Stay and play at a hotel with waterpark

There are four hotels with water parks that I could find in the Twin Cities area. After spending a few hours gathering the information for my own use, I thought I'd share it to save you time.

• Grand Rios at the Ramada

www.grandrios.com

6900 Lakeland Avenue (I-94/694 Exit 31), Minneapolis, MN 55428 US

763-566-8855

ROOM PRICES

1 King Bed Room 69.42

1 Queen Bed Room 69.42

2 Queen Beds Room 89.27

WEEKEND WATER PARK PRICES (Hotel guests always receive a 20% discount for water park passes purchased during their stay.)

10am-9pm All Day Admission: $16.95

10am-4pm Half Day: $12.95

4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Half Day: $12.95

4 p.m. to 4 p.m. Two-Day: $16.95

Spectator: $9.95

Challenge your fears in the Hurricane Plunge, climb the four-story water tower with body & tube slides, or just take a ride on our action lazy river. The Grand Rios water park comes complete with zero depth entry located in the mist of Coconut Island. Enjoy geysers, water cannons, 500-gallon Big Splash Dumping Bucket, activity pool and Player's Club Arcade. Coconut Charley -- a restaurant in the heart of the water park -- provides easy dining with sandwiches, pizzas, ice cream, hot dogs, and more. The Grand Rios water park hotel offers 224 over-sized guestrooms and suites, complimentary wireless Internet access, full service restaurant and bar, and business services.

• The Depot by Marriott

(Two hotels to choose from: The Renaissance Hotel or Residence Inn)

www.thedepotminneapolis.com

225 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55401

612-375-1700

VIDEO

RATES

- Weekend Water Park Package: $149

Enjoy a family weekend at the Depot and stay at either the Renaissance Hotel or Residence Inn. This package includes a one night stay and 4 water park passes to the Depot Indoor Water Park. The Depot water park is perfect for the little ones, and also includes a video arcade room.

- Parking: Overnight $15

The Milwaukee Road Depot, located in the heart of downtown Minneapolis near the Mississippi River, boasts a 15,000-square-foot indoor water park, a full service bar and restaurant, a variety of unique banquet and meeting spaces, heated underground parking (which costs extra), and an enclosed, seasonal ice skating rink. From the three-story, indoor/outdoor water slide to the video arcade to the secluded northwoods whirlpool area, this urban venue is perfect for your little ones and will keep them entertained for hours.

• Water Park of America at the Radisson Bloomington Hotel

www.waterparkofamerica.com

952-698-8888

1700 American Blvd E, Bloomington, MN 55425

VIDEO

ROOM RATES

Executive Room: $162

Guest room: $144

One Bedroom Suite: $279

TYPICAL SATURDAY WATER PARK PRICES:

10 a.m to 10 p.m. $27.95

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $20.95

4-10 p.m. $20.95

4pm-4pm $27.95

Spectator $15.95

Surf on Minnesota's only Flow Rider Surf Simulator, catch a wave in the Lake Superior wave pool or challenge your fears in America's longest indoor family raft ride at 10 stories tall and over a mile long! The Water Park of America offers a spa, two restaurants, 5,800 sq ft arcade, cafe, wireless internet and much more. Fort Snelling play area for smaller children features numerous places to climb, slide, and have fun –– including a large bucket dumping 500 gallons of water every two and a half minutes. The water park opens at 9am for hotel guests and 10am for general admission guests. All persons entering the water park must pay daily admission fee with the exception of children 11 months and under. Children 11 months and younger will receive a complimentary Child's Admission and must be accompanied by an adult. Discounted Spectator Admission is available for persons not intending to swim. A 20% discount is available to hotel guests at any time during their stay, or for passes purchased at least 48 hours in advance online.

