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Sep 22, 2013
Sep 1, 2013
My Family Vacation to Great Wolf Lodge - Grapevine
A couple of years ago, my grandchildren spent a couple of days at the Great Wolf Lodge. No bigger positive impression has ever been made on my young granddaughter, she believes there is no place better on the face of the planet.
I didn't get to experience it with them, so this summer I decided to treat the family to a couple of nights and see it for myself. My two daughters, the 11 year old grandson and the 6 year old granddaughter made the trip. Husbands were supposed to come, but didn't end up making the majority of the trip. (Fyi, this was a stay-cation for us, the resort is only 30 miles from our homes.)
It's a largish style hotel, maybe a few dozens more rooms than they can reasonably accommodate in the water park. Wolf statues are all around the entrance and top the roof of the lodge. Inside at the front desk you have a wall of windows looking out over the water park, and the first thing to catch my eyes was the giant bucket of water. That fills up and then dumps it all out on whomever is standing below it. Mental note - stay out of the bucket radius!
Great Wolf follows the standard of other resorts and cruise ships, meaning each registered guest has to have an ID wristband on them at all times. One cool feature is they've managed to incorporate the door key into the wristband as well, so no more forgetting your key card in the room! Maybe this is common, but was a new feature to me. I liked it, up until bedtime when I couldn't take the wristband off. I was aware of it on my arm all night long, every night. I got very very tired of wearing that wristband. I cut it off the minute I started packing to check out, and was sure glad to see it go.
The water park is a sight. It's all indoors, in a giant barn of a room. So much activity, so much noise, so much water everywhere. Noise, noise, noise. Yes, I did indeed feel like the Grinch up on the mountain top watching the Whos down in Who-ville. However, I've been a mom a long time, and have perfected the art of tuning out sound. I didn't have an issue blocking it and it just became hazy background sound. I mention it because I know there are a lot of folks out there, men especially, who don't do well blocking sound. (Selective hearing, well, that's a whole 'nother story.)
The lazy river was NOT a hit with me, I had envisioned something much longer. Something more quiet, peaceful and relaxing? It's not relaxing to me to be floating on an inner tube and then have a bucket of water dumped on your head from above. Just one of the hazards of the river, floating under a manned bridge with bucket ammunition. The length of the river is really sad, how short it is. You can stand in one place and take in the whole river at once.
The wave pool was fun, it was nice to stand in the deepest part of it and just tread water with the waves. They were pretty mild, I have distinct memories of a much rougher wave pool knocking me down when trying to stand in it. That was twenty years ago, maybe they got out-lawed like everything else as too much of a liability.
My granddaughter's two favorite places, ok, 3, were in the wave pool, in the hot tub, or in the outdoor pool. The hot tub especially was a big hit with her. In reality it was a large body of water that was heated and had some jets in it. It was never truly "hot tub" hot, but was very comfortable and relaxing. Our last day there she wanted to start the day in the hot tub, I was so proud - a kid after my own heart!
Speaking of the outdoor pools, I was truly flabbergasted by the pool hours at the lodge. 11 am to 6 pm. In Texas? In 100+ heat, they close the pool at 6 in the evening? That's the best pool time, after 6 and heading in to the evening. It's the first I've encountered that, ever. I don't know what their reasons were, if it's staffing, or more likely if it's an attempt to drive everyone indoors and into the expensive things to do in the hotel - arcade, magiquest, shops, etc. This aspect of the resort really disappointed me, only 7 hours of outdoor pool time.
There are a multitude of water slides both indoor and outdoors at the park. I did them all, and my favorite - oh, who am I kidding. I can't honestly say I had a favorite. I think I'm too old for jumping on a tube and sliding down a water slide. Or more probably I'm too fat. It was not easy getting on the tubes. Getting off was somewhat simple, if you were willing to just dump yourself. That's the only way I could dismount, flip the tube over, get on my hands and knees then push myself up. (Did I also mention I'm very out of shape, 51 years old, and fat?) Speaking of out of shape, in order to slide down the water tubes on the inner tubes, first you have to get to the top. No elevators here, folks. Good ole stairs. The most exciting ride - the Howling Tornado - was at the top of what felt like 12 flights of stairs. I don't know how many it actually was, I just know I couldn't make it to the top without 2 rest stops at least. (and I had to climb it twice!) I wanted very badly to do everything my grandson wanted me to do, and being 11 it was all about the tube slides. Luckily both my daughters equally loved them so I was able to get by with one each, and let them have the rest of the fun on the repeat visits with him. The granddaughter was too young for most of them without an adult, and some were just too much for her, too.
