Great Wolf lodge questions

[magic2go]

Hi All!

As I sit here and find myself with some questions about the Great Wolf Lodge - I know where to turn! The DIS! I just KNOW there have to be a few of you out there with the answers I need , so here goes!

There is a new Great Wolf Lodge opening in North Carolina, and I'm looking forward to surprising the kids (ages 11 and 9) as soon as it is.

We will be looking at a weekend stay - Fri to Sunday OR Sat to Sunday. If we head over on Friday, it would be after work and we would arrive late on Friday (9pm or so). Will things be open then? I assume the water park would be closed by then? Should we get an offsite (read:cheap) hotel for Friday night and then check-in early on Saturday morning?

If we hold off and check in on Saturday morning - can we check in by 9 am and play in the water park all day? Then just get our room in the afternoon? I wouldn't expect our room to be ready for us, but would be interested in the water park, obviously... Any downsides of doing this?

Thoughts? Advice? Any coupon codes out there?

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

--Kathie

 

[Charade]

My SIL has taken her kids there (the one in PA) a few times in the last couple of years. She says it's great for small kids. Her's are all under 10.

 

[mjkacmom]

We've been to the PA one. I think the waterpark closes around 10, but magiquest might go on until 11? That is fun, but you really do need 2 days. If you stay at another hotel the night before, you can still use the waterpark before you check in. However, even though we've only gone during the week, to get a chair or table, you need to be there at rope drop . People line up, and run for the table and chairs, and park their stuff all day. Since your kids are older, they'll go off on their own, and you will want a spot to meet up at, plus put your shoes, cover-ups, and towels.

 

[james'mommy]

Does anyone have a code for the NC location? I'm looking to take DS for his bday. But the price is really high.

 

[magic2go]

Thanks for the info! I guess we'll plan on heading over Friday night, and hitting the "rope drop"!

 

[Annette_VA]

I'm not sure if all locations are the same, but at the Williamsburg one, you can use the water park starting at 1pm on the day you check in. I'm not sure if you'd be allowed access to the park if you were there at opening on your check-in day. You may want to call the resort & check.

 

[aprilgail2]

I would not bother paying for the room for Firday if you are not getting there until 9pm- you can check in early the next day and still be there when the park opens- we typically check in by 8am and even though the room is not ready in most cases (one time it actually was!) you can still go in the water park as soon as it opens and use it all day long until your room is ready. They have showers and changing rooms in the water park if you want to change there and lockers you can keep a day bag in. When you book they tell you that you can check in a"as early as 1pm but thats not true, you can check in as early as you like and pre register and use the water park all day. In the nice weather we find the outdoor pool area is most crowded than the indoor one.

 

[Ohiodislover]

You can also use the park the entire day of checkout. We have booked a cheapo room for our second night. We leave the waterpark, and go get a bite to eat, check in to our other hotel, and then back to the waterpark.

Also- don't forget that there is a fridge, and microwave in the room. Swimming makes my kids eat like crazy! We take late night snack stuff, as well as breakfast food.

 

[LaraK]

We just went to the Williamsburg one last weekend. We had a blast.

Things I'll do next time:

Pack water, peanut butter, bread, cereal and pick up some milk. The food was overpried and not very good. The snack bar in the pool area was pretty good.

Next time I'll bring better cover ups...we froze our butts off getting back to the room.

Prepare for walking lots of steps....my legs HURT!

 

[aprilgail2]

Next time I'll bring better cover ups...we froze our butts off getting back to the room.

Oh yea, I learned after our first trip that you can't take the towels out of the pool area- they actually had someone at the door to stop you if you tried! We pack our own towels to take and this way we can use them to get back to our room! Plus the ones they give you are very small and I like towels that wrap around and around! If you are using theirs be sure to get them as soon as you enter the park, by the afternoon they run out a lot!