First time to Great Wolf Lodge, any tips?

[snoopy5386]

My oldest has requested a night at GWL for her birthday in lieu of a party, I thought I was getting off easy but now looking into it, GWL will cost me way more than a party

We're about equidistant from the Poconos location and the Williamsburg location, but the Williamsburg one is cheaper at first glance. Looking to go some time in late March or April.

Any tips for lower rates? Or just GWL in general?

 

[hcox31]

Bring snacks for the hotel room. Food is ridiculously expensive there. If your location has the magic quest game, be prepared to spend an arm and a leg on a wand. Sign up for GWL emails and you might get a promo deal in an email. They have sales regularly. Weekends are more expensive, so if you can go during the week you'll save big bucks. Last time we were there we purchased their version of a dining plan and it saved us a bit, but not a lot of money. GWl is really great, and so much fun. We've only been to the Niagara Falls location, but I'm sure the others are similar. A lot of families claim their beach chairs In The waterpark early In The morning and camp out there all day. We would leave all our stuff in the room, and when we needed a break go back to our room to do it instead of trying to find a seat for the whole family at the tables/chairs in the waterpark. We would just leave our flip flops somewhere and go off and have fun. We found evenings after dinner weren't as busy in the waterpark, nor were mornings right when it opened. Have fun! It's my sons happy place (until we visit Disney! Lol)

 

[Nztara]

I haven't checked Groupon lately but they used to offer GWL discounts in our area.

 

[msmama]

If you sign up for their email, they'll send you discounts. I get them...a lot.

We went to the Williamsburg one last summer as part of a road trip. It was very nice. That time or year, I'm assuming the outside part will be closed.

There's a package you can buy, too that gets you the wand for the magic quest game (my son LOVED that - he was 6 at the time), a build a bear like stuffed animal, a free ice cream, and a few other things that I can't remember. I want to say it was like an extra $100, but way less than if you were to buy everything separately (and my son still sleeps with Wolfie every night).

Customer service was awesome, too. Apparently the hot water was off in the hotel for a few hours (I didn't notice because we were at the water park where the water was fine). Not only did they treat everyone to a complimentary breakfast, but we also got a free nights stay (on a future vacation)!! All for an inconvenience I didn't even know about!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We were there last week (concord location). Good tips already. Be sure to get the most for your money. One night can give you plenty of fun. Check in as early as possible and remember that you can stay to closing of the water park the next day. Do the numbers on the stuff you think you will do and see if you are cheaper with a package or not. My guys LOVE magiquest so that is a given for us BUT we bought wands years ago and bring them back each time. For sure bring food with you. A cooler in your room can make meals easy. Our location is surrounded by all types of chain places to eat. A pizza can soda from your cooler make a great meal. I don't think we have ever bought food here. One parent can run and pick up carry out near by or check on delivery. It's a super fun/family friendly place....expensive, but so worth it to us.

 

[mjkacmom]

The one in the Poconos is probably going to be more expensive.

 

[Happyjen27]

I've been to Poconos, but not Williamsburg.

The food was disgusting. Expensive and disgusting. We even left one night for dinner and tried to go somewhere else, but, there really wasn't much around. We did our best at a locally owned eatery, it was better than GWL food, not as good as I would hope. Williamsburg might offer some other food options.

I get deals all the time for GWL now that I've stayed, it's worth a shot to sign up for their emails and hope for the best. From what I've found, the groupon price is the same as the email offers, but groupon has more restrictions. Arrive as early in the day as you want, you can use the water park on the day of arrival and the day of departure.

 

[Lemonademouth]

I will second the food being disgusting. I don't know if it was strictly the food or the chlorine in the air, but I was sick the whole second day. Headache, gastrointestinal issues, just plain gross feeling.

 

[Candleshoe]

Ask friends and family if anyone has wands to borrow!

We did that with our girl scout trip and it saved us a lot of money.

 

[Lilly Belle 84]

The GWL location here in TX offers a bday party package, depending on how many kids you want it might be cheaper to do the party package. We had pizza, drinks and cake then unlimited time for the day of in water park (also wolf ears for everyone). From talking to some friends who had been we got off way cheaper with our bday party of 18 than some who had gone overnight with their family of 4! Y'all will have a blast!!

