My family was hosted by Great Wolf Lodge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
A couple of weeks ago, my family was invited to visit Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim for an unforgettable weekend! We were there to check out the Lodge {it was our first time there!} as well as to celebrate Dia de los Ninos- Children’s Day! We were there for a couple of days and it was completely action-packed! There was so much to do without ever stepping foot out of the hotel. Keep reading to see what I mean!
The Water Park
The thing that Great Wolf Lodge is most known for is that they have a giant, indoor water park. What I didn’t know was that this water park is reserved for guests of the Lodge only, which helps prevent overcrowding and ensures that all guests have a wonderful time! There were a lot of things to do just within the waterpark itself!
There was a kiddie area that was perfect for Zachary, a playground great for all ages with medium-sized slides, a set of really tall slides {including some with rafts and one where the floor drops out!}. There were also the water park staples, like a lazy river and a wave pool.
There’s also an outdoor pool area, but we actually forgot it was even there because there was so much to do inside! However, if you’re looking for some sun or just want to get some fresh air, there’s a whole outdoor area where you can not only swim but also find delicious fish tacos and other snacks and beverages.
There was a towel area right in the middle of the water park and places to drop your towel off all over for convenience. I loved not having to worry about bringing the towels from our room and then having to keep track of them. Being able to grab a towel whenever was so convenient!
One of the things that I really loved about Great Wolf Lodge is that they really pay attention to detail and keep their theme going throughout the resort. I thought the forest animal theme was just so fun and loved these little beavers in the water park area!
Other Things to Do
The water park isn’t all that Great Wolf Lodge has to offer. The Anaheim location also has lots of other family fun activities that you can do!
There’s an arcade that has games for kids of all ages- and the games rotate out regularly to keep things exciting no matter how often you visit! Great Wolf Lodge pays attention to how often each game gets played so that they only keep the most exciting and fun games on the floor. The arcade is also open 24 hours so if you have older kids who want to go hang out or you just can’t sleep, there’s a whole arcade just downstairs!
There’s a miniature bowling alley which is a scaled down version of a real alley! My boys love going bowling and this was even more fun for them because it was just their size.
The Creation Station lets you build your own friend and even pick out clothes for them! You can help stuff them and when you’re done, you can activate their game! Each creature has a game sensor in their paw that interacts with kiosks all over the Lodge and when you activate your game, it sends you on a quest! The boys had so much fun doing this and it was cool because it got us to explore the hotel.
Another thing that got us to explore was MagiQuest! Each kiddo chose a wand and they went off on a Quest that led them through multiple floors of the hotel. They spent a long time doing their quest {which wasn’t too hard, just has a lot of steps!} and still didn’t complete it, but the nice thing is that the game remembers where you’re at whenever you come back to it! We definitely plan on going back at some point and the boys are excited to finish their Quest!
There’s also a 4D movie ride, which Shane and I did. I didn’t realize it would be quite so scary when we decided to do it but if you’re a thrill seeker, you’ll LOVE this attraction!
An area of the Lodge that we didn’t have a chance to experience was Scooops salon! Of course my boys weren’t interested in a manicure, but I loved just walking by Scooops because it just smells amazing! Little ones can get a variety of adorable treatments done in the salon.
Every night in the lobby, you can cuddle up with your family for a bedtime story! The creatures of the forest come to life every night to share a story and a song {or two} that’ll help you get your little ones off to sleep.
The Food
Great Wolf Lodge is full of food, and each restaurant has something else to offer. They have a buffet, poolside snacks, a nice sit down restaurant- even a Dunkin Donuts! But the kids’ favorite place to eat? The signature pizza restaurant- Hungry As a Wolf!
Celebrate!
Great Wolf Lodge takes every chance they can to celebrate! They do special events for big events, like the Winter holidays, and even the lesser-known ones. We were there to celebrate Dia de los Ninos which I have to admit I had never heard of. We had so much fun celebrating though- the kids made pinatas and we even got a special book to take home and remember our celebration forever!
Family Togetherness
Above all, we loved Great Wolf Lodge because it brought us together. We spent the entire weekend having fun together and just spending that time as a family. With busy work and school schedules, it can be hard to find time to reconnect. Spending the weekend together focusing on nothing but fun and family was exactly what we needed!
Be sure to check out the Great Wolf Lodge- SoCal website to learn more about the Lodge that we stayed at! Not on the West Coast? There are Great Wolf Lodge locations all over the country- check the locator at the bottom of this page for one near you!
