Great Wolf Lodge was awesome! - with pics

GatorChris

Not of This World
Joined
Feb 18, 2014
This was our second trip and it was just as good as the first. We hit it on Monday and Tuesday after Veteran's Day. Crowds weren't too bad.

We really love the rooms. They're bigger than the Grand Californian, but have the same woodsy feel. With the pullout couch, we don't have to get out the air mattress for our son.

As far as food goes, this place is self contained. They have an excellent sit-down restaurant with lots of gluten free options for those who need it. They have a donuts shop/breakfast area for the mornings. They have an icecream parlor, though you feel so cold after the slides, I'm not sure you'd ever need it. And they have Hungy-Like-A-Wolf Pizza which is excellent - really!!!

As for the water park, it's so awesome! Not only will you're kids love it, but you'll love it, too.
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Lazy River
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Mat Racers
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Super fun wave pool
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Fort McKenzie is mostly for kids, but it does have some fun waterslides at the top.
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They have a fun waverider which usually has the longest lines of the park. Lots of fun!
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Overall, this is a great place. The one thing I wish they had was a giant hot tub to warm up in during the winter months. Other than that, this place really is a perfect place for a 2-3 night getaway.
 
Cool, thanks for the report. We arrive around 3pm thanksgiving from HI. We will have all day Friday and half a day on Saturday (2pm check out). My sons favorite part of vacation is always the pool/water slides. We have never been to a water park hotel and they have no idea such a thing exists. Surprise! We plan on taking an Uber to DLH for our 6 night stay on Saturday, so excited!

What do you think of the cabanas? We reserved one on Friday (indoor, day after thanksgiving) because I’m sure it will be packed. I thought it would be nice to have a designated area to hang out, order lunch and keep our things. Im guessing the food, drink lines and tables will be packed. We did this at Discovery Cove and Typhoon Lagoon last year at WDW and it was so nice. Extravagant but really made our time so much nicer. However, it’s $199, :-/

We also will have two paw passes for our kids. They loved the WDW/ Universal games, so I think they will love GWL’s adventure too. I booked my daughter a mani pedi at Scoops spa as well. She will love it. We also want to try kids yoga in the morning.

Do you think there is a need to request a room? We reserved a cub den room.
 
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We are big cabana people too, and did not feel we needed one at GWL. First, it's all indoors so no need for shade or lounging in the sun. Second, we did not end up eating in the waterpark. We wend for a while in the morning, left and did the wizard adventure and ate at the restaurant, and then went back to the waterpark. It's very convenient having it all so close to your room and a cabana would not have been worth it for us. We did go at a less crowded time (mid-January last year) so it might be worth it for you. Have a great trip!
 


Is it a true lazy river that has a current?

It does have it's own current, but I wouldn't call it a "lazy" river. There's 5 different points on the short route where water is either sprinkling or waterfalling out of that can hit you. You can't just sit there and float. You will get hit over and over by the water. Wish that was better.

What do you think of the cabanas? We reserved one on Friday (indoor, day after thanksgiving) because I’m sure it will be packed. I thought it would be nice to have a designated area to hang out, order lunch and keep our things. Im guessing the food, drink lines and tables will be packed. We did this at Discovery Cove and Typhoon Lagoon last year at WDW and it was so nice. Extravagant but really made our time so much nicer. However, it’s $199, :-/

We also will have two paw passes for our kids. They loved the WDW/ Universal games, so I think they will love GWL’s adventure too. I booked my daughter a mani pedi at Scoops spa as well. She will love it. We also want to try kids yoga in the morning.

Do you think there is a need to request a room? We reserved a cub den room.

With two full days there, you're kids will love the games you bought them. And yes, it's a good thing to have a cabana on busy days. I was there when it wasn't full. But a cabana is great for keeping everything in one location. But $199....ouch!

As for requesting a room, no need. Any view will be of the city. We usually get the stripped down suite - it's more than enough room and the decor is very nice. A den will really have the kids excited because of the added theming.
 
I will probably never get around to making a trip report but just want to say we loved GWL. My kids said they enjoyed it more than DLR!?! They said there was more to do.
We ended up getting a Cabana located between the wave pool and little kid area day after Thanksgiving. It was a crowded day and we loved having our own meet up space with Food, stocked fridge, locker and alcoholic beverages and no lines, yes please! Could have done without but we enjoyed it. It was kind of a hassle to open and close the gate going in and out. Lines for rides were less than 10minutes except for the surfing thing which we never did. Basketball area was crowded, hard to get a ball.
We also got the paw pass, bowled, character breakfast and did the kids spa, Scoops. Kids loved the bunk beds in their cave.

We were on the 4th floor down a loooong hallway. Not too bad.
 

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