Sacrifice a Disney day for a Great Wolf Lodge day?

[TikiTikiFan]

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.

I talked to Get Away Today and they quoted me $190 + the $35 resort fee for August- our trip is already booked with them. Not sure if you can just do one night otherwise without DL tickets added.

 

[elsbit]

Honestly, if I had a GWL in my state, but had to fly to Disney, I would plan a weekend getaway to the GWL in my state and keep all my Disney time just for Disney. :O) We have gone to GWL twice. Oddly enough, on the way back from one of our Disney trips! Even there was a hot tub at your location, they are always filled with kids and too many people and hardly a relaxing oasis. You can do plenty without paying for a bunch of add-ons. If you did the one in your state, you could just wait for a really good deal.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Honestly, if I had a GWL in my state, but had to fly to Disney, I would plan a weekend getaway to the GWL in my state and keep all my Disney time just for Disney. :O) We have gone to GWL twice. Oddly enough, on the way back from one of our Disney trips! Even there was a hot tub at your location, they are always filled with kids and too many people and hardly a relaxing oasis. You can do plenty without paying for a bunch of add-ons. If you did the one in your state, you could just wait for a really good deal.

Very good point. It’s just not that close to us hence the temptation to check it off the list when it’s down the road in CA.

But it really is cheaper in the off season.,. I’m seeing nights for $90 for a room (plus fees) at ours for the next month.

Everyone’s said such good things maybe it deserves its own mini staycation.

 

[EmJ]

Fellow Coloradoan here and veteran of the Colorado Springs GWL. My son loves it and we can easily spend two full days there. If your kid likes water parks and water slides, he will have a blast. I actually enjoy it (especially in the winter when I am DONE with the cold), but it’s not relaxing and the analogy to a casino is apt. There are no windows, no clocks, lots of noise, and plenty of upcharges (bowling, mini golf, ropes course, glitter tattoos that last for WEEKS, arcade, something called MagicQuest, build-a-bear, etc etc.) We buy one of the experience passes for a two day trip and find it to be good value. For a one day trip, I’d keep my kid in the water park and save the $50.

If you can make the drive to the Springs, I’d do that rather than Anaheim, honestly. I have a hard time spending vacation days doing something I could do at home. Also, I get online discount codes from them all the time. They’re trying to sell me on a 40% off room currently, and they sometimes offer dining credits and other benefits.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Fellow Coloradoan here and veteran of the Colorado Springs GWL.

I am SO over winter right now, maybe we need to just escape for a weekend.

We’re up in NOCO so it’s a bit of a drive through all that lovely Colorado traffic but I think it’s time to suck it up and make the trip!

I was looking on Groupon but is it just better to use their email list?

 

[DLgal]

I am SO over winter right now, maybe we need to just escape for a weekend.

We’re up in NOCO so it’s a bit of a drive through all that lovely Colorado traffic but I think it’s time to suck it up and make the trip!

I was looking on Groupon but is it just better to use their email list?

Create an account. Act like you are going to book, but don't. Within a day, you will likely get a discount code offer in your inbox. Once you stay, you will get these deals ALL the time.

 

[EmJ]

I am SO over winter right now, maybe we need to just escape for a weekend.

We’re up in NOCO so it’s a bit of a drive through all that lovely Colorado traffic but I think it’s time to suck it up and make the trip!

I was looking on Groupon but is it just better to use their email list?

Yeah I would get on their email list. I constantly get discount codes or you can check out this page: https://www.greatwolf.com/colorado-springs/deals

Another tip to keep costs down is that the food is not great. The only place we like very much is Buckets, which is your standard burger-and-fries fare. But every room has a mini fridge and microwave, so we bring cereal, milk, fruit, sandwich stuff, cheese, chips, and popcorn and have breakfast and lunch in the room. Oh and the ‘wine down’ service is fun if you are willing to spring for it. It’s $30 I think. We bring our own cheese, crackers, and chocolate and then order the wine with charcuterie platter.

Feel free to message me if you’d like!

