My husband, Glen, booked our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge before I even knew what the heck it was. He pulled up a Youtube video, casted it on the TV, and what I saw had me pretty pumped. Fast-forward to the drive home from our vacation, I was so impressed by the whole thing and so sad to leave. However, also on my mind were things I would do differently next time, and that’s where this post comes in. This post is for those of you who just want the meat-and-potatoes of what to know before diving head-first into this vacation.
What Is The Great Wolf Lodge?
Basically the Great Wolf Lodge is a huge hotel with an indoor water park, indoor attractions and games, and on-site dining. It basically is like an indoor Las Vegas for kids. Seriously, the whole resort, water park included, can host kids as little as babies to kids as old as 100. You’ll have a blast, I promise! Just keep in mind these things:
1. Look For The Promotions
The hotel is fairly new to the game, so immediately going on their website (and picking your preferred location), you’ll be taken to a page with the “featured deal” because they want to promote their hotel. Guys. Even if you’re not planning on going till next year, book the trip now so you get the deal. Right now, it’s 40% off your stay. FORTY PERCENT. That’s like using Hotwire, dude.
Also important to know is that when you check in at the front desk you get free wolf ear head bands for each guest, the water park is included for each guest during your stay, and your arm pass works to get in the water park, open your hotel room, and can even be linked to your card to pay for everything at the resort. It’s insane. It’s awesome.
2. Two Words: Wolf Pass
A little story for you: My husband and I were in the middle of looking down at the floor, contemplating which items to hawk when we get home after buying wizard hats and magic wands (for this game) for over $100 (FOR TWO KIDS) when the sweetest – and, arguably, the most selfless – lady came up to us and gave us her son’s pup pass because “he wasn’t going to use half of the things on there.” We looked at the back of it and, sure as shit, it included a free wizard wand (the kid that was too good for all the deals did manage to understand the importance of that one and got the wand, so we couldn’t use it). It was our last day there, we had already done all the things. Spent all the money. So, the pup pass was of no use to us. We paid it forward and handed it to another mom who probably wanted to say the same four-letter-word at the top of her lungs as we did when we got it handed to us.
Moral of the story: GET A PASS. Please, please get a pass. You’ll save approximately $12,789. This is basically a lanyard with a big card on it that you can take with you to literally every single attraction at the resort and you’ll either get something for free or at a discounted price. There are three different kinds of passes with three different prices, and you seriously need to just pick one and sleep good about it. Your kid will get a free build-a-bear, free ice cream, free round of golf, free rock climbing wall, and a bunch of other things that I can’t type because I’m choking back tears. I imagine the things on the pass will vary from location to location, but when you check in the hotel you can add these passes to your stay right at the front desk. DO IT.
3. Don’t Eat A Salad At Buckets
This salad was $12 plus more dollars because I got chicken on it. This container was straight from the dollar menu from McDonald’s. Listen to me, don’t order a salad from Buckets.
4. Rise Early For The Free Activities
Going back to the whole “Vegas for kids” thing, the resort, depending on the location, has the most adorable activities for your kids every hour. Things like coloring, morning yoga, bingo, story time – all free. You’ll get an activity calendar so you’ll know what’s going on at your location. Stay up a little past bedtime and they even have a dance party for the kids. Cutest. Thing. Ever. We went during the Halloween season and the kids got to trick-or-treat around the resort with the staff, who were dressed up. And, as you’ll see below, the dance party had Frankenstein!
5. Bring Your Own Food
The restaurants and buffet at the resort are all wonderful but, as what always comes with going to sit-down restaurants, they can be pricey when you have your whole family with you. You’re going to be there for a few days, so I recommend bringing food so you save some dough. There are also no microwaves in your room (at least not in ours) so keep that in mind when you’re packing food. The ultimate bang for your buck would have to be Hungry As A Wolf pizzeria. You can buy a few pies and feed your whole family for way cheaper than a restaurant or buffet.
Speaking of the buffet, of all the places to eat, the one place where I feel we got ripped off (aside from the salad at Buckets) was the buffet. The first time we ate there, we didn’t know we had the option of buying just a single trip so we bought an all-you-can-eat trip for all four of our kids (ages 3 – 9). Not a single kid went for another trip, let alone ate all that was on their plate. Keep in mind to ask an employee working it if you can buy just a single trip instead of an all-you-can-eat. We did that the next day and our meal went from $18.99 to $11.99. I do recommend the buffet 100%, but just keep that tip in mind!
6. Bonus Tip: Get The Souvenir Cup
At every restaurant there will be the option to buy the souvenir cup: DO IT. All the cups at the restaurants have a chip on the bottom that only allow you to get one drink from the self-serve soda fountain. And it’s the size of a grande coffee cup from Starbucks. It’s incredibly frustrating because if you lift your cup up one time, ONE TIME, it counts as a “I’m done” and the soda machine won’t let you fill your cup with any more soda. It sounds silly, but this will cost you big because you’ll have to get a new cup every time. Your souvenir cup lets you get unlimited refills. This, I swear, was the one thing that got me the most when I look back on my trip. Damn soda machine.
That’s it, folks. I’m sharing some pics below so you can see just how fun it really is. I’d go back every year because it was so fun and the staff and whole vibe in general was just so about the kids. It really is magical! Go and have fun, especially now that you won’t make our mistakes!
Lovetta Chico
I’m curious to find out what blog system you’re using?I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest website and I would like to find something more safeguarded.Do you have any suggestions?
admin
Hi! I’m currently using WordPress. Hope that helps!