We are big on Waterparks in this family. Every year we try to travel with the kids to Great Wolf Lodge! . This is an honest review with tips, tricks and recommendations for you to read through before your trip to Great Wolf Lodge. This post comes from a mom of 2 that has been to Great Wolf Lodge more than 10 times throughout the years and taken my kids literally AT EVERY AGE (from 6 weeks up to 9 years old). The resort we have gone to is the Grapevine, Texas location as that is driving distance from our home in Houston, so this post is specific to that location.
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LET’S GET STARTED!! ITEMS TO PACK FOR THE Great Wolf Lodge WATERPARK!
1.) SWIM BAG– You are going to need a bag to lug things back and forth between your room and the waterpark. Great Wolf Lodge staff will not usually search your bag at the waterpark door, but I’m not gonna lie they have done it to me before. This bag from Amazon is the swim/beach bag I carry with me. It has plenty of room for swimsuits, robes and water shoes, but it also has a secret zip bottom compartment that’s insulated to be a cooler.
We pack a couple gatorades for the kids, fruit snacks, lunchables and maybe a couple hard seltzers for momma in here. Great Wolf Lodge will not let you bring food and coolers into the waterpark, but hey if you don’t get caught…. The food in the waterpark is like concession food. Overpriced and just not good, my kids won’t eat that crap.
***Get the swim bag if you travel with kids to Great Wolf Lodge or any waterpark really.
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***Tips: When you are packing at home make sure you throw your kids swimsuits, robes, water shoes in this swim bag and make sure the bag is easily accessible in the car. When you get to Great Wolf Lodge you can go ahead and check in and use the Waterpark even if your room is not ready. Sometimes the rooms are ready early, sometimes not, so go ahead and use the waterpark right away when travelling with kids!
2.) Robes– Great Wolf Lodge supplies towels, but they are small and thin. They work fine inside the waterpark, so don’t bring beach towels from home, but the towels are small and cover maybe an arm lol. Also, you check out the towels by scanning your wrist band, so the towels are assigned to your room. If you don’t turn all the towels in by check-out you will get charged for them. I wouldn’t risk bringing the waterpark towels up to your room and them getting mixed in with room towels.
What I would bring is robes for your kiddos because the walk from the waterpark back to the room is freezing (especially in the winter months) and your kids will be wet. The waterpark is on the bottom level and you have to walk through the arcade, walk to the elevators (If your room isn’t on the 1st level) and walk the halls to your room..it’s a walk. The robes will keep them warm.
***We use our at every indoor waterpark we go to and the robe is a life-saver, especially on our trips during the Texas winter months.
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***TIPS: Great Wolf Lodge does sell robes at the gift shop, but they are expensive! Last time we went the prices were over $55 per robe, so get them on Amazon and save money. Also, at check-in you can request a room close to the waterpark. We always request the bottom floor (waterpark level) just because my kids are really bad about wanting to go to the room for snacks, to poop or nap etc.
3.) Kids Water Shoes: My kids wear water shoes at every waterpark, inside or not. The stairs walking up the rides and kids’ play areas are very slippery, water shoes help the feet grip. Not only that, my kids get excited and run EVERYWHERE. I get hoarse with how much I tell them not to run. They run and trip and stub toes.
***We have learned the hard way that water shoes save toes.
***Tips: Get some adult water shoes for yourself as well. There are adult rides and you will be walking all over that waterpark with your kids, it does take a hit on your feet and your pedicure. If you don’t, your feet will feel just raw. My husband and I use these, life savers.
TIP ***FLIP-FLOPs or CROCS for the walk back to your room after the waterpark…your swollen water-logged feet won’t fit well in those tennis shoes!
4.)Lock pack– Alot of people will bring their drivers license and credit card down to the waterpark with them for food and drinks at the park. I went years dealing with the anxiety of leaving my wallet on an open table for the taking. Finally a couple years ago I bought this lockpack.
It was a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend, but it has given me so much peace of mind. No more constantly walking back to the table to check on our stuff! No more worrying some jerk is snapping pictures of my credit cards. I do not regret this purchase at all. Now, my mom insists on her wallet being with her AT.ALL.TIMES. For the longest time she refused to swim because she didn’t want to leave her wallet, this last Great Wolf Trip I found her a Waterproof Fanny Pack!
