READING TIME: 10 MINUTES (I GO INTO GREAT DETAIL!)
We recently returned from a family trip to the Nickelodeon resort in Mexico. This resort was built in 2021. Not to be confused with the location in Punta Cana. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always wanted to visit a Nick resort. My dreams finally came true and well, it wasn’t allll that it was cracked up to be. See what I did there? Anyway, I’m here to tell you everything you need to know before booking your trip. From the food, to the resort layout, activities, everything! Keep reading if you want the good, and the bad.
Table of Contents
What happens upon arrival?
If you can, schedule a shuttle pick up when you book your stay. With the package we purchased, shuttle to and from the resort was included. The shuttles generally run on time.
When you get to the hotel, you’re greeted with a welcome drink and a slime drink for the kiddos. Our son is too young so we didn’t get him one. They look really cool though!
My biggest tip is to try not to arrive until 4 pm or later. If you arrive earlier, inquire about early check in. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until 4 pm to get a room. This was a struggle because we arrived around 12:30 and our son was a bit restless. I was really hoping we could get a room as soon as possible so that he, and I, could take a nap.
Also, there wasn’t much happening at that time. You have the option to change clothes and go over to Aqua Nick (that’s the water park which I’ll talk about later), eat, or hang out in the lobby area. We opted to go to the Snick Lounge and grab a drink and let Turtle run around a bit. We also grabbed food at Nick Bistro located inside Aqua Nick.
I really wish they had more activities that didn’t involve the water park. Like a play room for the kids, since after all it, is a kid-focused resort. And realistically speaking, I didn’t have the energy to get in the water right after our flight.
The layout of the Nickelodeon Resort in Mexico
The main lobby is about a minute walk from the water park but it’s so far from the rooms. You have to catch a shuttle to get there. That was annoying because sometimes, we just wanted to walk. To get from the lobby to the building where the rooms are located is probably a 10-15 minute walk. However, it was so hot that making that walk with a 17 month old was not ideal.
The shuttle ride is maybe 5 minutes and they come quite often. The drawback is that the seats were sometimes wet from people who had just come from the water park. The drivers did their best by putting down towels but sitting on a wet seat is just, ugh.
All the rooms at the nick resort are set up the same
This wasn’t a deal breaker for us. We stayed in a deck-level queen suite with a swim up. All of the rooms have a swim up but if you can, stay on the first floor. The rooms on the first floor swim out to the main pool. We stayed on the second level and our swim up was small in comparison, and the water was colder.
If we wanted to swim, we went downstairs to our friend’s room. They had access to the two bars connected to the pool. This made it easy to grab a drink. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic. You can also easily access the beach from there!
The exception to the room set up is found in the villas. There are 3 of them on the property. The cost of them might make you faint though.
The food at the Nickelodeon Resort in Mexico
Sorry to say, but if you’re vegan, this resort isn’t for you.
On their website they advertise how they can accommodate dietary restrictions. I even made sure to have our travel agent note that my husband is vegan. They also ask every time you go to a restaurant. However, the vegan options are VERY limited. There weren’t even many options through room service.
One morning he tried to order vegan pancakes. He took one bite and that was it.
His meals for the 4 days we were there mainly consisted of French fries, chips and salsa, and 2 burgers that I’ll talk about below.
How many restaurants are there?
There are 5 restaurants at the resort and 3 or 4 places to eat at Aqua Nick. There’s also room service which is available 24/7.
My son and I actually enjoyed the food provided by room service. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t terrible either. We ordered the French toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon for breakfast.
For lunch we ordered pizza, boneless wings, and fries.
Restaurants in the Nickelodeon resort Main Building
Le Spatula
This is a buffet restaurant with a SpongeBob theme. Here, the menu changes. There’s an app you can use to see what they’re offering. They also sometimes do themed nights. For example, the night before we left they had it set up like a market and was serving Mexican food. We only ate there for breakfast and the food was … lacking. I know that buffets can be a hit or miss and for me it was a miss. Aside from the Mexican dishes, the food lacked seasoning.
My husband was able to throw some, although limited, things together to at least have a snack at Le Spatula. The head chef attempted to accommodate his dietary needs by having one of the cooks make him tofu quesadillas. My husband wasn’t a fan of them at all. It was literally unseasoned tofu, beans, and some type of salsa blend.
Piazza
Piazza is an Italian restaurant inspired by the Ninja Turtles. This was actually my favorite restaurant and I wish we could’ve eaten there multiple times. A reservation is required so make sure to make one upon arrival. Interestingly, when we got there it was pretty empty but I think the reservation requirement is because of possibly being short staffed. I ordered a pizza and wish I would’ve ordered two. It had great flavor, the toppings were delicious, and overall 10/10.
I can’t speak to the other dishes they offered since I didn’t try them. However, my husband tried the eggplant dish without cheese and it was a complete miss. He ended up ordering a cheeseless pizza with a ton of veggies and seemed to be satisfied with it.
