Sacrifice a Disney day for a Great Wolf Lodge day?

[TikiTikiFan]

God, no.

But... we’re lucky enough to visit twice a year and we always do five DLR days. My son has recently become obsessed (thanks, YouTube) with the GWL and has been begging that we add on a day to do it.

I’m debating because frankly it doesn’t seem to make much of a price difference and we could do it on our last day since we have a late flight out the next day to enjoy the water park longer. And we can still get 5-day tickets and just make our arrival day a late Disney day.

Now while he visualizes water park, I’m visualizing laying in a pool chair in between hot tub dips.

A few questions:

1. Is there a hot tub? I can’t seem to find that info anywhere.

2. Would you make this sacrifice for your kids? (I’m being dramatic haha but I love my Disney)

3. Opinion on GWL altogether? Is it worth it? For a kid that’s obsessed with water parks and swimming anyways?

4. How relaxing can I make this for myself while he has a blast? He’s 10 and pretty independent, he doesn’t need me following him on slides anymore. Any tips?

5. Is there enough to do for a 10 year old to spend a full day there?

Funny because we have one in our state but it’s separated by nearly 4+ hours of CO traffic and I don’t want anything that bad to deal with that.

And maybe it’d be good to mix it up on this trip.

 

[mentos]

I personally don’t like the place, but caveats being:

1) I’m not your kid
2) I’ve only ever been to the one in Williamsburg, VA

I’d say try it out, 5 days even with a late day 1 is plenty to cover both parks especially since he’s 10 and lower maintenance than a 4-5 year old.

 

[SeaDis]

*We've never been to Anaheim GWL, just our local one. I have to assume it's similar.

Normally I suggest friends "end" their trip at DLR and do other local activities at the beginning or during a break day. With GWL the kiddo is going to get an absolute workout. In addition to the swimming, there are mountains of stairs to climb to hit the big slides over and over. A 10 year old will get a workout, especially combined with the miles of walking at DLR. So just factor that into your trip planning.

Can you spend a whole day there? Absolutely. You can check in early with water park access and take a break once you get your room. Would I make the sacrifice for my kid? Absolutely. By age 12 he will probably be over it.

Relaxing:
If this is not your thing, please disregard. My suggestion on how YOU can enjoy the trip: Buy the souvenir/refillable beer glass right away. It's the only way to ensure you get the value out of it.

Other than that, it sounds like you know what to expect. It can be hot, croweded, LOUD, and not much magic in the air (crazy kids/teenagers/yelling adults). But for a 10-year old... it's gotta be awesome. Don't sit the whole thing out. Go with him on the raft/tandem slides and have a ball.

 

[midnight star]

3. My cousin took her kids and they loved it. She was exhausted though lol. But her kids love anything with water. They've done Soak City, Raging Waters, Hurricane Harbor, etc. Plus with being in Socal, they live only an hour from the beach. They spent the entire day there.

I also say try it. Some of the bigger slides look fun. And for some of the easier ones, you can have your son go and you stay and relax.

 

[coasternut22]

Think of Great Wolf Lodge as a giant casino for kids. What are casinos great at? Taking your money. It’s not just about the water slides. There is the arcade, mini golf, bowling. And of course the magi quest. It’s super fun for kids and will take hours to complete. You have to go in with the expectation that as soon as he sees all of this stuff, he’s going to want to do it all. It will certainly take up the entire day, even two.

Great Wolf Lodge is not a place to relax. There is so much to do. Is Chuck E Cheese relaxing? Think of the same experience, but for an entire day.

With that said, we stayed at GWL during Christmas break. We had two hotel days and three park days. It was exhausting. On the hotel days, the kids were up early to do magi quest, then waterpark, then more magi quest and arcade. You do just as much walking with magi quest as you do in the parks. We actually ran out of time and I wish we had started earlier in our trip. BUT, my son loved GWL so much he wants to go back there for his birthday. Just there. So I guess we’ll go again.

Oh, and no hot tubs. They keep the temperature in the water park about 80 degrees. You’ll never be cold. And your 10 year old will be perfectly fine going off by himself at the water park. Plenty of lifeguards.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Oh, and no hot tubs.

Noooo! The likelihood of my agreement to GWL just went down 30%

You make some good points, thank you!

Maybe I should just suck it up and deal with the traffic to go to ours. The difference in rates is astounding for ours (Colorado Springs) vs. Anaheim!

 

[cruisehopeful]

2. Would you make this sacrifice for your kids? (I’m being dramatic haha but I love my Disney)

I would. It's a small window of an age group that wants to do stuff like that, so I don't recommend saying, 'we'll do it next time.' You'll experience joy by seeing the joy that your son is having. Mine were already grown up by the time we got a GWL, but I for sure would have taken them there if we had the opportunity while they were young, even knowing that there would be nothing for me to do there. They grow up too dang fast.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

would. It's a small window of an age group that wants to do stuff like that, so I don't recommend saying, 'we'll do it next time.' You'll experience joy by seeing the joy that your son is having.

Another good point. They grow up so fast, he just turned 10 and I still can’t believe it.

If we did do it on this trip, it’d be on a Monday which is the super busy DLR day anyways...

