Great Wolf Lodge in NC?

[JohnDaleswife]

Great Wolf Lodge in NC? Anyone been? Is there enough to do for a two night stay? Looks to me like a one night stay would suffice. Rack rate, how do I keep from paying that?

Looks like a fun opportunity for me and my family and its a only 5 hours away, so we might look at going.

 

[havaneselover]

Great Wolf Lodge in NC? Anyone been? Is there enough to do for a two night stay? Looks to me like a one night stay would suffice. Rack rate, how do I keep from paying that?

Looks like a fun opportunity for me and my family and its a only 5 hours away, so we might look at going.

5 hours one way? That's a lot for GWL.

I live an hour from the Williamsburg, VA GWL. We enjoy it, but I personally can't imagine 2 nights there and I wouldn't drive more than 2 hours to get there. I get emails all the time with discounts, but they're rarely good for Friday or Saturday nights or they require a 2-night stay. I have a 20% off code for Williamsburg which I've used 3x from a Richmond mom's group. Maybe there's something similar???

ETA: I typically pay about $190/night. Food runs another $50 or so and it's not very good.

 

[Marsheliz]

Great Wolf Lodge in NC? Anyone been? Is there enough to do for a two night stay? Looks to me like a one night stay would suffice. Rack rate, how do I keep from paying that?

Looks like a fun opportunity for me and my family and its a only 5 hours away, so we might look at going.

I live in SC, about 2 hours away from GWL, which is in Concord, Nc.. I've never been, as I've just never found a good deal.. Everyone I look- its near $400.00... I'd rather save the money for Disney or the beach.. I have heard its been offered on Groupon before!!

There is a huge mall, Concord Mills nearby and tons of restaurants.

 

[MSLRAC]

We live about 2 hours from GWL in Concord and while it's fun, it's overpriced and certainly not worth a 5 hour drive one way. I've never really seen an deals or discounts for that location.

 

[Queen of Pop]

I live 5 minutes from GWL in Concord. I stay only one night and find there is plenty to do. If I were driving five hours, I would probably stay two nights if you are into doing both the water park and completing the various Magiquest games. They always have discount codes and I do not pay more than $200 per night for my family of four. You can also consider booking a less expensive hotel right across the street from GWL as you can stay in the waterpark until closing even after you check out at 11am. Then hop across the street to sleep! It keeps my 8 year olds busy for 2 days. They would stay longer, but that is enough for me. It is relaxing as it is not very big and easy to stay on top of the kids there.

 

[andieb0602]

I think how much time you need depends on the ages of the people in your group. We're about 45 minutes away and we've been going there for the kids' birthdays (instead of having a party) since 2010. There is a lot geared towards younger kids (like nightly story time) so we've done two night stays, especially because DD's birthday is close to Halloween so they have Trick or Treating and dance parties at night. If you're going just for the water park one night should be fine but if you think you'll want to do the arcade, mini bowling, mini golf, MagiQuest, etc you could easily do two nights. That being said what the PP said about staying at a nearby hotel for the second night is a great idea. The last time we went we had my parents on the reservation so they had the wristbands to get into the water park but they stayed at the Embassy Suites nearby for I think $99/night and they loved it. You only need a wrist band for the water park so you could always go back after staying elsewhere and hit those extra things.

That being said, the food is mediocre and expensive. You can go on their site and look at the rates on a calendar. We paid rack rate the first time and now get all kinds of discount codes, and I've had luck calling the resort directly and asking for their best rate. I will say that lines during summer aren't too bad because there's also an outdoor water park but the tables inside do get taken quickly. The lines are worse in the fall when it's too cold to be outside. We like it but I'm trying to convince the kids to go elsewhere this year because, while they enjoy it, they don't get excited like they used to.

 

[garnetandblack]

We went last September and stayed 3 nights - it was 1 night too long, lol!

We got an invite to "tour" Direct Buy and got a "free" 2 night GWL vacation. We ended up paying $120 in taxes and fees and had to go in the off season during the week.

We stayed in the cheapest rooms and they are fine - 2 queen beds and a sleeper sofa. They slide a card under your door on the last night to extend your stay for a only $99 a night. When we go again I will only book 1 night and book the second with the $99 deal. They only do it when they have extra rooms.

The rooms also come with a mini fridge and microwave so we brought breakfast, lunch, snacks and drinks with us. The buffet was closed because they were only at 15% occupancy so we had to order off the menu at dinner. They had a kids eat free promo so that saved us some money. I thought the food was really good and the prices were reasonable (the buffet is expensive). We spent more on our lunch at Cracker Barrel before check in than we did for dinner. We drank water and didn't order alcohol or dessert. The first night we got a rack of ribs with 2 sides that we split for $20, the second I got a chicken sandwich with onion rings and DH got 10 wings with celery for $20, the third we split a fish entree for $18. They also have a Dunkin' Donuts and a pizza place for less expensive food. I thought the menu prices at the main restaurant were comparable to Applebee's or Chili's but with better quality.

They have a craft room and all of the crafts are free, we made bracelets, painted, etc. Free face painting every morning and they do the full face, story time at night, origami in the morning.

We bought DS the pup pass so he got to do a build a bear type thing, tie dyed shirt (or pillow case), ice cream and arcade tokens - I think it was $39 but you could definitely skip it. We also bought the big icee in the water park and refills were only a few dollars. We let DS get an icee each day.

All in all we spent around $400 for 3 people for 3 nights. I think it was a great deal for what we got but we shouldn't have stayed 3 nights. We live less than 2 hours away and the $400 includes gas and the food we brought with us.

I get emails with deals all the time now and we will definitely go back.

DS4 had so much fun. At Christmas we asked him what he wanted for 2 months and less than a week before Christmas he finally said he wanted a "Brinley" bear from GWL from Santa. I ordered one online and had it sent over night.

 

[cedricandsophie]

Great wolf lodge is part of diamond resorts which we own points at. We have been to the lodges in Wisconsin Dells, Sandusky Ohio and outside of Seattle. The kids love them. Two nights is enough. But I have never eaten at any of them. Always go out to local restaurants. The rides are fun, the rooms are clean, the lifeguards are well trained.