We had a two year old with us the first afternoon we were there. He was simply over-whelmed, but also very good natured about taking in the whole experience. His favorite part was the baby area, sitting on a motorcycle with handlebar grips that worked a water sprayer. Speaking of small kids, the resort provides plenty of life vests to put on them. We had one on him and one on the granddaughter. While she can swim, she was much more comfortable with the vest on.
There are what looks like hundreds of chairs all around the water park area, and plenty of tables. We went on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. I only thought it was crowded on Thursday. Friday night a LOT more people checked in, and Saturday was just a zoo. Thursday and Friday were less crowded so I'm glad we went earlier. The water park really can't handle the amount of people present when the hotel is full. A great example is trying to enjoy the wave pool, there are literally people everywhere in the water, which definitely lessens the experience.
The resort is all about the water park. I would rate the hotel and the staff a 3 star at best. I went in with the mistaken impression that because I was paying more than $300 a night for a room that I was getting a 5 star experience. That was a mistaken belief. You are funding the upkeep of the water park and the associated lifeguard staff. For example, the resort supplies plenty of towels in the pool area, but they are bath size at best, and very thin. I was wishing I had brought my own beach towels. The room towels are better, and plentiful. First hotel ever that had enough towels in the bathrooms to suit me.
About lifeguards, they are everywhere there, except the hot tub areas. They are very diligent and alert, and frequently change shifts, every 15 to 30 minutes tops.
There is an "adults only" hot tub area. I rarely saw anyone in it. I'm sure most were like me, there with young kids and couldn't leave them behind to go to the hot tub. The park rents cabanas, both inside and outside. I had seriously thought of renting one to have a home base, but it frankly wasn't necessary. Since you can't bring food and drinks in, there was just no point. You toss your shoes and cover-ups down somewhere, and don't go back to them until you are ready to leave, or sit down and eat. I rented a locker one day, so I could bring my iPad and have a bit of a break from all the activities and read by the pool. That really was a waste as well, as reality was my grandkids wanted me to do things with them and I didn't want to disappoint them.
The restaurant food was a big disappointment. I didn't enjoy anything I ate there - the Philly cheesesteak for supper, the breakfast buffet or the food from the water park concession stand. I wasn't expecting fabulous foods, and I'll eat pretty much anything. But basics were just missing. Biscuits too hard or burnt, not enough egg in the omelet mix to hold the omelet add-ons together. My daughter had a wonderful looking salad at dinner. The plate of loaded fries was good. Just not worth the prices associated with them. After those meals, we left the hotel to eat the rest of our meals. There are plenty of restaurants within 5 minutes drive without having to get off Hwy 26, the main drag in front of the hotel. Had a fabulous and very cheap breakfast at Steak 'n Shake, for example.
The rooms come with a nice "dorm size" refrigerator, and a microwave. You can bring whatever you want, but you can't take it into the water park. That would have been ideal, if you could take your cooler downstairs with you and not have to trek (wet) back to the room or spend the $3 for a bottle of water in the park. The elevators to the rooms are at the opposite end of the property from the water park, fyi, so you've got a bit of a hike if you are wet. I found I didn't want to go back to the room unless I was going to change into dry clothes and do something different. I also observed I drank less water in the three days I was at the park than I normally do. It just wasn't convenient when you are constantly moving around the park and getting in and out of the water to carry a drink.
The beds were comfortable, the room was clean, room decoration was bland at best, and very heavily "worn". There's just a difference in a hotel property that caters to small children from one that caters to business travelers, and I could sure tell that difference.
My goal was to provide a great vacation experience for my grandchildren. That goal was delivered and exceeded. They had a tremendous time and a lot of fun. When I asked them what their favorite part was, they both said "swimming". Since that's what it's all about, the Great Wolf Lodge delivers on what it promised.
