Christmas Surprise!

What do you get the kids that really don't need a thing?? This year my mom went with snow pants & boots, and bathing suits & goggles for the kids to go along with their "experience" gift of Great Wolf Lodge. The kids have always wanted to go to Great Wolf, I think they have heard a lot of their friends from school talk about it so it was perfect. We chose to go to the Williamsburg, VA location and we made great time getting there in only about 3 hours. The kids were excited the moment that we saw the welcome sign and that carried throughout the entire trip!

Parking was a bit tricky, there was 15 min parking up front for unloading, but we ended up having to park pretty far back in the side lot due to high occupancy. We walked in and the lobby was enchanting, it had an amazing lodge feel and a massive real fireplace burning that just invites you in. Check-in couldn't have been easier, we arrived two hours early but our room was ready and our desk clerk was very knowledgeable and made sure we knew everything we needed to know (and provided a map). Everything at the resort is in the middle of the resort with most of the kids activities on the first floor, and adult attractions on the second floor (Dunkin Donuts). So on the first floor there was the water park, spa, pizza shop, buckets food stand, ice cream shop, arcade, blowing alley, movie theater, kids gift shop, and more. On the second floor there was coffee, a restaurant, gift shop, and candy store. Our room was on the 4th floor ALL the way at the end of the hallway and my only complaint would be that there need to be elevators in the middle of each hallway, the elevators were only on the ends and in the middle with poor signage so you almost think you are lost looking for them.

You can swim as soon as you get there so the kids suited up and went to town on the water slides, lazy river, wave pool, surf simulator, and water basketball court. There was plenty of seating inside the water park, and plenty of fresh towels provided by the friendly staff. The smell of chlorine inside the water park was intense, so much so that it made my eyes burn but knowing that it was clean made that worth it for me! The kids played for about 4 hours the first day, then we went bowling, got ice cream, went to the arcade, had dinner (buffet was good), and enjoyed the dance party in the lobby where it "snowed" inside (bubbles). Everyone was exhausted by bedtime and we woke up ready to play again the next day. We were told that coffee line formed early and could take up to an hour so we made sure to get there by 7:30am and then went right to the breakfast buffet which was delicious! There were options for everyone, full buffet with breakfast meats, yogurt bar, omelet station, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, and more. The water park reopened at 9am and we one of the first families inside so there was no line at the surf simulator which made my son happy. We played for a few hours and fortunately we had late check-out so we could shower, pack up, and get ready to head home.

Overall it was a very enjoyable experience and we will definitely be going again!

Some tips - it is loud and there are kids everywhere so make sure to keep an eye on yours (we personally helped two lost children who were terrified). Pack light, you really don't need much other than a bathing suit and PJs. Purchase the refillable souvenir cups, you can refill them anywhere at the lodge and they were well worth the $.

#GreatWolfLodge