Please note that this Great Wolf Lodge review is very specific to the Concord, North Carolina location as that is the only location we have visited as a family, however they have lots of locations all over the United States and many appear to be very similar.
I formatted this review post based off the questions you guys sent my way on Instagram but if you have any questions you’d like me to address that you don’t see the answers to below, simply let me know in the comments section and I’ll be sure to get back to you!
Disclosure: Our family has been invited to Great Wolf Lodge for a media visit in the past but we’ve paid for our stay and returned to visit on our own as well. This post is not sponsored or affiliated with GWL in any way and is an honest rundown of our experiences as patrons of the Concord, NC location a few times over.
Great Wolf Lodge Review
Great Wolf Lodge Hotel
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What age is best for a first-time visit?
(Flashback picture from our first visit in 2018)
We visited Great Wolf Lodge for the first time when Chase was 3.5 years old and Ryder was 6 months old and had the best time. They both loved the water park and various activities and Chase thought it was fun to attempt MagiQuest (we just bought him a wand and he went around lighting things up but couldn’t really do it yet).
Fast forward six years and I now think the sweet spot for Great Wolf Lodge really exists for ages 4+ and maybe even 5+. At this age, they’re old enough to do most of the activities, they don’t need to nap and they can have a blast in more areas of the water park but they can still enjoy some of the younger kid activities (crafts, story time, character meet-and-greets) as well.
Tip: I highly recommend checking out the Explore by Age tool on the Great Wolf Lodge website to see what activities might fit best and be the most appropriate for your kids’ ages.
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What time of year do you like to visit?
We are ALL about winter visits to Great Wolf Lodge for a myriad of reasons: First, by the time we visit in December, it’s typically been months since our boys have had the chance to swim, so they’re extra psyched for some pool/water park time. Second, the lodge is completely decked out for the holidays as part of their annual Snowland celebration so it feels extra magical. (Truly just walking into the lobby gets our kids SO excited!)
They have a faux-snowfall occur in the lobby twice a day and Christmas music is playing in the halls, adding to the holiday magic. Plus, most families who visit during this time of year seem to really lean into the holiday magic so you’ll see a lot of people wearing their matching holiday pajamas 24/7 which is something we’ve also fully embraced!
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How many nights do you like to stay for when you visit Great Wolf Lodge?
We’ve stayed for one night and two nights and, for our family, one night is our sweet spot. Why? We only live 30 minutes away, so it’s not a long journey to get to Great Wolf Lodge (it’s one of our favorite day trips from Charlotte) and, honestly, we don’t sleep great when we go, mainly because we stay up late because our kids want to take advantage of all the activities (like the 9 p.m. snowfall in the lodge during Snowland) and then they’re all up before 7 a.m. because they’re so excited to start the day.
Instead of staying two nights, we maximize our single night stay by arriving in the late afternoon when we visit so we can do the water park, MagiQuest and arcade on day one. Then, we stay all the way up until dinner time on the second day. During our most recent visit, we paid for a late check out (2 p.m.) for our room (it was $69) so we were able to leave our belongings in our room because it’s very, very handy to have a room to go to when you’re flip-flopping back and forth between so many activities (especially the water park). After check out, we just locked our belongings in the car and went back into the lodge until we were ready to head home.
For families traveling from farther away, I can see how a two-night stay might make the trip feel more worthwhile and I am fairly certain we’d stay for longer if we were visiting Great Wolf Lodge from a farther distance or if we were making it a big family vacation with multiple families, friends, etc. which we’ve noticed a lot of people seem to do when they book a stay.
One hot tip: Great Wolf Lodge often offers a second night stay for a seriously discounted price the day you’re set to check out if they aren’t completely full. If we decided we DID want to stay a second night, we could’ve booked a second night for around $150 (plus all the extra fees), though we would’ve had to change rooms. (You can stay in your same room if no one else has it booked which would be extra convenient!) This requires some flexibility but is worth keeping in mind if you are flexible.
Another tip: When you check in at the front desk, you’ll have the option to have your wristband activated so you can charge things directly to your room rather than worry about carrying your credit card around with you. I highly recommend taking advantage of this as it’s wonderful to feel like you can leave your room with absolutely nothing other than your kids!
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What type of room do you book for your family?
There are a lot of different room options and we’ve stayed in quite a few! After a handful of visits, we have our preferred room choice nailed down and it’s the Kids Cabin, one of the themed rooms, which has a separate sleeping area for three kids (without a door though, so you’re all still very much together).