• Holiday Inn & Wild Woods Waterpar in Ostego

www.hielkriver.com

County Road 39 and Highway 101, Elk River/Ostego

763-656-4400

VIDEO

ROOM RATES (INCLUDES ADMISSION FOR 4 TO WATER PARK)

King/2 queens $142.50

Suite $156.75

FAMILY FUN PACKAGE (4 water park passes 40 tokens 1 free large pizza 1 free pitcher of soda)

King/2 queens: $159.99

BEST FOR BREAKFAST (INCLUDE TICKET FOR BREAKFAST UP TO $20 IN HOTEL RESTAURANT)

King/2 queens: $159.99

Suite: $174.99

Holiday Inn Minneapolis NW Elk River Hotel and Wild Woods Indoor Water Park is located at the corner of County Road 39 and Highway 101 in Otsego, between Rogers and Elk River. Each room has a microwave, refrigerator, complimentary WI-FI and HSIA, and work desk. With three four-story waterslides, a lazy river, basketball water court, video arcade and children’s play area, there are fun activities for everyone. Step back in time to an old river town and experience the thrill of this 30,000-square-foot water park. Slide down one of the four-story waterslides, including two tube slides and one body slide or circle the Prospector's Pan before you make a splash. Test your skill at an old-fashioned Log Walk, cruise down the Lazy River or go one-on-one at the basketball court in the activity pool. For smaller children, Buddy’s Playland offers a zero-depth entry pool with toys and activities for toddlers. Wild Woods Indoor Water Park passes are included with every Elk River / Rogers Holiday Inn Hotel room and suite. Any one 42" or under must be wearing a life jacket at all times while participating in water park activities. Children who are not toilet trained must wear a disposable water diaper.

LOTR: Gawain and the Green Knight

This week I’m learning about how tales about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are woven through Lord of the Rings. In particular, I’ve read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Tolkien studied this 14th century poem, translating a copy and delivering a lecture upon it at the University of Glasgow in 1953 (published later in “The Monster and the Critics and Other Essays).

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has many plot and descriptive elements typical of a chivalric romance, including the quest, courtly feasts and celebrations, temptations, battles, traditional characters of Arthurian legends and traditional scenes, such as the arming of a knight before an adventure. It is, however, a rather late representative of this genre, and the poet has skillfully and purposely reworked almost every convention.” The Keys of Middle Earth, p. 236

In this tale, King Arthur’s nephew Sir Gawain (note the important sister-son connection common in Germanic stories) accepts a challenge from the Green Knight to deliver an ax blow and behead him during a New Year’s Day feast. Instead of dying, the Green Knight picks up his own head and rides away on his green horse — but not before reminding Sir Gawain of the agreement he made. Sir Gawain must find his Green Chapel by the next New Year, and suffer one blow to the neck. Sir Gawain leaves on his quest on All Saints Day, and journeys through the mountains on Wales as he searches for the Green Chapel. During this time, he battles a myriad of monsters, wolves and giants against the cold and icy background of winter. The poet emphasises Gawain’s loneliness in the harsh and desolate landscape, as well as the constant presence of danger. This same scene shows up in the Lord of the Rings as Frodo, Sam and Gollum journey through the Dead Marshes and Mordor. Again, a section of Beowulf can also be linked to these descriptions, as well. When Beowulf ventures to the water to slay Grendel’s mother, he encounters a landscape that is craggy, with dark mists and an evil that keeps away other animals. Of particular interest to me is that in Beowulf, there is “fire on the water”; in the Dead Marshes of LOTR, there are “tricksy lights” and “candles for corpses” on the water that lure unwary travelers to their doom.

“The description works on three levels then. First, it emphasizes the horror that Beowulf will have to face. It plays on the ideas of desolation, wintry landscapes and the supernatural. Second — and this is true also of Tolkien’s writing — the natural descriptions are realistic, thus reinforcing the plausibility of the tale. The audience will have seen lakes like this, or will imagine they have. Yet at the same time — and this is true of Tokien’s work as well — the mere retains an element of fantasy. It is in a fen as well as beingin a craggy headland, and is inhabited by supernatural evil instinctively feared by animals. Similar ambiguity and sense of unease are used by Tolkien in his descriptions of the Mordor landscape east of the Anduin.” The Keys of Middle Earth, p. 238