts; and Peek A Zoo.

Peek A Zoo is a unique show and is hosted by staff from the nearby ZooQuarium. They bring small animals from their collection and put on a show for children and parents at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa. Families get to pet and learn about each animal.

In addition, summer evenings also offer plenty of free family entertainment which is primarily held in the flower-bedecked courtyard, weather permitting. On Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, a one-man band called Mikey Maestro plays dance party music to get the kids up and moving. On Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights, the band Hazy, Hot and Humid instead plays contemporary music, which is more akin to teens’ and parents’ tastes.

“We try to mix it up as much as possible to appeal to a wide range of families yet have adult type entertainment too,” said Ray Spirlet, General and Activities Manager at the Cape Codder.

The courtyard area also features a nightly fire pit where families can toast marshmallows or make s’mores. Families can bring their own ingredients or can purchase them from the Hearth n Kettle. We especially liked the evening atmosphere in the courtyard, which is lined with torches and is adjacent to the indoor wave pool, which is open until 10 p.m.

Explore on Your Own

For those with little ones, the resort has a small playground that includes climbing apparatus and a slide. Families with grade school children and teens enjoy the games arcade too.

During our stay, I had to attend a one hour meeting. I felt very comfortable allowing Lindsay, Seamus and Ethan to explore the non-water resort facilities together. During that time, they played in the very affordable arcade and had dessert/ice cream sundaes at the Hearth n Kettle Deck.

We live in a very suburban area of New Jersey which is only 10 miles from Manhattan, so my radar is always up when it comes to safety. The family atmosphere that pervades throughout the resort is what nurtured my comfort level to allow the kids to walk around the resort without me.

We are Fam-i-ly

Since the Cape Codder Resort & Spa is owned by the entrepreneurial Catania family, who own Catania Hospitality, a family feeling is very pervasive throughout the resort. I constantly saw Bill Catania, President of Catania Hospitality, walking around the resort with grounds keepers and other staff to make sure everything was in
tip-top condition.

Like Dorothy whose Oz friends became her kin during her adventure, the family atmosphere at the resort was felt even by Ethan, the youngest in our group. After our two-day stay at the Cape Codder, we spent a week with a large group of extended cousins, siblings and friends in a Mid Cape house. Even though Ethan was having a great time with his cousins and friends during that time, he still often asked when we could return to the Cape Codder to again enjoy the pools, entertainment, arcade and desserts.

That’s a great compliment since, as the son of a family travel writer, Ethan has followed many a proverbial yellow brick road to family vacation destinations!