Our boys flip for the bunk bed and twin bed in the little log cabin-like kids’ sleeping section. (For families with two kids, the Kid Kamp is a similar option without the extra twin bed.) The main area has a queen-size bed Ryan and I share and also has a sleeper sofa if you need it. Something about staying in a themed room really adds to the excitement for our kids, now that they’re a little older.
Here’s a photo tour of the Kids Cabin Room:
When we had one toddler and one baby, we stayed in a standard family suite and one of us shared one of the queen beds with Chase in the main area, while the other person got their own bed and then we set up a pack ‘n’ play for Ryder around the corner of a partitioned wall. This was fine for a night or two for our family. One of my biggest complaints for GWL accommodations is that there aren’t any closets or separate sleeping areas for pack ‘n’ plays for little ones to be completely separated from the family for better sleep unless you want to seriously splurge for one of the premium suites that accommodate 6+ guests.
Another tip: If you’re a little bougie about your pillow when you sleep, for the love of all things, pack your own pillow. The pillows at Great Wolf Lodge are horrendous.
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How do you feel about the cleanliness overall?
I know there are set jokes out there about how you’re basically guaranteed to get sick after a visit to Great Wolf Lodge (or really any other children’s play place) but thankfully we haven’t had that happen in our family. Also worth noting: I’m definitely a type-B person when it comes to freaking out about germs but we do our best to wash hands after all activities (especially the arcade) and have found our hotel room and the public bathrooms in the hotel to be clean. Waterpark bathrooms gross me out in general, but this is not specific to Great Wolf Lodge. Something about water + bathrooms makes me want to gag. Very rarely I’ve noticed people forget to clean up food or cups in the main areas but it’s never been something that’s taken away from me feeling like I’m in a relatively clean environment created for kids and families.
Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark
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Tell us about the waterpark! Good for all ages?
Great Wolf Lodge’s indoor waterpark is such a highlight for our kids and a huge draw, especially in the colder months when swimming and water play is so limited. At Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, the waterpark is quite large with multiple water slides, tube slides, a wave pool, toddler play area, a giant splash pad treehouse and more. It’s the main activity offered at Great Wolf Lodge and a “must do” for most families who visit, and for good reason. Whether your kid is a thrillseeker and wants to fly down fast waterslides, prefers to swim around in the wave pool or just enjoys splashing in a calmer toddler pool, kids of all ages who enjoy swimming and water play will have a blast. (Note: The waterpark is nowhere near the size of your typical outdoor waterpark, but it’s plenty big for a day or two of water fun and has never felt too small to our family.)
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Can your kids do all of the waterslides?
Many of the waterslides have height restrictions (typically between 42” and 48”) so our 9-year-old can do all of them, our 6-year-old can do all but one of them and, despite a height requirement of 42” (which I honestly didn’t know about until I saw it on their website when writing this blog post), when our boys have been younger and smaller, they’ve always let them do the slower, easier slides in the water tree house (Totem Towers in Fort Mackenzie), which our 4-year-old loves to do. One huge highlight is that quite a few of the waterslides are tube slides two (or more!) people can do together which makes the waterpark a lot of fun for the whole family to experience together.
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My kid can’t swim. Will they still have fun at the waterpark?
When we first went to Great Wolf Lodge, we had a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old and both were nowhere near swimming independently yet. They still had a blast in the toddler area of the waterpark, created just for younger kids.
The ability to experience the waterpark fully is very limited, but at their ages, our boys didn’t care and were thrilled to sit on jet skis that squirted water (but not in their faces) and splash around. There is also a larger, more standard-size pool (apart from the wave pool) where they can swim with you, if they feel comfortable swimming and and splashing around with an adult. Also, Great Wolf Lodge provides life jackets if you need one for your child, though you may wish to bring your own if there’s a certain style/fit your child is used to wearing. (Rhett is wearing one of the provided life jackets in the above picture from 2023 if it helps to see what they look like!)
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Do you pack your own towels when you visit the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark?
We do not bring our own towels when we stay overnight. Great Wolf Lodge provides towels to guests that you scan out and scan back in using your wristband when you’re done using them before you leave the waterpark. When Chase went to the waterpark as part of a birthday party, I packed a towel for him to use so this was not something he had to worry about doing on his own.
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Any negatives to share regarding the waterpark?
This is very specific to me personally, but I absolutely HATE cold water and I feel like the water at Great Wolf Lodge could be warmer. Our kids have a blast when they’re running around and swimming up a storm but it feels like the minute they slow down a bit, they’re left shivering and asking for towels. I think warmer water would help our entire family last much, much longer at the waterpark and hate that everyone feeling cold is often the reason we’re done with water fun.
