At Kalahari Resorts Texas, every detail in the enormous indoor-outdoor property transports guests to an African oasis. With wood carvings and sculptures made by African craftsmen to a cocktail lounge centered around a baobab tree, it is almost unimaginable that the endeavor began as a pizza pub in Wisconsin Dells.

Opened in 2020, the 350-acre Round Rock resort is Kalahari’s fourth property and home to America’s largest indoor waterpark resort. It features award-winning restaurants, an 80,000-square-foot arcade and indoor attraction park, a spa, bowling alley, 975 guest rooms and 200,000-square-feet of meeting space for corporate events.

Kalahari founders Todd and Shari Nelson are high school sweethearts who met in drivers’ education class at age 15. The duo began their entrepreneurial journey with the pizza restaurant and later bought a bar before jumping into the industry of their hometown, the “Waterpark Capital of the World.”

Seeing the touristy Wisconsin town’s visitorship dwindle during the colder winter months, Todd and Shari knew an indoor waterpark—which wouldn’t rely on Mother Nature at all—would be a game-changer within the waterpark epicenter, and give their five children the opportunity to learn key enterprising skills.

“They started this and learned really fast that the only way to succeed is hard work, so that’s what they did, but then also had five kids under five years old,” said Ashley Nelson, daughter of Todd and Shari and an owning member of Kalahari Resorts & Conventions. “We all started working as soon as we could walk.”

Ashley’s siblings, Todd Jr., Travis, Natasha, and twin Alissa, each play a key role in Kalahari’s operations today, with many of them working several different jobs at the resorts since the company’s inception in 2000. All owning members, Todd Jr. serves as Operations Director, Travis is the Financial Analyst, Natasha works as the Interior Designer for all properties, Alissa is the Ancillary Revenue Manager and Ashley oversees the corporate catering department.

“We’re not corporate America people. We still make decisions on the fly. We don’t have a corporate team,” Ashley said. “It’s like, ‘Hey dad,’ or ‘Hey Travis, let’s do this.’”

Near the lobby of Kalahari Resorts Texas, a photo wall of The Nelsons’ African adventures show the family summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, dancing with locals and exploring safaris. While many waterparks have rain forest themes, Ashley explained that Kalahari’s mission is to immerse guests in African culture while supporting the continent’s artists and impoverished communities.

“We want authentic Africa; we’re not going to do purple giraffes and fake things. We want to be able to support Africa and show people who can’t go to Africa what it is like,” Ashley said. “That was our commitment and we’ve done it since then. Almost all of our art and everything that you see came straight from Africa.”



One way Kalahari supports Africa is through buying and selling imported African art, sculptures and goods in the resort. Equally important to the Nelsons, certain fundraisers support the local Round Rock community through donations to area nonprofit organizations.

Along with the cohesive African aesthetic, many spots and symbols in the resort were born from a sibling’s idea or special family memory. Modern Mexican restaurant and tequila bar Cinco Niños was named in honor of the five Nelson siblings, a cave carving by the swim-up bar celebrates Todd and Shari’s wedding anniversary, and the family’s original Wisconsin pizza pub has a location on-site.

“For our pizza restaurant, we still have—from 1979—the same type of flour that we use, the same type of cheese, the same sauce that we’ve used for the past [40+] years,” Ashley said. “So [guests] are able to get our pizza on property that kind of started it all.”

The Nelson family’s countless hours of behind-the-scenes planning, developing and executing has allowed for every Kalahari experience to be relaxing, fun and stress-free. The locations and concepts of its many restaurants, children’s activities, snack stations and attractions were all carefully curated so guests of all ages can make the most of their vacation.

Whether visitors want to spend their days going down all 30 waterslides, creating a masterpiece in the pottery-painting studio, testing their limits on the ropes course or tasting wines while fine dining, endless possibilities for unforgettable adventures await at Kalahari Resorts Texas.

Ready to book your stay, or interested in learning more about Kalahari Resorts Texas? Head to their website www.kalahariresorts.com/texas for more information on everything Kalahari Resorts Texas has to offer.

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