Advice for Planning a Visit to Great Wolf Lodge

My family made an escape from the cold weather in Portland and made a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. We had a wonderful time and I wanted to share some tips for planning your own visit.

Great Wolf Lodge is unique because it is a hotel and water park in one. I have to admit, this bundled concept threw me for a loop initially because I was used to theme park vacations where I had to book my hotel and then buy the admission tickets separately. At Great Wolf Lodge, admission to the water park is included in your room rate which makes things really simple.

Instead of worrying about tickets, your room selection is what matters most. For my family of three, the standard Family Suite was perfect (starts at $199). If you have a larger family, you can get something like a Grand Bear Suite (starts at $349)  that can sleep up to 8 in the room.

When you look at the room types, pay attention to the where it says how many can stay in the room. For example, a standard room says “Sleeps: 4, Maximum: 6.” This means you can add two additional people to your room (for a total of six) for an additional $40 per person. Depending on the room rates, it may be a better deal to upgrade to a premium room, like the KidCabin Suite, that “Sleeps: 6, Maximum: 7.” This would save you from having to pay the additional $40 per person because six people are included in the base price.

When you consider all that you get for the money, the hotel and water park admission bundle works out to be a pretty good deal. A competing water park in Oregon charges $120 for a family of four. At Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA the standard family suite starts at $199, which gives you a room for the night plus water park admission for the family. It seems like there is always a discount offer available, so take a look at the deals page before selecting your room.

Staying the night at Great Wolf also means you get two days of water park admission. On the day of your arrival, you can get into the water park at 1:00 and on your day of departure you can still enjoy the water park after you check out. There is a changing room and locker area inside the water park if you need it.

All of the rooms are called “suites,” and for good reason. The rooms are larger than a typical hotel room because of the separate seating area with the fold out couch. The rooms are designed with families in mind, with plenty of space to stretch out. The sink and mirror are located outside of the bathroom, which is nice because you can get ready even if someone is in the shower.

Great Wolf rooms have the standard amenities of a coffee maker, hair drier, and in room safe. There is also a microwave and small refrigerator, which is great if you want to have a quick breakfast in your room. Our room did not have a balcony, but I could see from the outside that balconies were available for a limited number of rooms. Also, the rooms on the first floor appeared to have higher ceilings, which I’d imagine would make the room feel much larger.

I recommend that you bring your own shampoo and conditioner. The hotel supplies shampoo and bubble gum scented body wash, as well as a bottle of lotion. But after a day in the chlorine water, you really need conditioner (especially if you have longer hair). BYOB and save yourself some tangles in the morning.

On this visit, my family spent the majority of our time in the water park and exploring the hotel. But during our next stay, I think we will upgrade to one of the themed suites and enjoy a little more down time. I’m sure that my son will like having his own kid cabin in the room.

The trip to Great Wolf Lodge was a nice way to escape the cold weather. We actually had moments where we could see it snowing outside while we were playing in the 84 degree indoor water park. The whole family had a great time and my son is already asking when we plan to visit again.

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