The Great Wolf Lodge - Poconos Mountains: Water Park Fun & MagiQuest

While I was at the Reviewer's Retreat conference session, there were fourteen slides, six pools, water fort, lazy river, and so much more for Brad and ER to explore!  550,000 gallons of water all make the Great Wolf Lodge one of America's largest water parks and you don't even need to bring your floatation vest.  These are provided along with towels and a large staff of alert life guards to watch over you.  We of course watch over ER like hawks but it's reassuring to see so many guards on duty as well.

The first thing you'll notice upon entering is Fort Mackenzie, a four-story tree house in the center of the water park.  Everywhere you walk there is water spraying and the best part, there are lots of ways to get your friends and family wet too!  The first afternoon I thought I'd walk up just to see and avoid any sprayers so I wouldn't have to shower before the first conference event.  Ha, ha, what was I thinking, I got drenched!

ER just loved the Totem Towers twin waterslides there.  They are three stories high and Brad thought he could go down with her, but when they got to the top they were told ER had to go by herself.  She can be a little bit of a scardy cat so he thought that was the end of that, but she was still game to go.  He put her on the slightly lower one and when they got to the bottom she immediately wanted to go again and not only that, but she wanted to be on the higher one.  She'd only slide down the higher one for the rest of the visit.

The other area ER headed to first was the shallow zero entry pool adjacent to Fort Mackenzie.  There are two small open slides there, similar to ones you'd typically find at a park and two longer open slides with some gentle twists.  Until she went on the Totem Towers, they were the only slides we thought ER would be brave enough to try.  You can see both of the longer kiddie slides in the video of Whooping Hallow below:

Next to this area is Slap Tail Pond, the pool ER spent most of her time at.  It also has zero entry and sprayers that come up from the floor, but the big draw for ER were the waves that got up to three feet.  She loved going out into the deep water and holding onto us while we bounced up and down in the water.  The waves crashing into the "shore" were also fun for her.  She sat in them as they rushed over her, giggling the whole time.  In between wave intervals she loved kicking and dog paddling around in the still water too. 

With so much fun in the Slap Tail Pond, she didn't really spend much time in the traditional pool but did go on Big Foot Pass, which is next to it, several times.  Brad had to get in and help her but moving between the floating "logs" and "lilly pads" was a big hit.  Watching the bigger kids try to walk across them, using the netting above for balance was entertaining.  Everyone always let out a big laugh when someone made a misstep and ended up landing in the water with a big splash.

Overall, we think the most the thing most popular with ER was the Crooked Creek.  We went on it several times and I think each time, we went around the whole lazy river four or five times at least.  It was a nice opportunity to sit and relax a bit after being so active other place in the park.  After awhile it got kind of boring for us with her, but it never got old for her.

Great Wolf Lodge has a nice guest policy.  You can begin using the facilities at one o'clock on the first day of your stay, even though check-in isn't until four.  Check out is at eleven in the morning, but you can continue to use the waterpark until closing.  There are lockers, showers, and changing rooms to use when you don't have a access to a room.  You will be able to really get your money's worth out of your stay by timing your arrival and departure well, one nice perk for guests as we all are looking to stretch our dollars more!

The water park is obviously the main attraction to Great Wolf Lodge but at the Poconos location, and select others, there are still plenty of things to do when you are water logged and need a break.  One thing you'll notice when you get there is that a lot of kids carrying, of all things...wands.  That's because they're all on quests that take them all around the lodge.  Brad thought it was a great idea because in theory it keeps the kids active, he kind of kidded to some taking the elevator up and down one floor that perhaps using the stairs would be more in keeping with a "quest".  I can only imagine the look he got for that! 

ER was all about it because she got a cool pink glittery wand with a unicorn topper.  Plus she did need something to keep her occupied in between pool visits.  She's a little young and needed help from Brad but it was a successful addition to our stay.  She talks about Magi-Quest as much as the water park.  Since Brad was the one doing it with her, he's a better person to give details on it. 