Additionally, a lot of the waterslides have height restrictions which is understandable but a bummer for kids who are *almost* at the appropriate height but strong swimmers. Our big kids (and Rhett, too, honestly) are very strong swimmers and we’ve been grateful that when they are nearing the required height to ride a certain slide, the lifeguards have offered them a little bit of wiggle room.
Also, I am not sure if other Great Wolf Lodge locations have a lazy river, but the Concord location does note. I think an indoor lazy river would be such a wonderful addition to the waterpark, as our kids love a lazy river and they’ve been such a fun activity for us to do together as a family at all ages at other waterparks we’ve visited.
One additional note: It can be rather loud in the indoor waterpark, with lots of kids playing and also with various water spray stations, the huge bucket of water in the treehouse area spilling over, etc. I can easily see how this would be very, very overwhelming to kids who are a little nervous about the waterpark to begin with or those who are easily overstimulated. Just something to keep in mind as you decide whether a waterpark visit is the best fit for your family!
Things to Do At Great Wolf Lodge
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What are your kids’ favorite activities?
For our kids, the waterpark and MagiQuest make a trip to Great Wolf Lodge worth it. These two activities are honestly all they need to think Great Wolf Lodge is the coolest place. MagiQuest is an absolute blast for them (more on this below) and they also love splashing around in the waterpark. We’ve been to Great Wolf Lodge a handful of times at this point so the additional activities they enjoy outside of these two things have varied a bit according to their ages. They’ve always loved the arcade, so that’s another must-do for our family. We’ve also had fun bowling (it’s a mini bowling alley, so ideal for small kids) and gem mining (this is small as well) but we have yet to try laser tag, mini golf, Build-a-Bear and the XD theater.
In their younger years, our boys have really enjoyed the character-led dance parties in the lobby (especially during Snowland when it “snows”), arts and crafts projects and the scavenger hunts led by Great Wolf Lodge staff, but these activities can vary depending on when you stay.
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Do you think the Paw Passes are worth it? Which one would you recommend?
I think this depends so, so much on what your kids enjoy and how much you’re planning to do during your visit. We’ve done passes in the past (they were great for when we were first getting into MagiQuest as they included a wand) and our boys really enjoyed them because they essentially gave them a checklist of things they knew they could do and try during our visit. Most activities at Great Wolf Lodge cost extra money, so if you price out the activities you’re planning to do during your stay, a pass can be worth it. However, if you likely wouldn’t pay to do some of the activities included in a pass, paying as you go might make more sense financially.
This year, we opted to skip passes because we already had MagiQuest wands and knew we’d be spending most of our time in three locations: MagiQuest, the waterpark and the arcade.
Note: There are three pass options — Wolf Pass, Paw Pass and Pup Pass — and prices vary for each pass depending on the number of activities and perks each pass contains. I personally do not think the Pup Pass is worth it for toddlers as it’s basically a pass that gets them a single stuffed animal, and a bunch of candy/treats.
All about MagiQuest
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What is MagiQuest?
During our first visit to Great Wolf Lodge, I had NO idea what MagiQuest was but learned quickly after noticing a bunch of kids running all over the lodge with wands in their hands. MagiQuest is essentially an interactive game where players use a magic wand to complete quests and adventures. Wands allow players to interact with objects, defeat mythical creatures, collect magical items and progress through various levels of the game. Quests vary in difficulty and will take you all over the lodge in search of gems, runes, paintings, maps, and more. (We easily walk 5+ miles up and down the various floors of the lodge just playing MagiQuest everytime we visit GWL.)
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What is the best age to start MagiQuest?
MagiQuest is the HIT of Great Wolf Lodge for our big kids (ages 6 and 9). They are absolutely obsessed with completing various quests and think becoming a Master Magi is the coolest thing in the world. (Chase also went to GWL for a friends’ birthday party this past fall and his friends’ mom said the group of 8- and 9-year-olds spent half of the time at the water park and the other half of the party doing MagiQuest together, so I don’t think this is unique to Chase!) That being said, while younger kids Ryder’s age (6-years-old) can have a wonderful time with MagiQuest, when they’re a little older (7+) they can read and do more of the quests without the need for a grownup to be over their shoulder the whole time which I think makes it a little more fun for them. (We see pre-teens and young teens running all over GWL with friends/siblings and no adults and they always seem to be having the best time completing the quests.)
