Visit Great Wolf Lodge | Grand Mound, Washington

“This is Las Vegas for Kids” says my husband as we entered the lobby the first time we visited Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. It’s true, really. It offers so many different activities and FUN for the whole family, but especially for the kids.

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Most people know Great Wolf Lodge for their massive indoor water park. But that’s not all there is at this family-focused resort. They also have a kids spa (Scooops), a magic wand treasure hunt game called MagiQuest, Creation Station (make your own stuffed animal!), Cub Club (crafts and such) a nightly family story-time in the massive lounge in the gorgeous main room, a new (huge!) outdoor ropes course and more.

Entering the water park offers an immediate eye-full of the expansive wave pool.

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photo credit: Great Wolf Lodge

For the littles (0-5 Year olds):

The wave pool shown above is great for all ages, under supervision and within arms-length with little ones of course.

Specifically for the little ones is the Cub Paw Pool filled with the most amazing structure and play options for the littles.

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Fort Mackenzie is the 4-story center of the water park and is perfect for climbing, splashing fun.  The 1000 Gallon tipping bucket creates a surprisingly huge splash the kids love to stand under (warning, it’s a BIG splash).

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photo credit: Great Wolf Lodge

Little & Big Kids:

If your little one is 42″ tall, you can ride the River Canyon Run together as a family. It’s a fast, music-and-lights-filled tube ride that seats up to five. Our whole family enjoyed this one immensely.

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There is no height restrictions on the red & yellow water slides on Fort Mackenzie, the Totem Towers, but I would say a child under 4 years old may be intimidated by their speed and length as you can’t ride with them. Life jackets are recommended.

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The Alberta Falls can be ridden as a pair or as a single. Children between 42″ and 48″ must ride with an adult. I was surprised at how fast, and how much fun Ivy and I had on these (over and over!).

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The Chinook Cove and Big Foot Pass offer climbing and an agility challenge in a large dedicated pool. Your little ones need a life jacket and supervision of course; but they’ll love attempting to get across the whole pool before falling in the water.

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Dry Fun

The MagiQuest, CompassQuest and ShadowQuest are live action adventure treasure hunts through the hotel where your child gets a magic wand and works through Quests for items such as pixies, jewels and other treasures. It’s a lot of fun but I would recommend it for children over age 6. Ivy was interested in the game only for a very brief period of time while her older sisters enjoyed it immensely. Start with MagiQuest first, it’s the simplest.

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Creation Station is perfect for littles who love stuffies (like my girls!). You select a favoured Great Wolf character to stuff and you can buy outfits and accessories for them. My girls loved Blizzard the Wolf and Sammy the Squirrel. You can also get glitter tattoos, and they last a week.

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Story time in the grand lobby is quite something to behold. This many families gathered for some cute characters and with so many in pajamas, it’s pretty cute.

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There are several different room types to chose from, and for a first visit I highly recommend the Kid Cabin. It’s literally a cabin within your hotel room that houses a bunk bed plus one more single bed for us larger families. The kids adore this space.

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They’ve really made this place so great for families all around, they have considered so many details.

Some Tips:

  • They give each child ‘wolf ears’ (a furry headband with ears) upon check in. Many children wear them their entire stay, it’s very cute.
  • Although check-in isn’t until 4pm, you can begin using the water park at 1pm on the day of your stay and until 9pm on the day you check out. There are locker and change rooms available.
  • There are plenty of lifejackets available free in the water park.
  • You don’t have to drag your room towels to the water park, there are plenty available inside the water park at all times.
  • Don’t forget flip flops and a cover-up for everyone in the family to walk to and from the water park.
  • Everyone gets a wristband upon check-in and the adult ones also act as your room key. Totally convenient and SMART.
  • There is a Starbucks in the lobby (again, SMART).
  • Book your breakfast buffet online when you’re reserving your room, you’ll save a significant amount of money over just showing up to the buffet in the morning, and pre-reserved breakfasts include beverages.
  • If you think you’re child will ‘want it all’ (and who’s child doesn’t?), consider buying a Paw Pass or Pup Pass. They include quite a bit for a bundled price. The Pup Pass includes a glitter tattoo, animal from the Creation Station, Cub Club craft, ice cream, Mike & Ike candy cup, Great Wolf Lodge goggles for $39.99US plus tax. The Paw Pass includes a wand, MagiQuest or ShadowQuest game, Great Forest Challenge game, Mike and Ike candy cup, goggles, glitter tattoo, ice cream and an animal from the Creation Station for $64.99US plus tax.

Visit Great Wolf Lodge online to book your stay today!

Connie-Signature

* This is not a sponsored post. I received a discounted rate to write about my experience at Great Wolf Lodge. All opinions are my own.

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