Great Wolf Lodge Review

I have a colleague that I work with that happens to live in North Carolina. For as long as I have known her, I have heard her talk about Great Wolf Lodge and how fantastic it is. She frequently goes and takes her daughter to the one that is in her area. For those of you who don't know - Great Wolf Lodge is a giant indoor water park.

Anyway - this year Maddie's Girl Scout Troop raised enough money from selling cookies, where her troop could do a really cool trip. So the girls voted on Great Wolf Lodge. The two locations that are closest to us are in Massachusetts and Poconos, PA. After comparing the two and researching, we decided to go to the Poconos location. Trip Advisor told me that it was larger and it had a ropes course and it just had better overall reviews. Both locations were about 3 hours away - so we figured that we would pick the one that was larger and sounded more fun.

We picked a weekend where all 6 girls could go and we booked it. We decided to book the Fireplace Loft Suite, as it had enough beds for all the girls, and it had 2 bathrooms. The room also had a microwave, and mini-refrigerator.

We left on Saturday morning at 8:15 and arrived at the Lodge around 11:30. We knew that if the room wasn't ready, we could still use the water park. Fortunately, our room was ready (which just made everything logistically easier). So thank goodness for that. We unloaded the car, checked in, ate a quick lunch that we had packed, and then headed down to the water park.

Let me tell you -the place did not disappoint! It was HUGE. It had a wave pool, lazy river, a section for water basketball, a section for little kids, and then it had tons and tons of water slides. Big ones. Small ones. Ones that went outside and back in. It was crazy! It also had an outdoor pool, along with a ropes course.

I am going to fully admit that I am not a ride person. I do not do roller coasters, and I do not like anything that is scary or that might make me feel sick. Well, after this trip - I think I am now a water slide person! I actually conquered my fears, and went on the Hydro plunge. Thanks to one of the moms I was with, and the girls - I finally gathered enough courage, and I tried it. I was so scared. But after the first time, I was addicted. I must have gone on that ride 10 more times.

Hydro Plunge

I also tackled some other rides. However, I did not do the ride that involved lights and darkness and where the tube went up the wall. I am not that brave.

We stayed at the water park until about 5 PM, and then headed back to the room. For dinner we ordered pizza and wings. We actually had a $50 dining credit that came with the room. So our dinner was basically free - which was a nice perk.

After that, the girls went back to the water park and also visited the arcade. We were back in the room around 9 PM and it was lights out around 11 PM. Surprisingly, the girls were quiet and went to bed. I think we were all tired from all the water activities!

When we woke up on Sunday morning, we ate breakfast that we had brought with us, and then loaded up the car. Since check out was 11 AM - we decided to pack the car so we were ready to go and it was one less thing we had to do. The girls kept their day bags with them so they could have dry clothing after the water park. One cool thing about Great Wolf Lodge is that even after you check out of the room, you can play in the water park all day.

The girls wanted to tackle the ropes course also - so that was on our agenda.The ropes course has about 4 different levels and it actually was very cool to see. All 6 girls did it and they spent about an hour climbing, zip-lining and rope balancing. I actually thought the price was pretty reasonable. It was $15 for one time, or $20 for unlimited amount of times. Since we were short on time, we chose the $15 option.

The Ropes Course

After that, we went back to the water park and spent another few hours there, and then it was time to change and head home. Great Wolf also has showers and changing areas so we could change and wear dry clothing for our ride home.

All in all - we had a great time, and I actually would even consider going with my own family.

There were a few things that I thought would make the trip even better. For instance, it would have been nice if our room had more of a kitchen area. There wasn't much space to put all of the food that we brought, and a full refrigerator would have been appreciated. As you can see from the picture - the living space is a little bit small. Fortunately we weren't in the room much - so we could work around it.

Fireplace Loft Suite

Another drawback was that the outside area and the ropes course closed early. The outdoor pool shut down at 7:30, which I felt was a bit early for a summer night. Maybe 8:30 would have been more reasonable. It would have been nice for the girls to do the ropes course in the evening when it was cooler. And to top it off, the ropes course didn't open in the morning until 11 AM. I felt that it should have opened at 9 AM when the water park opened.

All-in-all, it was a great trip. I now see why my colleague is such a fan of Great Wolf! It almost reminded me a mini-Disneyworld. The Great Wolf people have it down to a science. I am really glad Maddie's troop got to experience it. It was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone!