Great Wolf Lodge: Tips for Families with Young Children

Disclosure: I received a media rate and complimentary Pup Pass at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells to help facilitate this post.  All opinions, are as always, my own.

While visiting family in Wisconsin last week, we drove through the Wisconsin Dells.  The Wisconsin Dells are known for their hotels with indoor water parks.  Our family’s choice was Great Wolf Lodge and it was the perfect choice!  Indoor water parks are perfect during cold winter months or rainy summer days.  Or in our case not so warm summer days 🙂  The cool weather was a welcome break for us from Louisiana!  While the outdoor water park at Great Wolf Lodge was popular it was slightly too cool for us; therefore we stuck mostly to the indoor water park.

Great Wolf Lodge takes safety seriously with lifeguards posted at each water slide and water attraction.  They also offer courtesy life jackets on a first come, first serve basis.  Tip: Towels are provided for use in the indoor and outdoor water park, however you cannot remove the towels from those areas.  If you do not want to walk to and from your hotel room in just a swimsuit, be sure to bring a cover up or your own towel. 

At check-in, kids receive complimentary wolf ears.  Just make sure to remove them before jumping into the pool 🙂

Hotel Room

Great Wolf Lodge offers many different room choices and there is something to fit your family size and needs.  Our room was the Family Suite with two queen beds, a semi-private living room with sleeper sofa, balcony, mini-fridge, microwave and coffee pot.  We were located on the 4th floor and had a high sloped ceiling.  Great Wolf Lodge pays particular attention to detail with rustic charm throughout the hotel which carried over to our room also. 

Tip: You have access to the water park from 1:00 pm on the day of check-in until the water park closes on the day of check-out.  There is a locker room/changing room available for your convenience.  When your room is available, you will receive a text message with your room number.  You can then proceed to your room and use your armband to open your hotel room.

Indoor Water Park

There are so many water slides, pools and play areas within the three indoor water parks that there is something for everyone in your party no matter their age or adventure level.  Here are a couple of my daughter’s favorite areas:

Raccoon Lagoon is the perfect place for your children under 48″ tall to play.  A kiddie pool with non-slip surface and zero-depth entry pool with a maximum depth of one foot allows young children to explore.  S loved the jet skis and shooting me with water!

Hawk’s Beak was one of my daughter’s favorite!  She loved going down the slides over and over.  They are the perfect size for young children (under 48″ tall).

Slap Tail Pond is a wave pool that S loved.  The waves can be strong, therefore small children should stay in the shallow end or wear a life vest.

My daughter’s favorite slide was the Mountain Edge Raceway where you shoot headfirst down a 4-story slide on a mat!  I was nervous to let my daughter go down since you have to ride by yourself and it’s headfirst, but she did awesome and loved the slide.  She ended up going down 8-10 times she loved it that much!

Tip: A lifeguard can apply a color coded armband to your child when you first enter the indoor water park, so that it’s easy to recognize if they are tall enough to ride an attraction. 

Beyond the Waterparks

The Great Clock Tower Show (included) – An animated show that will delight young children.  S loved the songs, stories and jokes told throughout the show.  A great way to relax away from the water park.  The Great Clock Tower Show that we saw started five minutes before Story Time.

Story Time (included) – Every evening, enjoy a bedtime story in the Great Wolf Lodge lobby.  Tip:  Your children are encouraged to wear their pajamas and be sure to take your camera, because after Story Time your child will get to meet one of the Great Wolf Kids characters.  S got to meet Violet which she loved!

Pup Pass (also available are the Paw Pass and Wolf Pass with different attractions) is a great way to get more out of the Great Wolf Lodge experience for less money.  The Pup Pass includes: 

• One Creation Station animal (outfit not included)
• One Color-Your-Own Item at Cub Club® (t-shirt or pillow case)
• One 12 oz. Mike and Ike candy cup from Buckhorn Exchange™ Gift Shop
• One single scoop ice cream cone from Bear Paw Sweets & Eats™
• One Paw Points game card ($5.00) for Northern Lights Arcade
• One Clubhouse Crew Adventure – this is a game/scavenger hunt through the hotel using the Creation Station animal

Other activities that require an extra fee are Scooops® Kid Spa, MagiQuest® live-action adventure game and Northern Lights Arcade.  For adults the Iron Horse Fitness Center (included) and Elements Spa Salon are available at Great Wolf Lodge.

Tip: Be sure to consult your times guide for hours of operation for the water parks, restaurants and stores plus extra activities like Story Time.

With 13 Great Wolf Lodge locations around the country, be sure to check out the fun at a location near you! S is already begging to visit again soon!

Have you stayed at Great Wolf Lodge before?