 

[bumbershoot]

My son had a great time at our local one in WA despite having a broken arm, in a cast, with a waterproof cover. He couldn’t go in everything, and his mean mom made him NOT RUN, but he had a blast.

So, no matter which one you choose, just do it.

 

[mouschievous]

I love GWL and want to go back (and I'm the auntie in the scenario). We're in Oregon, so we go to the one in Washington. They're all different (ours has a hot tub but no lazy river , and as someone else said the hot tub is always packed). That said, I don't know that I would tack it on to a DL vacation.

If you do go, figure out what all the free stuff is, and do that. We didn't spend much at all outside of the room cost. We took sandwich fixings and had sandwiches for lunch both days. If the one you go to has a pizza place, the pizza is pretty good and reasonably priced. It was the only thing I saw that was reasonably priced. We also took breakfast stuff. By doing that, we kept the cost reasonable. For 2 days in the waterpark and one night in the hotel, it was definitely a splurge but a very doable splurge.

 

[wingednike]

Here's a long, anecdotal story for you.
Two years ago, my niece and nephew (5 and 2) were coming for a visit. I wanted to spring for Disney tickets but my brother opted for a stay at GWL and a character breakfast at Storytellers.

The kids (and parents) LOOOVED the water park, the room, the arcade. The kids, despite having fun with the characters, rushed through Storytellers so they could go back to the lodge. One of my favorite memories was of the nephew playing in the tidal pool, running towards the shallow area when the howl started, then stopping to try to "rescue" his mom and sister from the big waves. The rescue consisted of him yelling "oh, no! Come back, mommy!"

They had so much fun on that visit that it was the one thing they absolutely wanted to do again for last year's family trip. My brother loves Disney (he worked at the store and at the Land when he was younger) but he had a great time with the family at the lodge.

Depending on when (if) you go, there may be seasonal themes going on. October had "Howloween" and summer had a campfire theme. Some of those activities were free.

 

[#17 Cherry Tree Lane]

My daughter is 8 and we just went on January 1st with a half day pass. We drove in from Phoenix so we went to the hotel, got changed and went to GWL. You can go in at 4pm until they close with the half day pass. It's 80 degrees in there so it's super humid. There's a lot of activities to do but I didn't find it relaxing at all. There's so much noise and it's all contained. But my daughter being the mermaid that she is, she would have easily stayed in there all day; it was my husband and I that had to get out of there. Depending on how busy the park is the wait for the water slides or the wave rider can be pretty long so that'll take up a decent amount of time. If your son doesn't need/want you around the whole time you can easily find a lounger and do your thing. The area next to the basketball hoops seemed to be the quietest/least busy. We have one that just opened in Scottsdale but didn't have day passes yet so we decided to do the pass in Anaheim. Once we got back to the hotel I told my husband that I would have preferred to do the one in state instead of taking our arrival day to go. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Okay y’all have me totally convinced now! One way or another we’re doing it!

Even though we have one in our state it’d be more cost effective to just add it on to our Disney trip. (Every time we vacay I have to pay insane amounts of money for dog sitting for my crazy, anxious pups)

We’ll be there for seven days and our arrival day we’ll get to Anaheim by 2pm so we’ll drop our luggage off and head to the park and then skip the afternoon hotel break on our last Disney day- doing that really equals out a full park day. We might lose our usual Downtown Disney routine but honestly that usually just results in me spending a ton of money at the Disney Home store so it’s for the best.... either way if I’m feeling the spending urge I can sneak it in on a park day. I think we’ll end the trip at GWL so then we avoid the dreaded busy Monday!

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I don’t think I’ve gone on a water slide since childhood so this should be interesting! I’m sure my son will hold my hand while I scream.

 

[wingednike]

Okay y’all have me totally convinced now! One way or another we’re doing it!

Even though we have one in our state it’d be more cost effective to just add it on to our Disney trip. (Every time we vacay I have to pay insane amounts of money for dog sitting for my crazy, anxious pups)

We’ll be there for seven days and our arrival day we’ll get to Anaheim by 2pm so we’ll drop our luggage off and head to the park and then skip the afternoon hotel break on our last Disney day- doing that really equals out a full park day. We might lose our usual Downtown Disney routine but honestly that usually just results in me spending a ton of money at the Disney Home store so it’s for the best.... either way if I’m feeling the spending urge I can sneak it in on a park day. I think we’ll end the trip at GWL so then we avoid the dreaded busy Monday!

