Great Wolf Lodge

At the end of last summer, Justin issued a challenge to read the book of Mormon individually in 6 months with a reward being to take the family to the Great Wolf Lodge – an indoor waterpark/themed hotel.  Clearly Katie and Drew weren’t in on the challenge (just the reward) and Jason was able to read from the Book of Mormon stories (which he did FIVE times).   The fall/winter is such a busy time for our family that I was really impressed with how well the girls stayed on track.  There were some weekends they each had to do some serious catching up, but it ended up being a positive experience for our family.

We decided we’d redeem our reward over President’s Day so Justin would only have to take one day off of work and the kids had the entire week off for mid-winter break.

Drew was excited to get packed up and ready to go.

In typical Fletcher family fashion, food always plays a factor in pretty much any outing.  We planned our drive so we could try Costa Vida in Federal Way for lunch.  I have some friends that claim it’s better than Café Rio so we had to try it for ourselves.  It tasted great and is definitely a close comparison, but our preference still lies with Café Rio.

Our last (and first) visit to the Great Wolf Lodge was in 2009 - six years ago when Jason was the same age as Drew is now.  Taking five kids to a waterpark isn’t at all relaxing for me.  I knew the kids would love it, but for me personally it wasn’t my thing.  I spent most of the time counting heads and making sure no one was drowning and that we hadn’t lost a child.  We were able to check in at 1pm and immediately start using the waterpark.  Each of the kids were issued their very own wolf ears.

Being a family of seven we couldn’t get by with a normal room so we had to upgrade to the Wolf Cabin Suite.  Our room had a cute little “cabin” with three beds in addition to a regular bed and sofa bed in the main room.  For as little time as we spent in the room in didn’t actual matter at all, but still cute I suppose.

The kids took full advantage of the waterpark.  Justin and the three oldest stayed til it closed at 9pm and were there when it opened at 9am the following morning.  I was happy to stay back with anyone that needed a little extra sleep or downtime whenever necessary.

The waterpark has a wavepool, an activity swimming pool, a kiddie play area, a large play structure with two slides, 2 traditional tube slides, a large group tube slide, and the exciting ‘Tornado’ waterslide for the older guests.  Plenty to enjoy.

Drew love, love, LOVED the water.  He is absolutely fearless.  Had no issue getting his face fully submerged.  He was so fun to watch.

Over the course of the two days we had access to the waterpark, Drew probably went down this slide over 100 times.  At first the kids wanted to do it with him, but he had no reservations making the climb and decent completely on his own.

Keeping an eye on Drew was a full-time job.  He moved fast and had no reservations taking off on his own.

Katie was disappointed she couldn’t go on the ‘Tornado’, the largest waterslide.  She was tall enough to do everything else though so long as she had a parent with her.

My favorite part of the day was the 20 minutes I got to sit outside by the hot tub – alone - and enjoy the sunshine.  It wasn’t particularly warm, but the sun felt wonderful and it was great to get out of the crowds and noise of the indoor park.

To avoid overpaying for resort food we brought sandwiches for dinner, homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and lots of snacks to cover anything in between.  Our package included a $25 resort credit so we used that to buy a couple pizzas for lunch on our second day.

Checkout is at 11am, but guests are able to use the waterpark until it closes at 9pm.  Sure that’s great, but the major disadvantage is that you don’t have access to a room to change or shower and with little ones – to nap.   Drew has gotta be our most flexible napper though cause he had no problem laying down in his stroller and taking a nap in the hotel lobby.  He slept for several hours while I watched shows on my iPad.  A win win.

Drew and I hung out in the lobby until Justin dragged the kids away from the park around 7pm so we could head home.  As we drove home Justin predicted that the next Great Wolf visit won’t be until Carly’s in college.  Definitely a fun experience for the kids, but not something we want to do often.  Next time Drew will be old enough to do go on everything on his own.