Last week our family of 6 headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX. It was my husband and my son’s birthday so after school on Monday, we surprised the kids by telling them we were all going to the store as a family, which they HATE. Little did they know, the back of the Enclave was packed with luggage and we were just stopping by the store for snacks and swim suits.
Fortunately, the Grapevine Great Wolf Lodge is just about 45 minutes from our home. We managed to keep the surprise up, until we were about a block away. We then told our son E of his birthday surprise. He went crazy, my daughter went crazy, the babies were confused – needless to say the kids were excited.
Side note: In lieu of birthday parties, we have started doing family birthday dinners and then doing an outing of sorts. This saves on a birthday party and excessive gifts which we don’t need and end up not being played with and littering our playroom.
My feelings towards Great Wolf Lodge before we went were that of hate. The commercial resulted in our kids screaming wanting to go. I had actually made plans to bring them here a few years back, but backed out and took the kids to San Antonio. I’m not sure why I was so opposed to this place, but as you’ll see my heart has softened – greatly…
Great Wolf Lodge Resort Review
I guess I should educate those not familiar with what in the world Great Wolf Lodge is… Great Wolf Lodge Resort is an indoor waterpark resort. There are several through-out the country. The idea is, you buy a room and the waterpark admission is included. The resort is totally geared towards families offering a plethora of activities in addition to the indoor water park.
Here is a review of our stay:
Kid Cabin Suite
We stayed in the Kid Cabin Suite which will sleep up to 7 people. There was a queen size bed, a bunk bed and a twin bed, also a pull out couch. Zeke decided jumping on the bed was more fun than sleeping (he typically sleeps in a crib), the staff kindly brought up a pack-and-play in the wee hours of the night.
The room had the typical small refrigerator, microwave, sink, bathroom and while not fancy, it was most definitely CLEAN! There was just enough room for our family of 6.
Food
We ate at the restaurant and overall it wasn’t bad! The pina colada was super yummy but strong (I’m not a huge drinker.) It was priced fairly, I think we would eaten at Chili’s for the same amount and the food was actually good!
Indoor Water Park
Great Wolf Lodge is known for it’s indoor water park. It’s kept at a cool 84 degrees year round. Overall, it was fabulous. It was just big enough for our older kids to be able to run around without us having to watch them constantly. There were PLENTY of things for the toddlers to do and the life guards were super attentive.
Resort Activities
Great Wolf Lodge offers a ton of resort activities for the family. There is Magiquest, an arcade, a spa just for girls, an ice cream parlor, laser tag and more. If you don’t want to spend money, you can enjoy story time and crafts.
Perfect Staycation
We had a fabulous time and while our time there was short, only 22 hours – we had the perfect staycation. Our boys enjoyed their birthdays, we had at least 8 hours in the water and everyone was happy! Fortunately for us, Grapevine, TX – the location we went to – is close. Even if it was a few hours away, I would definitely say it’s worth the drive.
Great Wolf Lodge Photos
We went as a family staycation, I was not compensated for this review. All opinions are my own.