MAIN Recreation Theme Parks Great Wolf Lodge

Looking for a place to take the family where rainy days are preferred? Visit Great Wolf Lodge!

It's an indoor water park with hotel accomodations on site. In fact, the room rates include park passes for 4 to 6 people, depending on the room you select.

The suites are decorated in themes and centered around the northwoods. Most everything you need is right there all in one place. With 11 different locations, you can find one relatively close to where you live. We visited the one in Williamsburg, Virginia.

What makes it so much fun are the different sections of the park geared to interest any member of the family.

The Grand Lobby is most impressive. There is a show that is put on twice a day by the mechanical woods scene that gathers a crowd every time! Gather with the kids to meet at night in your pj's for story time or just sit in front of the fireplace on the comfortable couches and chairs.

The older kids are bound to run straight for The Howlin' Tornado. Who wouldn't want to ride in a raft that drops down a dark tube, thrown into a funnel 6 stories high? Then the raft shoots from side to side until you are dumped out of the spout into a pool that swirls around your legs as you make your way to the steps. The screams are a little intimidating while you wait for your turn but it really is worth standing in line for! If that is too much action there are the other slides that are incredibly fast and smooth (and without the drop.)

Over in Chinook Cove, catch a game or two of water basketball. Some kids were determined to climb onto and stay on the floating snake or the acorn. Neither seemed easy to champion!

Maybe Big Foot Pass is for you. Try to make it safely across the rope monkey bars without falling into the pool below you. Don't worry, the floating log slices are there to help you keep your balance - if you can keep them still long enough to grab onto the next rope.

Cub Paw Pool is the section marked for the younger crowd. Life jackets and water wings are allowed and the water isn't deep at all. There are slides for their size, water spouts to run through, and ropes to pull buckets full of water down on yourself with. Not too much to overwhelm them but certainly enough to keep them interested for hours!

Fort Mackenzie, a four story treehouse, is tremendous! Shoot water guns, race across suspension bridges, slide down your choice of two twisting and turning slides, run through the geysers or see how high you can pump the water into the air! Make sure to watch for the bucket that unloads 1,000 gallons of water every 10 minutes! The bucket is on top of the treehouse and it dumps the water on the unsuspecting people down below. Everyone on that side of the fort is bound to get a drenching!

The Beaver Tail Lake wave pool is the place to catch a few waves every ten minutes. The waves roll so you feel like you are white water rafting! The deepest part of the pool is 5 feet deep so be aware of young children. Make sure that they are wearing a life jacket when the waves are coming because it can get rough for them. Most little ones won't venture out that far though because they are having too much fun jumping the waves as they crash on the "shore."

Helping everyone have a fun stay includes water safety. This is taken very seriously by the lifeguards that patrol the pools and rides at Great Wolf Lodge. Almost as impenetrable as the guards of Buckingham Palace, they make sure that safety is not jeopardized by any distractions. As often as they are watching the children, they also inspect under the water to make sure no one has succumbed to any danger and might be in need of rescuing.

When you have had enough of the water you can venture into the resort for something to do. The Cub Club is fun for some arts and crafts time or even just some play time. Sign up for a class so you can meet Freddy the tree frog and make a terrarium!

Exploring the hotel floors is taken to an entirely new level with Magiquest. It is an adventure game that requires a special wand that must be purchased from their store but one wand can be shared. With the wand comes a guide book which tells you what to do and it makes your search a little easier. The idea is to search the land for all of the required elements for each crystal. Once you have all of them you go back to the wizard in the tree and he gives you the crystal. Then you start a new search until you ultimately have all the crystals and win. This was so popular with all the children. Actually, the adults were seen waving wands at light fixtures and mounted pictures to see if there was a hidden element to be found, for the kids of course.

Even in the restaurant there are swinging monkeys and lights in a tree that could be triggered by the pointing the wand at them. The menu is traditional with choices for everyone and reasonably priced. The customer service is top notch. From the management down, everyone is accomodating, professional, and friendly!

Making your own cookie was a big hit! The cookie dough is already made up but add your choice of three goodies to the dough. Mush and mash away until the perfect cookie is created, send it away for baking, then enjoy the finished product!

And the Northern Lights Arcade! It is unbelievable how many games fit in one space! Even if you don't like video games, the arcade is still tons of fun. There are black lights that make anything white glow. It is almost just as fun to see what glows and doesn't as it is to see how many tickets you can win.

If it is a nice day and the weather permits, there is an outdoor water area and a mini golf course, Beaver Brothers Howl in One, too! Maybe you can get some time to yourself and make an appointment in the Elemets Spa. If you can't spare any time then bring the children with you. They deserve a special day of pampering once in a while and the Scoops Kid Spa is the place to go!

There is not much left wanting by the end of a stay at this resort!

Great Wolf Lodge - The official site for the Lodge. Explore the different things to do during your stay and make a plan before you get there. Watch videos of The Howlin' Tornado!

Great Wolf Lodge locations nationwide:

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