Destination: Great Wolf Lodge

The Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA is not only a place to stay while on vacation, but a destination for a fun-filled family vacation.  The resort offers an indoor water park, MagiQuest, miniature golf, bowling, an arcade, arts and crafts, entertainment and dining options.

My family and I visited during one of the resort’s busiest times of the year, Christmastime.  We arrived at the Lodge about 2 hours before the official check-in of 4PM aware that you are allowed to use the waterpark beginning at 1PM on the day of your check-in.  Check-in took about 45 minutes, but we were able to get into our room before changing and heading to the waterpark.

Upon entering the indoor waterpark, my 3 year old and all of her cousins (ranging in age from 1 to 8) were very excited by the variety of waterslides and play areas.  The waterpark offers something for everyone, no matter what age or comfort level with the water.  For the youngest children, the Cub Paw Pool was perfect with a zero depth entry, floor geysers, water play devices and small waterslides.  Fort McKenzie was a great place for children that love to run around, climb, and get drenched.  The 4 story interactive tree house offers climbing opportunities on swinging cargo nets and suspension bridges while water is constantly spraying from all directions.  There are also 2 waterslides and a 1,000 gallon bucket that dumps periodically to the delight of children and adults.

The adults in our family also enjoyed themselves at the waterpark.  Some of us that just wanted to relax enjoyed Crooked Creek, the lazy river, and the Hot Springs Warming Pools.  Others that were more into the thrill of the rides opted for the waterslides which ranged from River Canyon Run, a family oriented raft ride, to the Howlin’ Tornado, a wild ride where your raft is dropped into a funnel and tossed back and forth 30 feet up the sides of the funnel.  There was also Wolf Rider Wipeout (a surf simulator), Bear Track Landing (a wave pool),  Big Foot Pass (an agility challenge where you must balance to get from lily pad to lily pad) and Chinook Cove Activity Pool (a place for water sports such as basketball).

The busiest times of the day for the water park seem to be from 9AM (when the park opens) to about 11:30 AM and then from about 1PM to 5PM.  During these peak hours, the wait to get on a waterslide ride was about 20-30 minutes.  At other times, the wait time was considerably less.  Between the hours of 5PM until closing at 9PM seemed to be the least crowded time at the waterpark.

After an exciting day at the waterpark, we enjoyed other activities such as bowling at the resort’s small bowling alley with perfect small sized bowling balls and lanes.  We also visited the arcade, which had a large variety of games that ranged in cost to play from 25 cents to $3.  Cub Club was fun for our daughter where she was able to color and make a snowflake.  The club also offers crafts that you can pay to make.

In the evening we got all the kids together in the lobby to watch the Great Clock Tower Show in which animatronic creatures sing and talk about life in the forest.  We enjoyed a special seasonal performance of holiday songs as well which ended with snow (suds) falling from the rafters in the lobby.  The children were very excited to experience this indoor “weather event”.  Story time concluded the evening with a member of the Lodge staff, accompanied by Rowdy the Reindeer, sharing a book with the children.  

Overall, the experience at The Great Wolf Lodge was a pleasant one.  There were many activities to keep children busy and the staff was exceptionally kind.  The cost for your stay includes the room and waterpark usage but doesn’t include other activities or food, so make sure to budget some extra money for these if you plan to visit.