10 Things You Didn’t Know About Great Wolf Lodge

10 Things You Didn't Know About Great Wolf Lodge

 

It is likely by now you know about Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls, especially if you live within driving distance.

We had heard all sorts of things about how much fun Great Wolf Lodge is for the whole family before travelling there for the first time almost 2 years ago.

GWL is a favorite destination for Spring Break.

When we decided we wanted to go back this spring, we felt like experts.

Let me share some Great Wolf Lodge tips if you haven’t been there yet.

 

Your First Steps at GWL

The first step on the day of check-in is to visit the front desk to check-in.

Check-in time is 4:00 pm but you can begin using the water park at 1:00 pm.

A 2:00 pm late check-out is available which lets the whole family squeeze some more play time into the stay.

You will need a credit card unless you prepaid (but GWL will want a credit card for “incidentals”). T

he water park closing time is at 8:00 pm daily.

Wrist Bands –

These are very important safety features.

A Life guard staff member measures the kids height and gives them a wrist band that identifies by color which rides or slides your Pack Member can use.

It also identifies your child as a guest to life guards.

Adults have a wristband that functions as a room key, access to the entire facility and method to pay (connected by credit card) for various products or services in the park.

 

It is great for the little guys too

The first time we went to GWL we chose to leave our 1 year old at home with Grandma and take our older kids (then ages 2, 4, 6, 8).

This year we made a similar choice and left our younger children (babies 4 months and 1 year old son) at home and took just our older children. (*if you are confused, we are foster parents and have babies come and go*).

It was the perfect opportunity for us to focus on our older kids and do some more ‘grown up’ activities. Sometimes it can be too overwhelming for young kids.

I am also recovering from a back injury, so I was not able to participate in the active portions of GWL, and that meant that Daddy was on slide duty with our little ones.

HOWEVER, the little one’s have lots of options to keep them splashing. The Cub Paw Pool gives little ones some independence, with mom or dad close by.

The Totem Towers are also smaller slides open to all ages that even little ones will love.

My youngest was only 2 when he was climbing the stairs with his big brothers and I was meeting him at the bottom.

 

They don’t forget the Tweens

My oldest son is 10 and is very clear that he is a TWEEN.

Honestly, he loved all the slides and the wave pool, but it came as no surprise that his favourite slide was the Howlin’ Tornado.

He was also the only one of my kids to choose the slide. It is a wild slide only for those 48″ and above. 

 

Howling Tornado Great Wolf Lodge

 

The Northern Lights Arcade was another hit for him.

The arcade has games for all ages and my son loved to use his Paw Points or Paw Pass to practice his motorcycle or car racing.

You never know when that skill might come in handy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC9WOOYB8lu/

 

Life jackets are provided

One of the most common questions my friends have asked me since I first travelled to Great Wolf was “do I have to bring my own life jacket for the Indoor Water Park to Great Wolf?”.

The answer is “NO”. Great Wolf supplies life jackets of all sizes and also have “puddle jumpers” for toddlers.

Considering we were travelling by car with 4 kids, space is limited.

The last thing we want to do is to bring unnecessary supplies and equipment.

This also means that if you leave the water park for a while, your child has a nice DRY life jacket waiting when you go back in.

My threenager appreciated this.

 

10 Things You Didn't Know About Great Wolf Lodge

 

Towels are also provided

As it is clear that space is an issue on our trips, not having to pack towels is HUGE.

You also don’t need to take them from your guest rooms.

There are plenty of clean towels on the outdoor pool deck waiting for you.

I am not sure how they do it, but most of the time the towels are WARM too!

I do however recommend a swimsuit cover-up of some sort, as depending on where your room is, you may have to walk through the lobby to get to the water park.

If you are not comfortable wandering around in a swim suit, bringing a cover up will help you feel more comfortable.

 

You can bring your own food

When travelling with a large family, eating out can end up being one of the most expensive parts of the trip.

At Great Wolf, there is a small fridge in each room.

We stopped on our way down and picked up cereal and milk, veggies and some crackers and cheese.

We chose to purchase some food onsite and offsite, but supplement with 1-2 meals a day in our room.

This kept our costs down.

I also knew I did not want to take my kids to restaurants when they would rather have a quick bite and get back in the pool!

 

Food at Great Wolf Lodge is not expensive

I think one big misnomer about GWL is having to buy food.

As I mentioned above, we bought groceries and ate some meals in our room.

If you choose to eat all meals at Great Wolf Lodge, yes, your bill will add up.

However, I found their prices quite reasonable.

GWL is a theme park and with theme parks they have mascots. These mascots attend a regular character breakfast buffet which the kids absolutely love.

We found GWL very sensitive to food allergies and was impressed by their awareness.

