As my family walked up the stairs at Great Wolf Lodge, my son stopped in his tracks and pointed at the bearskin rug on the wall. The bear’s eyes flashed red and then a growl came from the flattened fur beast. Then, as we turned the corner, we watched several treasure chests open to reveal light up jewels inside. But it wasn’t until the pixie in the cage started talking that I began wondering if something stronger than chlorine was in the pool water.
If you have ever visited a Great Wolf Lodge, you likely know that all of these strange occurrences are part of MagiQuest, an interactive game played throughout the resort. I read about MagiQuest before our visit, but I had no idea that the game would be a central part of the Great Wolf experience. The hotel’s lobby, common areas, and several floors of the hotel have MagiQuest elements tucked away. It is simply amazing to see how popular this game is with visitors. If you don’t have a magic wand in hand, you quickly feel left out.
Picking out a Magic Wand
The wands are your key to MagiQuest. Each has a fancy computer chip inside that triggers the various animations and events as you walk around the resort. You can go about things two ways, depending on the age of your child. If you have a little one, like my four-year-old, you can get the wand set up to just trigger things as you walk around (and not have to worry about playing the game). If your child is older, the real fun kicks in because they can literally spend hours solving clues and traveling around the resort in order to solve the quest.
Great Wolf Lodge has a gift shop devoted to selling MagiQuest wands and accessories, which is nice for the kids because they can pick a wand that they like. A tip for parents is to consider the “Paw Pass,” which gives you several items for $59.99 + tax. In addition to the wand and a MagiQuest game, a Paw Pass gets you an animal from Animal Land, a Chipstick from the Spirit Island Snack Shop, a souvenir sipper cup and drink, 20 arcade tokens, and a small glitter tattoo. You can buy the Paw Pass during check in at the hotel.
Storming the Castle
The neat thing about MagiQuest is that the game is played throughout the resort. Children get all of their energy out by running around the place to solve clues. The first four floors of the hotel have MagiQuest areas as you step off the elevator, which has the side benefit of creating a neat looking backdrop as you walk to your room.
If your child really wants to solve the entire game, it will likely take them the length of their stay to do so. On your next visit to Great Wolf, you can bring the wand with you and pick up where you left off. Or you can have them load a new quest if you’d like to try something different.
Who Should Play?
During our stay at the Grand Mound, WA resort, I watched children of all ages having a lot of fun playing MagiQuest. It seemed like each child took their own approach. Older children gravitated toward playing the full game and I heard several bragging about slaying a dragon. Younger kids, like my son, seemed content to just be a little sorcerer and to wave the magic wand at everything around the resort.
The next time you visit Great Wolf Lodge, be sure to give MagiQuest a try. Your child will have a great time, no matter what their age.
[…] land” activities might be found inside the hotel. We can expect the standard activities like MagiQuest, the Northern Lights Arcade, and the Cub Club. But beyond that, Great Wolf Lodge locations can […]