 

[mirak]

Have you already booked? I'd encourage you to look elsewhere. Are there any other indoor waterparks you could attend for the day without paying for an exorbitantly priced and crappy room?

If you must go, here is one very important tip. Get a room on the top floor. At least at the KC location - and I have no reason to think any of the other buildings are any different - the walls are paperthin. You will hear EVERYTHING above and around you. Every slamming door, every child running and laughing down the hall - and there is a LOT of that. We took three young kids last year and couldn't get them to sleep until well after midnight.

The front desk was unhelpful and downright rude in handling our repeated noise complaints. Finally, at 1am, they offered to move our room - yeah, what a great solution at 1 in the morning.

Seriously, the waterpark was Ok, but it's just not worth the stay.

 

[snoopy5386]

Have you already booked? I'd encourage you to look elsewhere. Are there any other indoor waterparks you could attend for the day without paying for an exorbitantly priced and crappy room?

If you must go, here is one very important tip. Get a room on the top floor. At least at the KC location - and I have no reason to think any of the other buildings are any different - the walls are paperthin. You will hear EVERYTHING above and around you. Every slamming door, every child running and laughing down the hall - and there is a LOT of that. We took three young kids last year and couldn't get them to sleep until well after midnight.

The front desk was unhelpful and downright rude in handling our repeated noise complaints. Finally, at 1am, they offered to move our room - yeah, what a great solution at 1 in the morning.

Seriously, the waterpark was Ok, but it's just not worth the stay.

We haven't booked yet and no we don't have any other options. We're in MD and there are zero indoor water parks in our state. Other option would be Massanutten in VA but my daughter really wants GWL. We'd only stay one night, it's 3-4 hour drive to get there. My kids will be 9 and 5 so they are a great age for the place I think?

 

[hcox31]

We usually do one night as well. We arrive after lunch, before our room is ready. They give you a pager when it's ready, but you can use the waterpark while you wait (there's a change room and lockers). Then checkout for 11am next day and you can use the park all the next day as well.

As for the noise, it's a hotel geared to families, of course it's going to be noisy. We found most of the noise stopped around 10pm when most kids went to bed. The noisiest parts of the hotel were the sections of hallway that had magiquest. We had no issues with noise and getting our young kids to sleep any time we've been there. And have always found the customer service to be fantastic.

One thing I really appreciated at the Niagara location is how vigilant the lifeguards were. They were constantly rotated so they never got "stale" in their posts. And they called people on any type of unsafe behaviour.

Your kids will have a great time. Some of the bigger slides are for older kids, so a 9 year old will be just fine.

 

[Feberin]

I've stayed at the Williamsburg location twice. I thought it was really nice. I mean it's not cheap but it has an indoor water park! They have a deals section on their website. We were able to find a discount for our last trip right there one their website. If you go during the school year it's not too bad if you consider the bulk of your entertainment is provided in the water park.

I've never gone with kids old enough to request to do the Magic quest and things. There are a ton of extras you could get roped into so I would try to plan so you maximize time spent right inside the water park and perhaps come to an agreement ahead of time of what you will and will not cover.

I hated their food and it was very expensive. I've only ever eaten one meal at the hotel. The Williamsburg location is close to plenty of other places that are only a short drive away. I strongly recommend planning on going out to eat for meals. I believe all rooms have a fridge (could be wrong but I know the room I stayed in had one) so we picked up some food for breakfast. You're also really close to Colonial Williamsburg, which is one of my favorite vacation spots.

I really liked Great Wolf Lodge. We stayed two nights and my family was able to be entertained in the water park pretty much our entire stay especially since we left for meals so those took some extra time. We also had to take a midday break for a nap and my son had an early bedtime. However my husband and I took turns returning to the water park after he was asleep.

 

[mcd2745]

The one in the Poconos is probably going to be more expensive.

They have always been ridiculously expensive. A couple of times I compared them with other GWL locations for the same exact dates and the Poconos location was always 50-100% more expensive than the others.

