Getaway Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

Hey Yall!  About a week ago, I took my family for a quick trip to The Great Wolf Lodge, North America's largest family indoor waterpark resort, since we didn't do anything for 4th of July.


As you may all know, every 4th of July we take the over 6 hour trip to Memphis for my dad's side of the family reunion.  But this year I wanted to do things differently.

The girls were a bit disappointed that we didn't go to the reunion, but I promised my family a fun trip to Great Wolf in Concord, North Carolina after the 4th to make up for it.


I never knew that the nearest Great Wolf was just a straight shot up north, Highway 85 just a little over 3-hour drive from us.  If I would've known how short of a drive Great Wolf was, we would have visited a long time ago.


On the date of booking, Great Wolf was doing a 20% deal on two or more night stay and a $100 food credit for people signed up for their email list.   I jumped on that deal right before it expired.  Still, with a two-night stay we did with a theme room it was over $800!  Ouch!  But I will say that Great Wolf is a bit higher end than Wilderness at the Smokies.  But both locations have their pluses and minuses.


Walking into the lodge, it resembles being in the Smoky Mountains; even the girls pointed out that the decor reminds them of Gatlinburg, TN with all the black bears, forest, and other faux creatures inside.

Our room was the Kid Cabin theme that was fun and clean, vaulted ceiling giving off the illusion of vast space, the rustic decor makes you feel like you're out in the wilderness in a rented cabin.  There is a section for the kids with bump beds, mini desk, and tv so that parents can have a bit of privacy and not have to watch kid shows.   The room holds up to 6 people with the couch converting into a bed and queen size bed next to the sofa.

There were a few things I didn't like about our room.

The bed was so stiff it made me have lower back pain.  Also, the blanket was so thin I felt like I was sleeping in a sheet.  The room was either very hot or freezing, no in-between.  We would turn on the air conditioner, and no matter what temperature we set it on we were freezing.  When we disable the air altogether, we were burning up hot.  Thank goodness we only stayed there for two nights, I wouldn't be able to handle that.

Another thing, Great Wolf placed us in a room so far away from all the amenities, it's like going on a journey, far, far, away walking back and forth to our room.

Speaking of amenities, Great Wolf has plenty of activities to do all under one roof, more than just their signature indoor pools. There are daily activities for kids, XD Theater, spa, big arcade room, bowling room, stores, restaurants, arts and craft room, plus more.

The Indoor pool area has sections of different water slides, pools, and wet jungle gym for kids.  It's sweltering 84 degrees inside, so if you're not swimming, you'll be hot.  The girls enjoyed their time at the pool, and so did I.  I found myself relaxing in the wave pool while letting the waves crash on me.

 

There is an outdoor pool as well, but small.  Wilderness at the Smokies has Great Wolf Lodge beat with their outdoor pool.

Another thing I did not like about Great Wolf Lodge was the food.  The food was not good at all.  Not fresh, cold, taste like it was mass produced, not acceptable for the price of this place.  Great Wolf is relatively expensive, and I expect a higher quality meal if I'm going to be paying over a grand during my stay there.


Another thing.  Great Wolf Lodge needs to educate their employees who work at the buffet restaurant what is in the food.  There were baked beans I was interested in eating and asked the guy setting the food out if it has pork in it, he told me no only onions.  Mind you; I don't eat pork.  While eating these bbq baked beans come to find out there was pork in it.

Now, Great Wolf would've been catching heat if I was allergic to pork, or I couldn't eat pork for religious reasons.  I spoke with the manager about this, and they kindly added a credit on my bill.

All in all the trip to Great Wolf was fun, but we were over it after a day.  Maybe, because of the crowds, or some stuff like story-time and meeting the Great Wolf characters is a little too young for the girls now.  The girls' favorite place was the arcade; they were hitting big all the while draining my pocketbook.

Would we return?  Sure thing!  Maybe during the slow season.  And I would play it smarter by booking far in advance, signing up for their activity passes to help offset the cost, and eating offsite.

And guess what?  There is a Great Wolf Lodge opening up in LaGrange, Georgia in 2018!

Have you ever visited the Great Wolf Lodge?  If so, how do you like it?

Subscribe to My Email List

Follow Product Review Mom on Google News!