Are you planning a Great Wolf Lodge Family trip? Check out our experience here. Thank you to Great Wolf Lodge for hosting our family during a recent stay.
My husband and I lived on the wild side this past weekend. We braved our first solo overnight getaway adventure with the triplets! My husband and I had taken our daughter to Great Wolf Lodge before the triplets were born, but the boys had never been. We decided that their birthday weekend was the perfect time to go. After all, they are each other’s best friends, and a trip together was exactly what they wanted.
When telling various friends and family about our trip, I noticed that we were met with one of two distinct responses. Some people reminisced about their own family getaway and talked about a great deal that they had gotten online or during a promotion. The other half exclaimed how they could never afford to be able to take their family to Great Wolf Lodge.
With the differing feedback, I thought that I would share a few photos from our getaway while showing how we saved on our Great Wolf Lodge trip but also how a family who wants to splurge can do so.
Our room was a fun KidKamp suite. It consisted of a queen bed and a pull out sofa, but the big win for the kids was the KidKamp bunk bed suite. It had a little table and a TV. My boys had never seen a bunk bed before, making the room a treat in itself!
Save: While Great Wolf Lodge offers several different types of suites, to save on the room, book a traditional bedroom suite rather a themed suite. Especially for a one night stay, the time in the room is minimal. Check-in is at 4 pm and check-out is at 11 am., and the kids are most psyched for the water park.
Splurge: If you want to splurge on the room, check out the themed room choices that give the kids their own little space.
The indoor water park was the main attraction, of course! As a mom of preschool aged multiples, my favorite part of the water park was the kid portion. It had a gate of its own so that the kids couldn’t just run around and escape. There were two lifeguards just for the little kids’ section. My boys loved the slides!
When we entered the water park, a lifeguard measured the height of each of my kids. The kids were then given a bracelet that would let the lifeguards in the park know what their height was without measuring them again. The slides had signs up at the entrances with the height requirements for each ride.
Great Wolf Lodge provides towels at the water park, as well as puddle jumpers and life jackets for non-swimmers. I did bring my own puddle jumpers, and we were allowed to take them into the water park.
For older kids, there were also several water slides that were more exciting.
Save: Enjoy the water park as is. There is so much to keep the kids entertained for hours!
Splurge: Rent a cabana to have a semi-private place to lounge and snack while enjoying the water park.
While not at the water park, Great Wolf Lodge offers many different other activities throughout the facility. Some are free while others are an additional charge.
Save: Soak in the free activities, especially for the little ones. At check-in, we were given a list of the daily activities, which included story time and character meet and greets.
Splurge: Check out the bowling alley, shops, arcade, MagiQuest Game, and spa, all at an additional charge. Several of these activities can be purchased as a part of a Paw Pass deal at check-in.
Great Wolf Lodge does have food and restaurant services. We opted to bring our own snacks and breakfast and eat out for dinner.
Save: Bring snacks, bottled water, and food from home. Each room has a microwave and mini refrigerator.
Splurge: Eat food in-house at the restaurant within Great Wolf Lodge.
Make the most out of your visit by taking full advantage of the water park hours. While room check-in is not until 4 pm, families may check in as early as 1 pm the same day and enjoy the water park until their room is ready. On the day of check-out, families may stay at the water park for the remainder of the day, even after checking out.
Other ways to save: Save when booking your Great Wolf Lodge Getaway. I’ve noticed periodic Great Wolf Lodge deals on Groupon. Great Wolf Lodge also offers discounts on certain dates (sign up for their email alerts to hear about these deals). If you’re able to plan your getaway at least 60 days in advance, save up to 50%.
This was a super helpful article. I love how you came at it from a real world perspective of families who may not have unlimited funds to splurge on everything but you also included everything that Is available in case someone wants to splurge. Thanks!
We’ve been to Great Wolf Lodge and we loved it. We will definitely be back.
Belle | One Awesome Momma
Great tips! I’d love to take my kids and not spend a lot. Just being at a waterpark would be a treat in itself!
This is such helpful info. We have been wanting to try Great Wolf Lodge and these tips will definitely help.
I have heard so many fun things about this place! Those themed rooms look super cute;)
These are great tips…I wish I would have known some of these when we went years ago.
I love Great Wolf Lodge and cannot wait for my daughter to be old enough to go! I love the themed rooms!
I was just saying how I wanted to take a family trip here! It looks like so much fun. Thanks so much for all the great info…will bookmark for the future.
This place looks like such a fun place for a family to visit! All the water features look so fun and the room looks fantastic as do the restaurants! A great place to visit!! Will have to keep it in mind.
These are such great tips! I have yet to make it too Great Wolf Lodge, but I hope to take my girls there when they are a bit older.
I can’t wait till our younger two are a little older to do something like this! Groupon always has great deals for these family trips!!