Our kids had one ‘howl’ of a time at Great Wolf Lodge, but I have a few suggestions for parents planning to visit. Hopefully these tips will make your stay better than ours. Although, I must say, the staff more than made up for their shortcomings after all was said and done.
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Our just-turned three-year-old and five-year-old have been waterslide-obsessed ever since we spoiled them with daily access to a hotel water park on our trip to Atlantis Dubai.
So instead of throwing a party to celebrate our girl’s third birthday, we took her to Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca for a night during the Halloween season.
For those of you who haven’t heard of this American chain hotel, it has an indoor water park and all kinds of activities to keep the kids entertained. Our cheap room (well, fairly cheap) and short drive kept the stakes low for a quick getaway to a hotel that only has three stars on Trip Advisor. Eek.
I was actually surprised by how clean and updated the rooms and lodge were. Although it was only after our stay that I found out it was just built in 2021. And it was holding up rather nicely.
But is a hotel only as nice as your room experience?
“Hey Mama, is our hotel room going to have a balcony?”
– Jameson, 5-year-old, World Traveler
Haha, someone is getting rather accustomed to the charm of our European resorts.
We weren’t expecting a balcony of course, but a bigger window (and one not blocked by giant AC units) would have helped bring some natural light into the dark space. I was just glad we had a clean, spacious room with a cute little “den” for the kids. Until…
During the wee hours of the night (10pm is considered wee hours when you have two little ones)… As I was saying, during the wee hours of the night the dance party music was still blaring in the lobby, which felt like it was directly below our room.
So, take note parents with little ones who turn in early –
Ask for a room on a higher floor and as far from the music as possible.”
And DON’T stay in room 2160!!!
The important part is the kids slept right through the noise. That sleep “training” early on has paid off on vacations!
The hotel kindly gifted us a Pup Pass for my daughter’s birthday when I told them I’d like to feature them on my blog. Oddly enough, they did that sweet gesture but then gave us what felt like was one of the worst rooms in the building.
Of course, I was more than grateful as Elle strutted around like a celebrity with her Pup Pass and got free ice cream, candy, arcade play, and even got to build her own bear. Or wolf? I’m still not sure what it is, but she adores it. And yes, I was kidding about the strutting, but we definitely felt special runnin’ around that night with our goodies.
Needless to say, both kids loved Great Wolf Lodge and can’t wait to go back. Check it out on Expedia if you want to earn Expedia points for stays. In under 6 hours, we stayed busy with waterslides, Build a Bear workshop, the candy shop, trick or treating (we went in October), and going wild at the arcade.
Our kids had one ‘howl’ of a time at Great Wolf Lodge, but…
My advice for parents taking little ones there:
- ask for a room far away from the dance party
- bring your own water floatie vest only if your toddler or baby can’t fit in the smallest they provide for free (or if they aren’t used to one without the sleeves?)
- bring costumes for trick or treating in October! I wish we had known!
- the pizza was actually better than I expected
- there is a Costco right across the street if you want to stock up on supplies
- I know this will age me, but the music was obnoxiously loud
- their customer service is awesome, so utilize that if needed!
- book the Wolf Den Suite (if your kids are old enough to handle bunk beds)
- you can access the water park all day from open to close, even on check in/out days
- download the app to order food and see the list of daily activities
- they have all kinds of attractions, more than what I listed here
- the water park was very crowded on a random Monday in October, but the lines for slides still moved fast
- quiet hours are from 11pm-7am (are we in the minority that we think this is crazy late for a crowd with mainly young children?!)
The kids’ favorites? The slides, naturally. I should have brought a waterproof phone pouch so i had some waterslide pictures to show!
But their little nook was a hit too. They were psyched when they saw Wiley’s Den and their bunk bed for the night.
And it gave my husband and I juuuuust enough privacy.
My favorite? Watching Elle and her little leg get tired as she pumped the machine to stuff her bear.
That and the fact that she has slept with that wolf/bear/cat every night since then. Too sweet. Thank you, Great Wolf Lodge, for gifting her that Pup Pass! The gift that keeps on giving.
All of the staff we encountered were great, from start to finish (well, except for the one that let us check into that room, haha). The entertainment manager was persistent in trying to reach me to make amends, in response to a survey I filled out online. In the survey I mentioned the awesome staff and loud music heard from our room late at night.
Wow, I didn’t think anyone even glanced at survey results, let alone followed up on them. She actually offered us a free stay! I was so appreciative of her kind gesture, but chose just a day-use pass instead.
Thankfully so, because our oldest is already planning his birthday celebration.
They can’t wait to go back to Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca! They are still talking about how much fun they had.
If you take the kids there, book on Expedia to earn cash toward other stays if the hotel’s website doesn’t have a better deal.
Now back to planning our getaways to Yosemite, Europe, and Disneyland. Follow me to check out those trips coming up!
