Great Wolf does a wonderful job advertising and I was seeing ads for it everywhere. I originally booked a trip for over Valentine's Day (I'm going thru a divorce and figured it would be a great way to keep my mind off of the "couples" holiday). Well, I ended up with the flu and moved our trip to March. We selected midweek dates to avoid the weekend rush and stayed on a Wednesday night, arriving Wednesday around 1pm and leaving Thursday around 3pm. It all turned out perfectly!
We headed to the Poconos from our Jersey Shore town around 10am. Lucky for me, my three year old slept in the car on the way up. Just 10 minutes away from the Lodge, we stopped at Chik-Fil-A for a quick lunch before heading to the venue for check-in (I figured we would squeeze in an outside meal before committing to vacation pricing for the rest of our stay).
The venue is completely cash-less. When I read that, I felt like that was annoying but when I got there I realized what a convenience it actually was! At check in, you get a wristband that acts as your room key and payment system (similar to those Disney bands but not as fancy). I was worried about glitches in the tech making things annoying but it never happened! The bands easily synced with payment systems all around the lodge and always worked beautifully with our hotel room door! I did forget to add my parking to my hotel room at check-in so that was the only thing I had to pull my card out to purchase via my phone. Everything else was easy peasy!
Prior to checking in, when I reserved our room I bought my son the WOLF pass. I would do this again in a heartbeat. The WOLF pass gives you access to a lot of the extras on site and my little guy loved them all! We were able to go bowling, enter the mirror maze mine, do a wolf build-a-bear, play mini golf, get an ice cream, play arcade games and more with the pass. I also loved the idea that I paid for it in advance so it felt "free" (ya know-- "its a freeeeee riiiiiiide, if you already paid"). The activities were great. The only ones we didn't really do is the Magic Quest game (my toddler didn't have the patience to watch the videos and was just happy to hold the wand), and get the candy cup (he's a chocolate kid and not that into chewy candies.). Everything else was a total winner!
The food options onsite were decent. There is a Dunkin' in the lodge so that was great! The quick service places had typical theme park food, but I wasn't mad about an opportunity to eat cheese fries and not feel guilty about it! The Fireside restaurant served a huge yummy breakfast. We didn't have reservations for dinner but I suspect that would also be pretty good. There is a buffet across the way that we didn't try. I did purchase a meal package for us (just for one, since my toddler and I often share meals and two certainly would have been too much food) and that included complimentary breakfast at Fireside, a $10 snack bar credit and a $20 dinner credit. We didn't get to use the dinner credit because I didn't realize we needed a reservation and the times they had available when we were looking for dinner weren't great for us. Now I know for next time!
The extra events at the lodge were perfect for my toddler and did so much to enhance our trip! We went to a dance party, played bingo, did adventure training, and met 3 different characters while we were there! We enjoyed the extras so much, that we spent more time doing lodge activities than we actually spent in the water park-- not what the typical visitor does, but it worked for us!
While we didn't spend most of our time there, the water park had a great play space for the littles! When you first walk-in, there is a splash pad that was perfect for toddlers. It had a cool supersized water table that we played at for a while. Behind that area were the water slides for little kids and a shallow pool. The area was perfect for us and we spent most of our time there. My little guy liked people watching and splashing in the pool so we mostly stayed in that area but we did make it over to check-out the wave pool though which was very cool.
I know most people go to Great Wolf for the water park, but truly, this resort was a winner for us because of EVERYTHING ELSE they offer. It is so convenient to have so much fun right outside your hotel door with all the benefits of feeling like you went "away". My little dude especially loved the mini bowling set-up so we played a lot of extra games of bowling. We also had a great time in the arcade (but note, you'll spend $15 in what feels like mere moments there!).
This resort is VERY toddler friendly. I had a family suite room in the main lodge and it was very spacious and only steps away from EVERYTHING (we were on the first floor, and I suggest you request it if you can!). Strollers were rolling everywhere for those with really little ones, but the place was easily walkable for my three year old. We often popped back to the room to regroup or grab a water or a snack (which we brought from home). Our room had a little porch, a fridge, and a little seating area with a couch, table and two chairs. More than enough room for us, but great for a family who may need some space. We were exhausted at the end of the day and crashed quickly in those cozy beds but if you are a TV watcher, you'll need your Netflix password to get onto the tv if you don't want to pay for TV service. If your little one likes to see their special show, you may want to bring the iPad and use the wifi!
We were at Great Wolf for just over 24 hours and that was the perfect amount of time for us. We selected to pay extra for late checkout (at 2pm) and that really was a treat. We were fully able to enjoy the next day without the pressure of having to be packed and out in the morning. The whole experience was fabulous and we already can't wait to go back! I seriously can't recommend it enough! Check their website and groupon for discount codes and let me know if you book a trip! I'm thinking we will be back in September!