The girls have talked about going all summer, and Emma was very excited to spend the night since she hadn't been able to. The rooms are designed super cute with a woodsy, outdoor theme along with the kids' favorite - the bunk beds. We were able to check in Monday at 1:00 and began using the water park immediately after getting our overnight bags to our room. The day was surprisingly overcast (it's been very hot all summer), and I was actually freezing cold both inside and outside. The water parks (there's one inside and outside as well) were crowded and the lines for the slides were disappointingly slow-moving and long. A storm blew in later that evening (it hasn't rained all summer!) which meant that the outside was closed as well as all of the slides inside.
With the inclement weather, we decided to do the scavenger hunt - a MagiQuest which challenges each Magi (i.e. Abby and Emma) to point their wands at different objects in the hotel which will then light up. You have a book that "guides" you through this and gives different clues. It involved a lot of going up and down the stairs. We spent about 2 hours going up and down the stairs Monday night (along with everyone else). I took them back on Wednesday afternoon (you have 4 days to complete the game). We spent another 2 hours and had about an hour left in the hunt when the girls informed me they had blisters on their feet and couldn't go any further without food. So, $50 for the game, and we didn't even finish it. Lesson learned..
Tuesday morning, we opted to check out of our room by 9:30 instead of 11:00. If we did, we got an additional $10 off (not a big savings, but we would be at the water park anyways and not in our rooms). Since the water park opened at 9:00 and we were headed out there right at 9:00, we went ahead and checked out around 8:45. At 9:00 a.m., there were very few people inside the water park. Emma was able to enjoy the "kiddie" pool area while Brian and Abby were able to ride some of the bigger slides with very little wait. At 10:00, we hit the outside water park right when it opened. We were once again able to enjoy the slides and pools outside with very little crowds. Once again, I was freezing and the water was quite cold (believe it or not). We headed back inside around 11:00, only to discover that the "kiddie" area was now closed due to fecal contamination and remained closed the remainder of the day. Bummer for us. Luckily, Emma had been able to enjoy it for an hour that morning. We stayed until around 5:00 that afternoon, and I was very tired by the end of the 2 days. Our kids had a wonderful time, and we were able to ride several of the water slides together as a family, which was a lot of fun.
Overall, it was a great outing, but I would hesitate to go back. You spend so much money on a hotel room that you are in for such a short amount of time in order to enjoy a crowded water park when there are so many water parks in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Next summer, we will head to Hurricane Harbor for a day, bring our cooler, and save a good $300. They definitely are making a fortune at Great Wolf Lodge.
4 comments:
I am so glad you had a fun time. We hope to go some time. Did the girls even sleep?
Those jet skis look fun!
It looks like great fun - we would love to go sometime - just wish it was not so expensive!
I'm so, so glad to read your post! We've toyed with the idea of GWL for a mini-getaway (we're also in the Metroplex), but after reading of the pool closings and Magi games not being completed, I absolutely know what our trip would look like. Thanks for the informative post!
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