 

[Funtimeswithteenagers]

My family loves GWL in Washington! We go every year. They do a great job setting up activities for all age groups. They had fun at age 1 and now at teenagers. Ours has the wand game, not sure if Anaheim has this, I have never looked. It’s worth it! It’s a blast. Mine spend more time doing activities out of the pool. I would go at least once. The Washington one has a hot tub but they allow kids in and an adult can’t sit and enjoy it. Parents let their kids swim and splash and jump all over the place. It drives me nuts!! My kids were taught a hot tub is for adults and if they were going to be in it they were to sit quietly and still.

 

[DLgal]

Here's another thought...don't stay overnight. Buy a day pass or half day pass and let your son enjoy the water park for a few hours. Maybe your departure day would be best for this. They open and 9am and IMO, about 4 hours is enough to do the whole water park. Buying a day pass also limits your time to just the water park, basically, so your son won't be tempted by all the other $$$ experiences. They have showers and stuff in there so you can change before leaving for the airport. Day passes start at $40 and go up, depending on how popular the day you want to go will be (holidays are more). Half day passes are between $40 and $55, usually. The rooms SEEM cheap, but then they tack on like 35% more in taxes and fees, so your final bill is significantly higher than the price they display as the per night charge.

FWIW, we love the GWL in Garden Grove (it's not in Anaheim). It is clean, well run by amazing staff and very fun for kids. Also, they sell alcohol in the waterpark and make a killer sangria, so that's how YOU can relax! If you get there early enough to snag a table, you'll be all set. It is humid in there and pretty warm, so you won't want to wear anything more than a bathing suit and cover up, but it's definitely easy to just plant yourself and let your kid loose if you want.

 

[Ladcassidy]

GWL is a land-locked cruise ship for families with kids. Activities abound around every corner, and lots of ways to spend money. My twelve-year-old daughter chose a weekend at our local Lodge as her birthday trip this past weekend . . . AGAIN. She is close to aging out, I suspect, but for now it's high on her must-do list. Fortunately, our Lodge has a friendly bar and both a family hot tub and one for adults only.

GWL offers enough stimulation and activity that I would suggest taking a separate trip to your nearest location rather than combining it with a Disney trip.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

We go to the Great Wolf in Wisconsin and there are multiple hot tubs. My kids don't do any of the "extras" unless we give in to the arcade at night, which is yes, a rip off. They swim and do slides. It is a different kind of fun than Disney. The theming is cute and they usually have some free kids activities around the lodge.

 

[DLgal]

We go to the Great Wolf in Wisconsin and there are multiple hot tubs. My kids don't do any of the "extras" unless we give in to the arcade at night, which is yes, a rip off. They swim and do slides. It is a different kind of fun than Disney. The theming is cute and they usually have some free kids activities around the lodge.

It seems like the cold weather states have hot tubs. There are definitely not any at the Southern California location.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

No hot tubs at the Garden Grove location. There is an outdoor pool, though, with a bar/grill right next to it. I usually do the water slides with my daughter the first hour or two we are in the park, then I go outside and lay by the outdoor pool and read and drink wine. During colder weather months, that pool will be closed. But it’s a great place to hang out spring-fall.

My daughter is 12 now, she still really enjoys the water park, but isn’t into the games and arcade.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Thanks everyone for all the info, definitely helpful as I mull this over!

I looked at day passes on their website but it’s saying nearly everyday in July/Aug is sold out? I’m going to call and verify because that seems odd but maybe it’s just that popular!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I looked at day passes on their website but it’s saying nearly everyday in July/Aug is sold out? I’m going to call and verify because that seems odd but maybe it’s just that popular!

Seems unbelievable. Maybe they expect the hotel to be filled up and they don't want added crowds during the day? Let us know what they say when you call. Hopefully, they just haven't updated the website.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Seems unbelievable. Maybe they expect the hotel to be filled up and they don't want added crowds during the day? Let us know what they say when you call. Hopefully, they just haven't updated the website.

Just talked to them, the day passes are only sold 90 days out so anything beyond that just says ‘sold out’ even though it’s not available for purchase so it’s all good.

Price ranges from $50-$100 per person, probably closer to $100 for summer they told me. That’s pretty pricey so now I’m over here mulling again. Would be cheaper to just stay the night...

 

[DLgal]

Just talked to them, the day passes are only sold 90 days out so anything beyond that just says ‘sold out’ even though it’s not available for purchase so it’s all good.

Price ranges from $50-$100 per person, probably closer to $100 for summer they told me. That’s pretty pricey so now I’m over here mulling again. Would be cheaper to just stay the night...

Did you actually price out a date all the way to the final checkout page? Do that first. Summer rates are high and the additional tax makes it even higher. Expect $400+ to be the final price tag.

 

[galaxygirl76]

I don't believe there is a hot tub at the Minnesota one.

If you asked her, my daughter(8) would rather go there than Disney right now. She loves the waterpark and the Minnesota one is by the Mall of America, where there is a lot to do as well.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Would be cheaper to just stay the night...

If it is cheaper to spend the night and it's not too much hassle to do that, you may as well. Just hopefully it won't be so fun for your son that he wants to do that again next time you are Disneyland.

My youngest preferred Legoland to Disneyland. I sucked it up during those years and now she's a Disneyland nut like I am.