*** She’s obsessed and this is now her new “purse”. It did a great job of keeping everything dry while she swam, even if she did look a bit dorky lol.
5.) Floaties for kiddos under 48 in: There are life jackets, but my kids REFUSE to wear them. My daughter wore these floaties for years. Whether your kids can swim or not does not matter. The lifeguards will enforce life jackets on the rides if your child is under 48 in.
6.)Yeti Cup for YOU and KIDDOS: My family and I go to these waterparks with a budget. When the budget is used up then that’s it! The budget includes Magiquest (more on this later), arcades and toys( more on this later). So we try and save where we can when travel with kids.
We always bring a cooler into the hotel room with drinks and snacks and we will either bring my kids drink cups down to the waterpark or will pack some gatorades in the swim bag cooler. My husband and I will usually fill our Yeti cups with a hard seltzer (clear and looks like water) and bring that to the waterpark. We have never had issues yet.
***Food and drinks are expensive in the waterpark and honestly it’s concession food and just not worth it.
7.) Waterproof Phone Necklace– The kids really go berserk in the waterpark. I took a million pictures and I still love looking back at them. You can get a waterproof case for your phone to wear as a necklace and not have to worry about dropping your phone in water. Also, you don’t have to take the phones out of the case to type or take pics! BONUS!
Items you need for the Hotel Room when Travel with kids to Great Wolf Lodge!!
1.)Cooler– So you can’t lug a cooler into the waterpark, but you CAN bring one into your room. I don’t know about you, but when we travel with our kids to Great Wolf Lodge we do it for our kids, not us. It’s work on us yes, but fun for them.
We want them to have a blast and we align our budget to the things that they will love (magiquest, arcade, build-a-bear, light sabers (more on this later). Spending a ton of time and money on breakfast, lunch and dinner is just not what my kids would call having fun. Also, the resorts restaurants are SO expensive and the food is not worth the money.
***Bring a cooler with you, with wheels for easy handling.
Breakfast-The one thing that we do splurge on is the GREAT WOLF LODGE breakfast buffet at least 1 morning…it is SO good! Tons of kid-friendly food as well like donuts, muffins, pancakes, waffles, fruit, french toast. Also, the wolves come out to hang out with the kids at breakfast and you can photos with them…my kids really enjoys this.
So we do the breakfast buffet at least 1 morning. I’d purchase the breakfast buffet when you check in to your room, it’s just easier and faster when you’re rushing to get a table in the morning (FYI they get crowded quick, set an alarm).
Lunch– We eat in our room. There is a small fridge in the room so we stock it with pre-cut fruit, lunch meat, mayo, ketchup, sliced cheese. Also, we bring pre-cooked hamburgers and hotdogs from home and keep them in fridge. Lunch is always quick when we travel with the kids to great wolf lodge. Come up to the room to eat and head right back down to waterpark! Drinks (capri-suns, waters, hard seltzers, milk) we keep in the room cooler.
Dinner– We usually go to Great Wolf Lodge during Texas winter season, so we don’t like leaving the resort, Dallas area gets pretty cold in January (at least cold for this native Texan).We will order door dash or grubhub to the resort and eat it in the lobby (by the HUGE fireplace) or at a table on one of the floors.
There are alot of places to eat your take out in the resort, tables and chairs everywhere. They have a large table in front of the fireplace in the lobby and if you go up the stairs there is another large table with couches. Great Wolf Lodge honestly has alot of places to sit down and eat your take-out. You can always eat in the room, but we never do this. I hate when food is in the trash and it stays there stinking the room up.
***Since COVID alot of hotels have been terrible about cleaning the rooms properly during your stay. Great Wolf is no different. The picture below is right before Halloween 2023, it’s a giant scorpion made from balloons lol.
2.)White Noise Machine– The halls can be loud. The kids run around doing MagiQuest at night and they run back and forth in the halls. Bring a white noise machine to drown out the noise.
3.)Pajamas and slippers (or just socks are fine)- At night (7PM I believe) the staff at great wolf lodge will host a kids’ dance party and then a storytime downstairs in the lobby. It’s alot of fun and they parents get into it too. I always put my kids in warm jammies and their slippers (again we go to Great Wolf Lodge in the Winter so downstairs lobby is cold).
***Bring your wallet because they have all kinds of light saber and bubble wands for sale and your kids will lose their minds.