At Rhett’s age (4-years-old), we got him a wand which let him light up treasure boxes, gems and other MagiQuest objects around Great Wolf Lodge, but we didn’t pay to activate his wand because he didn’t know the difference and was simply thrilled to have a wand to point at interactive stuff all weekend long.
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Are MagiQuest wands reusable?
Yes! We bought the big kids’ wands years ago and pay to reactivate their wands when we visit so wands are a one-time purchase you can use again for all future visits. We have paid for new wand toppers (they screw into the top of the wand) as a special treat for the boys but their wands are the same.
Places to Eat Around Great Wolf Lodge
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Are there restaurants on property?
Yes. Great Wolf Lodge in Concord has a myriad of dining options, including Loose Moose (a buffet-style family restaurant), Lodge Wood Fired Grill (the nicest but most expensive option), Dunkin’ Donuts, Hungry As A Wolf (our family’s go-to for pizza), Buckets (the waterpark dining option that offers burgers, fries, alcohol, etc.) and Bear Paw (for grab-and-go ice creams, desserts, cupcakes, etc.). There’s also a fill-your-own-cup with candy station in the gift shop.
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How do you handle meals during your stay? Seems like it can get expensive!
A big caveat worth sharing: Our kids couldn’t care less about food and sit-down dining experiences. Dining together in a restaurant would be soooo low on their list of priorities during a GWL visit, so it’s not something we do during our stay. (Going out to eat with our kids in general is not something we love to do because play > food for all 3 of our boys.)
A few food-related things we do during our stay: Most (if not all?) rooms come with a mini fridge and we utilize the heck out of that thing. We fill it with fruit and pre-sliced veggies, yogurt, sandwiches from home, etc. because fresh, healthy food is hard to come by at GWL and our entire family functions better if we aren’t eating junk 24/7 during our stay. (Worth noting: Lodge Wood Fire Grill has more food options that appeal to me — salads, salmon, steak, veggie bowls — and I thought the food I had there during a past media visit was good. It’s just not the best option for our family with younger kids, as it’s a sit down restaurant and we prefer grab-and-go in this phase of life.)
For breakfast, you’re limited to the buffet-style restaurant or Dunkin’ Donuts on property but our location is a 60-second drive from one of the best donut shops in the area, so we typically elect to eat fruit and yogurt in our room and head off-site for a treat at OMGDonuts (and coffee)!
For lunch, we almost always eat the food we packed from home and stored in our mini fridge. For dinner, our family always orders pizza from Hungry As A Wolf to bring back to our room. (We utilize the app for this so we can order it ahead of time and just pick it up when it’s ready.)
We’re also a sucker for Dippin’ Dots in our house, so that’s usually our dessert of choice that grab from Bear Paw toward the end of the night.
Great Wolf Lodge Day Pass
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Have you ever bought a Great Wolf Lodge day pass and just gone for one day? Would you recommend?
I think a day pass is a wonderful idea and a fantastic option, especially if you’re unsure whether or not your family would really love Great Wolf Lodge, or if you’re feeling anxious about staying the night with kids in a hotel room (especially during the baby days — phew)! As a family we’ve never bought a day pass and have always stayed overnight, but it’s absolutely something I would do and something I’ve considered, especially for one of the boys’ birthdays. Chase, our 9-year-old, has been once through a day pass for a birthday party and thought it was the best birthday party ever.
Worth noting: When we’ve priced it out, it has made more sense financially for our family to book a room and stay overnight in the style of room we typically opt to book versus buying five weekend day passes which, on the weekend, often run close to $100 a piece. Of course this does not include the price of food, other activities, etc. but those are also things you may be paying for outside of a day pass as well. I’d definitely price it out before assuming a day pass will save you money. Day pass prices do vary, however, and if you have weekday availability, they can be a much more affordable option to look into! I’ve seen day passes as low as $50 and as high as $130, and the pricing appears to be very calendar-dependent with holidays and weekends being the most expensive. Half day passes are also available with waterpark access from 4 p.m. to closing.
Tip: We’ve had friends book a day pass, and either on the day they were set to arrive or the day before, they got an email from Great Wolf Lodge asking if they wanted to book a room as a seriously discounted rate, so keep an eye out if you might want to stay overnight and have a day pass booked.
Question of the Day
Have you ever been to Great Wolf Lodge? If so, please share any tips, tricks or recommendations below for anyone who hasn’t been before!
If you haven’t been to Great Wolf Lodge and would like something addressed that I did not cover in the above blog post, please feel free to ask below!
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Thank you for sharing!