His review of Magi-Quest at the Great Wolf Lodge is on his blog, Sons of Twillight.  I don't mention his blog that much, because it's mainly about role playing games and there's not a lot of cross over between readership of our two blogs.  But since it can be an expensive addition to a stay, I thought anyone considering it might want to learn a little bit more as he describes it in depth.  He also did a great post about his entire Great Wolf Lodge experience, a nice from a Dad's perspective.



Disclosure: While we did pay for lodging and food, our stay the the Great Wolf Lodge was part of a discounted conference package. Opinions and experiences related within are personal and unbiased.

The Great Wolf Lodge - Poconos Mountains: First Impressions

Last month I went to my second blogger's conference, the first Reviewer's Retreat.  While I was certainly very interested in the topic, review blogging dos & don'ts, I have to say a big reason we attended was because it was held at the fabulous Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos Mountains. 

We actually live closer to two other locations, in Traverse City and Sandusky, and have heard great things about both from friends and neighbors.  We've been wanting to go to one for a couple of years now, but timing never seemed to work out.  Plus I wasn't sure if there would be enough for a toddler to do at a water park to make it worth it.  We jumped at the chance to go because the Poconos Mountains are also by our family in Philadelphia.  We combined a visit to them with the conference.  It was a win-win and an unforgettable long weekend.  BTW, there is PLENTY for a little one to do at a Great Wolf Lodge!

The first thing we saw upon entering was the cool looking Clock Tower that is the focal point lobby.  We caught the eight o'clock show and saw the animatronic forest creatures move and sing nature songs before the eight-thirty Pajama Story Time on our second night.  ER liked it so much she watched the show again the morning we left.

Check in went smoothly and one of the first things I noticed about the Great Wolf staff was how friendly and helpful they were.  Even though it was crowded with guest checking in and the lobby was full, when Kirby got us set up she wasn't rushed.  She had a way of making us feel like we were the only people in line.  That was something she had in common with all the employees we interacted with, each was unfailing nice and upbeat.  That might not seem like something worth commenting on, but having had bad service at other places, I can't tell you how much that helps me as the guest have a positive mind set.  It just set the mood for a great stay.

The feel of the Great Wolf Lodge is as expected, like a hunting lodge in the woods.  There's lots of knotty pine and nature theme elements to the decor.  We were especially impressed with the murals on our hallway.  Our room was a family suite on the top floor, with vaulted ceilings that gave it a very spacious feel and even a private balcony.  It also had two queen beds and lounge area with couch, table, desk, and chair separated by a halfwall.  To me the most important part, was the included as a standard feature in the room mini fridge.  That's something that's crucial for diabetics like me, who need to keep insulin refridgerated and so nice not to have to pay an upcharge.

The one draw back we found to the Great Wolf Lodge was their dining option, we found most things we tried on the buffet quite salty and inedible.  I filled up on salad the second night but it was a very basic salad bar.  I balance carbs with protiens to manage diabetes.  My meals were lacking in sufficient protien and to pay the posted price for the adult buffet and just eat salad makes it very expensive. 

Yes it was convienient and we paid a discounted meal plan price, but if we'd had more time between conference activities we would've ventured out to local eateries for meals.   As it was, we gave away our lunch ticket for a pizza the second day.  We'd already had it the first day and didn't feel the need to repeat the experience.  The food issue is fairly minor to us, it would not stop us from returning to a Great Wolf Lodge, we'd just know to schedule time to head to local eateries for meals.

I'll end part 1 of my Great Wolf Lodge review with this picture of ER all tuckered out, after the first half day there.  It pretty much tells you how much fun there is to be had there!  She was exhausted from playing and that was after the first few hours! I'll be back with more on the water park tomorrow, there are so many things to do that to put everything I want to tell you in one post would make it a novel!

Disclosure: Our stay the the Great Wolf Lodge, including lodging and meal plan, were part of a discounted conference package.  Opinions and experiences related within are personal and unbiased.