We ate at Hungry as a Wolf and fed our family of 6 with two large pizzas, which cost around $30. I think this was cheaper than ordering in from Domino’s or Pizza Hut.

For us, eating out for $30 is very reasonable.

Even fast food can add up to that amount quickly with 4 hungry boys!

They also have Starbucks coffee shop onsite, which was ESSENTIAL for this mom.

 

You will not regret buying a refillable cup

We found out late during our first trip about their refillable cup program.

They have hundreds of Coke products available to select at Hungry as a Wolf and refills are also available at Buckets Incredible Craveables.

My husband’s favorite combination was Vanilla Coke Zero.

You can even fill it with your favorite Ice Drink at Bear Paw Sweets & Eats.

Buy a cup for around $13 and refill it for your whole stay.

 

MagiQuest game is a blast, but make sure you take good walking shoes

The first year we went we chose not to do MagiQuest.

This year, our kids begged and begged until we finally gave it a chance.

I am very glad we did because MagiQuest became their main attraction..

It was the most popular with our middle two boys, aged 5 and 8. They needed to have an adult, as they weren’t quite ready to participate in the Quests alone.

My husband had a great time and got plenty of steps in with this activity.

The cost of the MagiQuest game is an extra charge of about $25 and you also need to buy at least one wand (interactive devices to play game) for approximately $17 which seems like a good deal.

Its best to visit the Great Wolf Lodge website to confirm costs.

We allowed each of the two to get their own, although they could have shared too.

Wands can be brought back trip after trip, although may need new batteries to be purchased occasionally.

This game takes a significant amount of time and I recommend staying at least 3 nights if you want to do this activity.

However, we only stayed two nights.

Once you have completed the Magic Quest game, there is also ShadowQuest and now CompassQuest interactive games.

This is happening. #GWLSpring #GreatWolfLodge #TOTSTravels #springbreak #MagiQuest

A photo posted by The TOTS Network (@totsnetwork) on

 

Two night stay is okay, three is better and four is awesome

Both times we went to Great Wolf Lodge, we were only able to stay for two nights.

I do not feel like we missed out, or were cut short.

If you only have two days, I still encourage you to take this trip.

I think most likely 3 nights is the “sweet spot” and would have loved to have a little less pressure and more time to relax without feeling like we were going to miss something.

There are rooms for all sized families

It is rare that a hotel will have basic rooms that fit our large family.

We originally requested a Family Suite.

The Family Suite would have been the bare minimum that our family would have fit in.

With my oldest having autism, sharing a bed and a room with younger siblings is a challenge, but he agrees that the struggle is worth it to go on such amazing trips.

We were kindly upgraded by Great Wolf when they heard we were coming and wanted to write this post.

We were thrilled to hear we would be in a Kid Kabin Suite which are themed Kids Cabin Suites.

The little ones were so excited for the bunk beds.

About a week before the trip we received an email asking if we wanted to be upgraded again for just $35 a night.

We jumped on the chance to stay in the Majestic Bear Suite which is a themed wolf den suite which in my opinion is the best option and made the whole trip extra special.

We (mom and dad) had our own room with a King Sized bed and my oldest two boys even got their own queen sized beds.

If you are bringing Grandma and Grandpa or Auntie and Uncle or other family member, this is also a great option to include the entire family.

The eating area was perfect for us, we ate breakfast around the counter and in the evening, we played cards and board games.

Most rooms at Great Wolf sleep between 6-8.

 

Majestic Bear Suite Great Wolf Lodge

 

If you are considering a trip to Great Wolf Lodge resorts, I cannot recommend it enough.

Make sure you check out all the Great Wolf Lodge locations on their website

Our boys were the ideal ages and heights this trip with my youngest 42″ and second son just at the 48″ mark.

This meant that they could all go with Dad on the slides and 3 out of the 4 could go down the slides alone and I could watch the younger kids at the bottom.

A number of people have discovered there are some free events evening activities; little kids can go to story time at 8:00 pm and older kids can attend a 9:30 dance party which seem to be little known secrets of the Great Wolf Lodge.

Looking for Birthday Parties Ideas?

GWL offers special packages for Birthday Parties – call customer service to ask about specials or promotions.

Disclosure, I was invited by Great Wolf Lodge to stay with them at their media rate. All thoughts are my own.

Have you been to Great Wolf? Do you have a tip for our readers?

More interesting reading; Tips for Living in a Hotel Room with Kids, 25 Best Dinosaur Cartoons for Kids and Dinosaur TV showsTips for a Less Stressful Family Vacation, Getting Away and Getting it Done When you are a Mom and Top 18 All-Inclusive Family & Kid-friendly Resorts in Florida in 2023, A Complete Guide: 5 Cute and Colorful Fake Nails for Kids.

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