4.)FOR BABIES: Portable Bottle Warmer: If you have bottle-fed babies then this battery powered portable bottle warmer will definitely come in handy. My sis in law brought one of these bad boys with us to Kalahari for 5 month old and it was SO convenient not having to hurry back to her room to heat a baby bottle! The new gadgets these days are damn brilliant.
5.) FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS: Water Diapers. Because Poop happens. You don’t want to be that family that shut down the pool for the day…
MORE TIDBITS OF ADVICE FOR TRAVEL WITH KIDS TO GREAT WOLF LODGE
1.)We only started MagiQuest when my son turned 6, before that the kids don’t really get it. This is alot of fun though. This is a live action game where kids go on kind of a scavenger hunt through the resort. On the ground floor, where the waterpark and arcade is, is the Magiquest shop. You can buy wands, toppers, wizard clothes and charge your wand there. You can choose your wand and it’s powers (it’s not cheap).
***The wands charge is good for 3 days, but you can keep the wand and just bring it back to get charged up every trip .
My kids love Harry Potter, so when the age was right we let them partake and they played this our second night from 7:30-10:30 at night. We had to drag them to bed. Keep the wands to bring back each year and you don’t have to buy new ones.
Tip* If you plan on chasing after your kids while they play Magiquest then wear tennis shoes, you will be walking ALOT and definitely up and down the stairwells, that’s where alot of the quest tokens are.
2.)Arcade- Check it out for a couple hours. We let the kids do this right after lunch until their food settled enough to go back to the waterpark. There really isn’t anything overly special about this arcade to be honest. I’d allot maybe an hour for it.
3.)Resort Restaurants- We have tried them all and honestly they were similar ro Chili’s and exorbitant in price. Download grubhub or doordash app and order takout to the resort.
4.)There’s a hotel bar, it’s really the only adult thing at the resort. It’s nice to grab a drink while the kids are in the pajama party
5.)The starbucks line in Great Wolf Lodge is CRAZY every morning. There is a coffee maker in the room, buy some instant Starbucks Via and some creamer and keep in your room. Dont’ forget to bring your stirers, disposable coffee cups
6.) Get down to the waterpark early. It opens at 9 AM and lines start forming at the door early to get a table in the waterpark.
7.) If you travel with kids consider the Wolf den, Kids Kamp suite. They have super fun bunk beds in the room that are in a separate area from your bed. My kids LOVED these suites. Also there is a TV in there, so you don’t have to watch your kids’ cartoons!
8.) If you are eating in the room consider bringing paper towels, extra trash bags, plastic cutlery.
9.)Bring snacks for your kids. The waterpark zaps their energy and they will want to re-charge. Keep snacks in your room like chips, crackers, nuts, pre-cut fruit, popcorn (yes there’s a miscrowave).
10.) Consider an Amazon Firestick, the hotels never have my kids’ shows. It’s nice to turn a show on at night to get them to wind down…this firestick has been so convenient. Plu it into the TV USB and watch your movies and shows…brilliant.
11.) At check-in the concierge will send you a text so you can communicate your needs (extra pillows, towels, blankets, turn down service. This text concierge is actually super responsive. IF you want turn-down service for your room (bed made and all that) you do have to request it. The last few years we have been to Great Wolf the housekeepers have only emptied trash and taken dirty towels and thats it. If you want turn down service or extra towels use the text concierge to communicate that.
12. Hydration. Hydration. Hydration. Say it 5 times fast. There is just something about staying in hotels and resorts that dehydrates you, not sure what it is, but it’s something. You can NEVER get enough water. I always pack my Liquid IV packets. Each packet is equivalent to like 3 bottles of water with 5 X’s the electrolytes. These puppies will hydrate you up in no time and they are fabulous for those of us who would rather eat dirt than water.
13. Cute swim Chillwear I like walking around with my drink while my kids go beserk and run around the waterpark. They are at that age now where they can do that. So I like to wear cute cover-ups over my swimsuit and sip away the afternoon! If I do go in the water I always wear my sarong over my swimsuit (I’m a bit modest) This Fringe Crochet Cover-up is my fave and I get a million compliments, I have white, black and Multicolored.
Head on over to My Post on Kalahari Resorts and check out my recommendations! It’s also a very useful post when trying to decide which resort is best for your family!