Restaurants in the NICKELODEON resort hotel Building
Good Burger
Here I ordered the fried chicken sandwich. It was okay. The chicken was fried a little too hard but the flavor was pretty good. Others in our group ordered the ribs, chicken tenders, and cheeseburgers. One of our friends ordered the fish bites and he kept ordering them just about every day. I personally didn’t try them, but he’s a pretty good judge of character when it comes to food. So, I recommend that you try them if you eat fish.
My husband ordered the “Mr. Wheat”. It’s a falafel “burger” and he said it was really good! Don’t be put off by the green color, it’s better than it looks! It comes with fries and tzatziki sauce so if you’re plant-based/vegan, order it without the sauce.
The best part about Good Burger is that they do the famous line from the movie. You know the one I’m talking about. If you don’t, you’re too young for me. Ha! Just kidding. Or am I?
Bikini Bottom Bar
Bikini Bottom Bar was decent. The first time we ate there I ordered the fried chicken tacos. Now, when I read fried chicken tacos I thought it was fried chicken, tacos. They’re actually fried, chicken tacos. They reminded me of taquitos.
The fried taco itself lacked flavor but with the onion and purée it came with, it was pretty good.
I ate there a second time and ordered the fish and chips and the ribs. The ribs were a miss for me. Something about the texture turned me off. The fish and chips on the other hand, were good. Although I should have asked for them to be fried hard.
Yacht Club
We didn’t even give it a chance. Yacht club is also a buffet restaurant. The night we were going to, they had a Christmas themed dinner and the food did not look good. We went in, looked at the food, and walked right back out.
Restaurants at Aqua Nick
Nick Bistro
Nick Bistro is the main restaurant at Aqua Nick and it’s a buffet. What’s funny is that I was not a fan of the food at first. After having tried the other buffets, this one was the best. The food here was actually seasoned pretty well.
There are also smaller eateries throughout the water park where you can get pizza, burgers, fries, and ice cream. Surprisingly, they had a vegan patty made from soy. My husband seemed to enjoy this the most.
What activities are available at the Nickelodeon Resort in Mexico?
The Karisma hotel app will be your best friend because it tells you of the available activities and when the character meet and greets happen.
While there were activities for the kids, they mainly happened earlier in the morning or were for older kids (4 and older). I also noticed that more events happen during the week than on the weekend. I thought that was kind of weird considering most people travel over the weekend. For example, they had crafts, a DIY slime lab, and cupcake decorating. However, those activities take place on Wednesday and Thursday.
We stayed from Friday to Monday and I was really hoping to do some of those activities with Turtle.
The day we spent at Aqua Nick was the best.
Admission to Aqua Nick is included with your stay at the resort. The thing I loved about it most is that they have an area for little kids.
Turtle really enjoyed playing in the Paw Patrol area since the water was the perfect level for him. They even had mini water tube slides!
There’s also a lazy river, big slides for older kids and adults, a play place for older kids, and an open swim area. In the open swim area they also do water games.
I truly feel like this is the one part of the resort they got right.
You could easily access Nick Bistro, the other eateries throughout the park, and the event pavilion. At night they had shows at the Main Stage, the event venue where they host Slime Time live and a traditional Mexican show.
Skip the gift shops!!
When I tell you everything in the gift shop is overpriced, I’m not exaggerating. For a small plush, you’ll easily spend close to $60. We actually looked up the price for a pair of SpongeBob slides. At the resort they were close to $100, the same ones on Amazon were about $20.
My overall thoughts on the Nickelodeon resort in Mexico
It’s cool to be able to say I went there.
The families we went with had older kids (4 and above). They seemed to really enjoy themselves and truly loved everything the resort had to offer. If you’re traveling with a little that’s 2 or under, I’d say to save this trip for when they’re a bit older.
We enjoyed ourselves mainly because we went with them. Had we gone by ourselves, I think my outlook would be very different. I don’t think the trip would’ve been worth the money.
Also, it wasn’t as packed as I imagined. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. It was nice to not be at an overcrowded resort. I do think the price point had a lot to do with that. Be aware of the up charge for certain things like the SpongeBob cake, pineapple donuts, and lobster dinner.
All in all, I was hoping to treat my inner child and get some of the old school Nick vibes. That didn’t quite happen as I hoped, but I still enjoyed myself.
So, if you’re planning to visit solely for that purpose, skip it. However, if you’re planning to go to give your kid an amazing vacation, go for it! Spend most of your time at Aqua Nick because that’s where the real fun is.
How to spend less on your trip
Depending on the time of year that you decide to visit the Nick Resort Riviera Maya, you could be looking at a pretty hefty price tag. One thing we did to offset costs was to use our credit card points for our flights. I have (and love) the Chase Sapphire Preferred. I’m able to quickly rack up points that are worth more when used on travel.
Right now you can earn 60,000 points when you sign up and you can even get discounts at select retailers when you shop through Chase.
If you decide to make the trip, be sure to let me know!
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