During Christmas break, we spent one night at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono’s. I had heard a slew of positive things about it from other families. Our kids were equally excited after visiting the hotel’s web site and looking at pictures of the water park and other amenities we’d promise they’d experience.
When we walked into the resort, it immediately felt a bit like Disney World. My husband was not sure what to think – he’s not a fan of these types of places.
The Great Wolf Lodge is a family resort, water park and big game room all in one. It has a woodsy decor which permeates all through the resort. The highlight for us was the water park. It has water slides of all shapes and sizes, hot pools, swimming pools, water games like basketball and a wave pool. The water slides appeal to everyone, but require a height of at least 48 inches. Some go fast as roller coasters (the “hydroplunge”) and shoot in and out of the room all the way to the snowy outside. We stayed in the water park for hours and hours. There are huge play areas, dumping buckets full of water, floating logs and loads of interactive games.
What was difficult about this trip was the price of everything in the hotel, as well as saying “No” over and over to our kids. As soon as we went in, we discovered that every child possessed a magic wand to participate in the hotel’s MagiQuest game, placed all over the hotel so there is no escape. Kids have to pay at least $15 for a wand and another $13 to activate it and go from room to room seeking seeking clues and solving puzzles. We’d never seen anything like it, and it was very hard to continuously refuse to buy it. Equally expensive was the race car that kids can build and race around a track for $59.99. We were shocked to see that the car was the same size of one that I had recently purchased for my child for the price of $9.99 at CVS. There’s Scoops, a spa for kids, which charges $49.99 for a little girl’s manicure (granted, it comes with ice-cream). Of course, then you have the expensive buffets, as well, but we managed to eat in a diner outside the grounds and the kids never complained. They knew they were going back to the lodge and that was what they cared about. There’s also anarcade and a whole host of other amenities like internet access in the rooms, a gym, Cub Club featuring bingo and crafts for kids during the weekdays, as well as a few programs on wildlife themes like a tour around the lobby for kids.
Our suite was very comfortable. We had a sitting room with a wall between our bedroom and a sitting room. There’s an activity every night at 8 or 9pm for children where they go in their pajamas and go watch a musical show in the lobby and meet the resort’s famous bear and pose for photos with him. Our kids really enjoyed this, but my husband thought that all the adults looked miserable while watching it. This is truly a resort for kids, not adults. I told him the pleasure comes from watching the kids have fun, which he agreed on in the end.
Great Wolf Lodge’s rooms start at $229 per night for a family of four. At first it might seem ridiculously expensive. But admittedly, the kids had a ball and the water park was a wonderful experience for all of us. The resort in the Pocono’s in right near ski resorts, outlet shopping malls and a lot to do. Just remember when booking it that it will more of an experience for the kids than yourselves.
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