Posted with Blogsy
I didn't get to experience it with them, so this summer I decided to treat the family to a couple of nights and see it for myself. My two daughters, the 11 year old grandson and the 6 year old granddaughter made the trip. Husbands were supposed to come, but didn't end up making the majority of the trip. (Fyi, this was a stay-cation for us, the resort is only 30 miles from our homes.)
It's a largish style hotel, maybe a few dozens more rooms than they can reasonably accommodate in the water park. Wolf statues are all around the entrance and top the roof of the lodge. Inside at the front desk you have a wall of windows looking out over the water park, and the first thing to catch my eyes was the giant bucket of water. That fills up and then dumps it all out on whomever is standing below it. Mental note - stay out of the bucket radius!
Great Wolf follows the standard of other resorts and cruise ships, meaning each registered guest has to have an ID wristband on them at all times. One cool feature is they've managed to incorporate the door key into the wristband as well, so no more forgetting your key card in the room! Maybe this is common, but was a new feature to me. I liked it, up until bedtime when I couldn't take the wristband off. I was aware of it on my arm all night long, every night. I got very very tired of wearing that wristband. I cut it off the minute I started packing to check out, and was sure glad to see it go.
The water park is a sight. It's all indoors, in a giant barn of a room. So much activity, so much noise, so much water everywhere. Noise, noise, noise. Yes, I did indeed feel like the Grinch up on the mountain top watching the Whos down in Who-ville. However, I've been a mom a long time, and have perfected the art of tuning out sound. I didn't have an issue blocking it and it just became hazy background sound. I mention it because I know there are a lot of folks out there, men especially, who don't do well blocking sound. (Selective hearing, well, that's a whole 'nother story.)
The lazy river was NOT a hit with me, I had envisioned something much longer. Something more quiet, peaceful and relaxing? It's not relaxing to me to be floating on an inner tube and then have a bucket of water dumped on your head from above. Just one of the hazards of the river, floating under a manned bridge with bucket ammunition. The length of the river is really sad, how short it is. You can stand in one place and take in the whole river at once.
The wave pool was fun, it was nice to stand in the deepest part of it and just tread water with the waves. They were pretty mild, I have distinct memories of a much rougher wave pool knocking me down when trying to stand in it. That was twenty years ago, maybe they got out-lawed like everything else as too much of a liability.
My granddaughter's two favorite places, ok, 3, were in the wave pool, in the hot tub, or in the outdoor pool. The hot tub especially was a big hit with her. In reality it was a large body of water that was heated and had some jets in it. It was never truly "hot tub" hot, but was very comfortable and relaxing. Our last day there she wanted to start the day in the hot tub, I was so proud - a kid after my own heart!
Speaking of the outdoor pools, I was truly flabbergasted by the pool hours at the lodge. 11 am to 6 pm. In Texas? In 100+ heat, they close the pool at 6 in the evening? That's the best pool time, after 6 and heading in to the evening. It's the first I've encountered that, ever. I don't know what their reasons were, if it's staffing, or more likely if it's an attempt to drive everyone indoors and into the expensive things to do in the hotel - arcade, magiquest, shops, etc. This aspect of the resort really disappointed me, only 7 hours of outdoor pool time.
There are a multitude of water slides both indoor and outdoors at the park. I did them all, and my favorite - oh, who am I kidding. I can't honestly say I had a favorite. I think I'm too old for jumping on a tube and sliding down a water slide. Or more probably I'm too fat. It was not easy getting on the tubes. Getting off was somewhat simple, if you were willing to just dump yourself. That's the only way I could dismount, flip the tube over, get on my hands and knees then push myself up. (Did I also mention I'm very out of shape, 51 years old, and fat?) Speaking of out of shape, in order to slide down the water tubes on the inner tubes, first you have to get to the top. No elevators here, folks. Good ole stairs. The most exciting ride - the Howling Tornado - was at the top of what felt like 12 flights of stairs. I don't know how many it actually was, I just know I couldn't make it to the top without 2 rest stops at least. (and I had to climb it twice!) I wanted very badly to do everything my grandson wanted me to do, and being 11 it was all about the tube slides. Luckily both my daughters equally loved them so I was able to get by with one each, and let them have the rest of the fun on the repeat visits with him. The granddaughter was too young for most of them without an adult, and some were just too much for her, too.
