Great Wolf Lodge...help me out

[BunnyMacDougal]

This does not seem like "fun" for me.  I think C will love it.  But how are the accomodations.  Really.

Is it basically camping without any real nature to enjoy or what?   Somebody give me a review.  

(There's a damned birthday party over night thing coming up.  What am I in for?)

[Deleted]

They have mini-cabins inside the hotel rooms for the kids. It is awesome if you are a kid. Rooms are fairly decent for adults, too. It also depends on the Great Wolf Lodge you go to.

[Deleted]

We went right before DS turned one and it was really nice. You have normal hotel accommodations. The beds look like they belong in log cabins. There is nothing camping related really.

[tdk2]

Didn't know as I haven't stayed there but there are some deals on zulily right now for it.

[curtains]

The beds were pretty comfortable and it wasn't terrible. In the water park part there are hot tubs and bars to relax the adults. I was just happy with diet coke since I was the only adult but I did see some parents really enjoying their time.

Ditto pp one night is Plenty.

[wambam]

Which one are you going to? If you're going to the one near me, I can recommend a good Mexican restaurant nearby so you can tequila away the pain.

[Deleted]

It's really fun. The hotel rooms are typical hotel rooms unless you spring for a mini cabin or loft. I love the water slides so think the place is a blast. My advice is to bring you own food so you don't waste money at their re$Taurants and definitely budget to buy your kid one of the magic wands to do that quest game throughout the hotel.

[meganew]

Um, my H and I wanted to go by ourselves pre-kid. Flameful?

[bonquiqui]

I have never been, but this post made me think of the jingle "goin to the lodge..." lol

[mushmouse]

I'm not a water park person but I have heard nothing but rave reviews about it. Everyone I know LOVES it! The one in the Poconos is the only one I've heard about.

[hisno1girl]

Oct 3, 2013 5:59:05 GMT -5 @mjmksb04 said:

It's really fun. The hotel rooms are typical hotel rooms unless you spring for a mini cabin or loft. I love the water slides so think the place is a blast. My advice is to bring you own food so you don't waste money at their re$Taurants and definitely budget to buy your kid one of the magic wands to do that quest game throughout the hotel.

Definitely get the magic wand!

We've been to the GWL in northern MI and the rooms were really nice, clean, and kids loved the little mini cabins inside.  The water park was great too.  We stayed two nights and it was worth every dime. The children had a wonderful time.

[curtains]

Another vote for the Wand!

[Blueper]

Oct 3, 2013 5:53:08 GMT -5 wambam said:

Which one are you going to? If you're going to the one near me, I can recommend a good Mexican restaurant nearby so you can tequila away the pain.

I second this if you are talking about Mexicali Rose.

[wambam]

Oct 3, 2013 7:38:43 GMT -5 Blueper said:

Oct 3, 2013 5:53:08 GMT -5 wambam said:

Which one are you going to? If you're going to the one near me, I can recommend a good Mexican restaurant nearby so you can tequila away the pain.

I second this if you are talking about Mexicali Rose.

Viva Tequila.

[redheadk]

We went to the one in grapevine for dh's company family retreat. We had a great time but were there with tons of friends and it didn't cost us a dime.

The rooms were fine. Clean, tidy, spacious. We had a normal room bc dd was too young to bother with the special rooms and it had a living room area behind a half wall with a couch. I think they realize whole families will cram into one room so the sink is outside the bathroom along with an additional countertop area with a fridge and coffee pot. Plenty of room for dd to play inside the room itself.

Expect lots of kids running around doing the quest. They were all well-behaved, though so it was nbd.

It is sprawling. Bring your stroller if you might need to otherwise carry your dc.

[redheadk]

Oh, and we were the only people I noticed that utilized valet parking and the bellhop. I thought that was a little strange.

[WOT?*]

You can check in and use the waterpark early (like 1:00 in Grand Mound, WA and I assume the same or similar at other locations) the day of check-in and until close on check-out. DH is impatient and wants to get on the road early so we generally leave at check out but when I did it with just the grands and their moms we checked in late day-of but checked out, loaded the car with everything we needed except a change of clothes and snacks and stayed until close Sat night.

We also do the Paw Pass so we can get a Great Wolf pin, a cup of candy, a free drink in a souvenir cup, a free stuffed animal (Build-a-Bear type thing at a kiosk), a wand to play MagiQuest and depending on the season a game of mini-golf or a color-souvenir at Kids Club (t-shirt, pillow case, canvas bag typie thing). It generally works out to be less than buying the items separately and it's something we'd do anyway to break up the hours of water-surfing and eating.

The rooms are pretty generic hotel rooms with a hotel-lodge type feel with cheap "Southwest" type bedding, a pull-out sofa and 1-2 beds.  But you can get slightly cooler rooms with a small "bunk" area with 2-3 bunks in a room-within-a-room type of thing, with their own smaller beds and a small television; the kids LOVE these private rooms.  You can also upgrade to suites where you can have your own bedroom (which is what I did when I had the girls so we could all use one room and we had a dining area for birthday cake and presents, etc.)  The breakfasts are buffet style and fairly mediocre in taste and quality but the kids like to do choose-your-own so we go with it.  It's just as easy to bring a box of cereal and a half-gallon of milk and keep it in the mini-fridge for breakfast in the mornings - an a heck of a lot less expensive.  Breakfasts run about $14/head.  Dinners are just as mediocre and just as expensive.  Luke-cold pizza, expensive restaurant meals with bland food for the most part.  We've, in the past, driven off-site to eat dinner in the nearby town.