We visit Williamsburg, VA pretty regularly. We go at least a couple times a year. But, we've never visited Great Wolf Lodge. We would pass it as we drove down I-64 on the way to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA and the kids would always ask if we could go. So, this past weekend we decided to spend part of the kids' Spring Break at Great Wolf Lodge.
Great Wolf Lodge is a family of indoor water park resorts. There are currently 15 locations in the US and Canada, with several more set to open soon. The resort in Williamsburg is an easy 2.5 hour drive from the Washington, DC area.
Check in at the resort is at 4 pm, but guests are welcome to use the water park as early as 1 pm. So, we planned on arriving shortly after 1 and use the water park until our room was ready.
At check-in, we found out our room was actually already ready, which was great. We didn't have to change into our suits at the park and could do it in our room. At check-in, they gave each of the kids wolf ears to wear.
We stayed in a Standard Family Suite. It sleeps up to six and includes two Queen beds and a full size sleeper sofa.
After unpacking and changing into our swim suits, we went down to the water park.
We started in the wave pool. It was smaller than what I was expecting. Granted, I've never visited an indoor water park before.
Then, we went to the kiddie area, while the big kids and my husband went on some water slides.
After going around the Lazy River a couple times, we left to go have dinner. We decided to eat outside the resort the first night.
The next day was Easter. After doing a quick hunt around the hotel room for Easter candy, we got dressed and went down for breakfast. We had purchased breakfast vouchers for that day. We ate at The Loose Moose Bar & Grill, one of the restaurants at the resort. Breakfast was served buffet style. They had a nice assortment of food, including sliced ham, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles and assorted pastries.
After breakfast, we got changed and went to the water park again for a little bit. Since we got there pretty early, we were able to get some lounge chairs.
We spent a couple hours there and then left the resort to get lunch and do some outlet shopping.
When we came back, we decided to try and do some of the other activities at the resort. The kids had gone to the Arcade the previous night and had spent a lot of money, so we decided to try some of the other things there. We tried to go to the bowling alley. But, it only has three lanes and of course, they were all being used. The kids didn't want to do the ropes course or the 4D Theater or anything else really. It was too cold to try the outdoor mini golf course. The little kids wanted to play MagicQuest, but the big kids didn't. We ended up splitting up and letting the big kids play at the Arcade until they ran out of money, while my husband and I played MagicQuest with the littles.
We really had no idea how to play and there was little to no instructions given. Each of the kids bought a wand and a topper. That ended up costing about $70. It cost $15 each to activate them. We ended up having a little kid teach us how to play as we stood in front of one of the portals, confused.
The game involved a lot of going back and forth between different areas of the hotel and going up and down to the different floors. The items that we were supposed to be collecting for each quest didn't always respond, though, to our wands. We'd be waving it over and over. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. And you couldn't really proceed if you didn't get all the items. My daughter gave up before we finished the quest. My one son was really close to finishing the quest. He just had to defeat the dragon. But, we had no idea how. This one girl who was also completing the same quest tried to help us. But, we still got killed.
Then, we went back to the room to figure out dinner. We decided to order a couple pizzas from the Hungry As A Wolf restaurant on the first floor. The pizzas were good.
We had to leave early the next day because my husband had to work. Overall, the family had a good time. When I asked the kids if they'd want to go back, they all said yes. For me, it was just okay. My husband enjoyed it. I think if I did more at the water park and maybe had a chance to do more of the other activities at the resort, I would have enjoyed it more. And maybe if it wasn't so cold. I put the temperature in the room at 74 and I was still really cold!
Have you visited a Great Wolf Lodge? What did you think?
Great Wolf Lodge
549 East Rochambeau Drive
Williamsburg, VA 23188
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