We had a two year old with us the first afternoon we were there. He was simply over-whelmed, but also very good natured about taking in the whole experience. His favorite part was the baby area, sitting on a motorcycle with handlebar grips that worked a water sprayer. Speaking of small kids, the resort provides plenty of life vests to put on them. We had one on him and one on the granddaughter. While she can swim, she was much more comfortable with the vest on.
There are what looks like hundreds of chairs all around the water park area, and plenty of tables. We went on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend. I only thought it was crowded on Thursday. Friday night a LOT more people checked in, and Saturday was just a zoo. Thursday and Friday were less crowded so I'm glad we went earlier. The water park really can't handle the amount of people present when the hotel is full. A great example is trying to enjoy the wave pool, there are literally people everywhere in the water, which definitely lessens the experience.
The resort is all about the water park. I would rate the hotel and the staff a 3 star at best. I went in with the mistaken impression that because I was paying more than $300 a night for a room that I was getting a 5 star experience. That was a mistaken belief. You are funding the upkeep of the water park and the associated lifeguard staff. For example, the resort supplies plenty of towels in the pool area, but they are bath size at best, and very thin. I was wishing I had brought my own beach towels. The room towels are better, and plentiful. First hotel ever that had enough towels in the bathrooms to suit me.
About lifeguards, they are everywhere there, except the hot tub areas. They are very diligent and alert, and frequently change shifts, every 15 to 30 minutes tops.
There is an "adults only" hot tub area. I rarely saw anyone in it. I'm sure most were like me, there with young kids and couldn't leave them behind to go to the hot tub. The park rents cabanas, both inside and outside. I had seriously thought of renting one to have a home base, but it frankly wasn't necessary. Since you can't bring food and drinks in, there was just no point. You toss your shoes and cover-ups down somewhere, and don't go back to them until you are ready to leave, or sit down and eat. I rented a locker one day, so I could bring my iPad and have a bit of a break from all the activities and read by the pool. That really was a waste as well, as reality was my grandkids wanted me to do things with them and I didn't want to disappoint them.
The restaurant food was a big disappointment. I didn't enjoy anything I ate there - the Philly cheesesteak for supper, the breakfast buffet or the food from the water park concession stand. I wasn't expecting fabulous foods, and I'll eat pretty much anything. But basics were just missing. Biscuits too hard or burnt, not enough egg in the omelet mix to hold the omelet add-ons together. My daughter had a wonderful looking salad at dinner. The plate of loaded fries was good. Just not worth the prices associated with them. After those meals, we left the hotel to eat the rest of our meals. There are plenty of restaurants within 5 minutes drive without having to get off Hwy 26, the main drag in front of the hotel. Had a fabulous and very cheap breakfast at Steak 'n Shake, for example.
The rooms come with a nice "dorm size" refrigerator, and a microwave. You can bring whatever you want, but you can't take it into the water park. That would have been ideal, if you could take your cooler downstairs with you and not have to trek (wet) back to the room or spend the $3 for a bottle of water in the park. The elevators to the rooms are at the opposite end of the property from the water park, fyi, so you've got a bit of a hike if you are wet. I found I didn't want to go back to the room unless I was going to change into dry clothes and do something different. I also observed I drank less water in the three days I was at the park than I normally do. It just wasn't convenient when you are constantly moving around the park and getting in and out of the water to carry a drink.
The beds were comfortable, the room was clean, room decoration was bland at best, and very heavily "worn". There's just a difference in a hotel property that caters to small children from one that caters to business travelers, and I could sure tell that difference.
My goal was to provide a great vacation experience for my grandchildren. That goal was delivered and exceeded. They had a tremendous time and a lot of fun. When I asked them what their favorite part was, they both said "swimming". Since that's what it's all about, the Great Wolf Lodge delivers on what it promised.
Posted with Blogsy |
| Howling Tornado from the outside |
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