For a wet and wild family weekend, look no further than Great Wolf Lodge. With over 19 locations across the US, this family-focused themed hotel is known for its indoor water parks, fun zones and woodland character meet and greets.
I recently took the fam for a two-day getaway to the Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs and it was awesome!
We arrived at 1pm to maximize our water park admission time and luckily our room was already ready. We opened our hotel room doors with our RFID-enabled wrist bands and were greeted with a cool themed suite. It had a King sized bed for the parents, and a separate log cabin build-in with bunk beds for the kids. The rooms have a woodsy vibe, with framed photos of wolves, friendly forest characters on the walls and even paw print shaped hand soap.
As the kids bounced around on their Wiley Wolf Den bunk beds, I got our swim suits ready and prepared to hit the pool. The big draw of Great Wolf Lodge is their waterpark and admission is included in your overnight stay.
It’s 65,000 square feet of indoor space compete with a labyrinth of colorful water slides, a wave pool, a toddler play area, obstacle courses and a multi-level treehouse with massive tipping water buckets. There is a minimum height requirements for the slides (typically 42-48 inches tall), and kids will be measured by staff upon entry, then given the corresponding wrist bands for slide access. There are free lifejackets and towels available as well.
My kids loved the Mountain Edge Raceway (a thrilling slip’n slide ride where you can race each other), and Alberta Falls, a tandem tube ride. The five-story funnel slide called Howlin’ Tornado, was by far our family favorite. It was legitimately scary fun that had us screaming all the way down.
From the waterpark, we toweled off, grabbed a bite to eat at one of their many quick serve restaurants and ventured into the indoor play park. There are a ton of immersive activities to keep the kiddos entertained: Howlers Peak Ropes Course a multi-level climbing experience, indoor mini golf, rock climbing, panning for gold and the arcade.
The kids chose their own magic wands through MagiQuest, an interactive game that had them searching for crystals, opening treasure chests and battling dragons around the lodge with the flip of their sticks. If you purchase a Wolf Pass ($99 plus taxes), all of the above activities are covered, plus you get to stuff your own furry animal souvenir.
After a busy day of fun, the kids settled in for story time by the fireplace in the Grand Lobby. It’s a nightly event that has kiddos in their pajamas taking photos with mascots like Wiley the Wolf.
Great Wolf Lodge offers many seasonal events, including Howl-o-Ween https://www.greatwolf.com/howl-o-ween
It’s an awesome local getaway the whole family will enjoy. For more information on booking your stay visit https://www.greatwolf.com