Thanks everyone for all the great advice! I don’t think I’ve gone on a water slide since childhood so this should be interesting! I’m sure my son will hold my hand while I scream.

On the second visit, my brother did scream There's a drop slide that I avoided but he went on for the kids.

 

[TikiTikiFan]

On the second visit, my brother did scream There's a drop slide that I avoided but he went on for the kids.

That might be a hard nope for me but I’ll try the other ones! That funnel slide looks a bit scary to me haha!

 

[KateDrake]

We just did a GWL stay on our last trip for the same reason! We came in a day early and spent one night. My girls (11 and 6) thought it was the greatest thing ever and had a blast, but I agree with a lot that has been said here. It was definitely NOT relaxing! Lots of walking, stairs and standing in line with a giant tube. There are also about a thousand ways to get you to part with more money. The food is ridiculously expensive and not very good. We ended up ordering Thai via GrubHub, which was awesome! Great food at half the price.

One thing that really helped us was setting out expectations before we went, so the kids knew what activities we'd be doing. We decided to skip anything we can normally do as a family (bowling, mini golf) and focus on the GWL-specific things. We spent most of our time in the water park, and did a couple of the story time and craft options.

If there is one closer to you, I'd say do a little staycation and save the money. We had a great time, but we definitely we already tired by the time we started the Disney portion of our trip!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

One thing that really helped us was setting out expectations before we went, so the kids knew what activities we'd be doing. We decided to skip anything we can normally do as a family (bowling, mini golf) and focus on the GWL-specific things. We spent most of our time in the water park, and did a couple of the story time and craft options.

Good advice, we have tons of great bowling, arcades, etc. in our town so no need to do that!

I think we’ll stick to the water park. Maybeeee the Magic wand thing. I wonder if that’d be entertaining enough for a 10 year old?

Maybe we’ll hit Downtown Disney for dinner? GWL is on the ART route isn’t it?

 

[DLgal]

That might be a hard nope for me but I’ll try the other ones! That funnel slide looks a bit scary to me haha!

My husband broke his hand on that slide. Pro tip: when they tell you to hold onto both handles at all times, listen to them. Don't be like my husband and let go to shoot a video whole holding a heavy waterproof camera in one hand that then slams down onto the plastic handle during that big drop.

That slide is super fun, though! It does require a minimum of 2 people to ride, so someone will have to accompany your son if he wants to ride.

Our family's favorite slide is the green family raft ride. SO FUN!

Hope you have a great time!

 

[ZCarroll]

I was just recently talking to some 20somethings and the topic of GWL came up and they all got very excited reminiscing about their experiences there... really made me feel bad I never managed to get up the gumption to take my kids when they were young! I love water slides despite an extreme fear of water but in an enclosed space with large crowds it gets to be too much for me and I didn't think I could handle it with all four of my kids and honestly I didn't think it would be that significant or fun for them, but wow, it sure made a lasting impression of great memories for those now adults that experienced it.

 

[mouschievous]

I love that funnel ride! There is a drop one at the Washington GWL that about killed me. I went on it once, thought I was going to die, and refused to go on it again But the funnel one was awesome.

 

[EmJ]

Good advice, we have tons of great bowling, arcades, etc. in our town so no need to do that!

I think we’ll stick to the water park. Maybeeee the Magic wand thing. I wonder if that’d be entertaining enough for a 10 year old?

Maybe we’ll hit Downtown Disney for dinner? GWL is on the ART route isn’t it?

I think a 10 year old would enjoy MagiQuest. There are kids running all over playing it. My son is too young to understand/play the game, so the employees offered to set him up with a wand that just makes magical effects happen at a lower cost. Even though there was no "point" to his magic, he still thought it was fun and plays with the wand at home (though he's always careful to note that it is only magical at "Great Fulf Lodge").