That may have to change soon though. There's not one, but two, direct competitors opeing up in the Poconos later this year.

http://www.kalahariresorts.com/pennsylvania

http://www.camelbackresort.com/waterparks/aquatopia/


Also agree with other posters about the food there. We tried the buffet for breakfast and it was awful and expensive. All the rooms have a fridge & microwave so you can bring stuff to eat in your room if you wanted. We ventured out for dinner. There's a shopping center about 15 minutes away with a couple of chain restaurants - Red Robin, Chili's, etc.

 

[jen7233]

My oldest has requested a night at GWL for her birthday in lieu of a party, I thought I was getting off easy but now looking into it, GWL will cost me way more than a party

We're about equidistant from the Poconos location and the Williamsburg location, but the Williamsburg one is cheaper at first glance. Looking to go some time in late March or April.

Any tips for lower rates? Or just GWL in general?

We are also doing a GWL trip in lieu of a party! We've been to GWL before. I have boys. They mainly were focused on two things, the water park and the arcade. We did the water park in the day, ate dinner on site, and went to the arcade at night. I didn't buy any special packages, no cookies to the room, and didn't buy the activity with the wand. The kids were okay with that, I think it looked a little cheesy to them and I said we'd get better time in the arcade anyway. We brought our own snacks, and I wish we had brought some quick breakfast for our room. This next trip we will, because I ended up waiting in a long line at the Starbucks buying different breakfast things. The middle of the lodge has a cool forest show, I would recommend just looking at that once during the time it doesn't take long. I took my youngest to one of their crafts, which I was not happy they wanted money for, so he ended up just coloring since I think the craft was $12. Bring flip flops for some quick getting on of shoes. Bring a swim bag for wet suits if you swim on check out day. Anyway, I think that's it. We stayed two days, staying two days again! We arrived early the first day, you can use the water park prior to check in. Luckily I also asked if they happened to have any open rooms prior to our check in time, and sure enough yes, so we got our room hours early! I don't feel I could spend more than two full days at the lodge, I think two was perfect for us.

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[MandiC]

We just did GWL for my son's 5th birthday and we loved it. We stayed at the WI Dells location so we had other options and I would chose to stay there again (and actually our 10 year old has requested it for her birthday lol). The nighttime storytime is adorable, but show up early to get a good spot. We loved our room (1 bedroom). They have a mini fridge and microwave so you can bring some microwavable food (easy mac). We also did not like the food there. Luckily the Dells location is convenient to McDonalds, Taco Bell, Subway and Dunkin Donuts as well as some good restaurants outside of GWL. My kids LOVED MagiQuest, we had them share a wand to keep the cost down but it was a nice extra thing to do. They begged to go there in the mornings.
Overall we were really pleased and the workers at the CubClub were very nice, definitely one of the most family friendly indoor waterparks we have stayed at (and living within driving distance of WI Dells we have stayed at a lot since we go there at least once a year)

 

[kuhltiffany]

We used to live close to a GWL, so went often when we caught an emailed sale. I took cereal and milk for breakfast, the rooms all have fridges and microwaves. Two days always worked better for us, more time to relax and not be so rushed. We usually ask for a top floor or end of hall room which is a bit quieter. A few tips/things to know: bring a bathrobe if you have one, it's cool in the hallways and the easiest thing to throw on going to and from your room. Also be prepared for noise. Inside the watermark is very noisy!

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

We stayed at GWL Williamsburg and had a blast. Many people are posting that the food was gross but not where they ate because there are multiple options for food. We got take out from their pizza place, and it wasn't bad. We got a large pepperoni pizza, salad, bread sticks, 2 liter, plates, cups and napkins for about $25-30. It wasn't mind blowing or anything, but it wasn't bad.

 

[Feberin]

We stayed at GWL Williamsburg and had a blast. Many people are posting that the food was gross but not where they ate because there are multiple options for food. We got take out from their pizza place, and it wasn't bad. We got a large pepperoni pizza, salad, bread sticks, 2 liter, plates, cups and napkins for about $25-30. It wasn't mind blowing or anything, but it wasn't bad.

We ate at the restaurant and did their lunch buffet because we had a coupon for it. The cost per person seemed high and the food wasn't that good in my opinion.