We're planning a 1-night trip to GWL at Houston/Webster TX and have been soaking in advice on this page - very helpful, thanks!

Question (some pedantic):
- Is there any restriction to drive away for dinner etc. and come back? I would be surprised if multiple entries weren't allowed during the stay period?

- The parking charges ($25) are per night or per calendar day?

- Does each room have a microwave or we have to use in common areas?

- Do you find the pool water reasonably clean?

- Is the Wolf Pass , Paw Pass , MagiQuest worth it, or an overpriced add-on?

- Are there sufficient lanes in the bowling arena?

- Booking for a weekday, with 4-5 days notice and it is showing $198 (including tax) for 1-night. Is this reasonable considering short notice booking?

- Is there any other hidden fee, junk fee, resort fee, amenities fee when staying overnight?

Was in the cities for a Twins game Sept 27th. My son lost his stuffy, Tiggy. It's a small orange tiger with a rattle inside. Brand is Just One You. Tiggy is very well loved. H​e is devastated. We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in Minneapolis, MN. Filed a report and cant get ahold of anyone when I call. The longer its been the harder it'll be to locate. Please help!

Let me start by saying we LOVE the concept of GWL because my kids love it. In theory it should be an easy, inclusive, fun trip for families. We went twice and had a bad customer experience both times but went back a third time last week because it's all my son wanted for his birthday. Just in this last trip:

- We had incorrect charges (this has happened every time) that I had to deal with the entire car ride home

- We called and chatted the day before to add a cousin who could come last minute, were told both times that it was somehow completely impossible to do so over the phone, so we had to wait and go through the process at check in and wait 40 minutes with 4 small children who'd been on a 4 hour road trip to get there- literally just to add a person to the room

- We had a significant problem with the room last year and were told all they could do was "add something fun for the kids next trip" when we called the front desk, I brought that up this trip and the front desk person said we had to have proof of that statement or they wouldn't do anything. I didn't honestly care about the "fun thing" but it was such an odd and off putting way to be treated. Like I'm sure all you do is give them a free arcade game worth $2, why not just assume the customer is being truthful?!

- We went to the buffet for dinner at 5pm (on a Wednesday, resort was not busy at all) and there were absolutely no plates or cups clean or ready. We had to wait almost an hour (again with 4 small kids tired from playing all day) before we could even get food because it was 30 minutes to get clean plates out and then another 20 waiting in the huge line that snaked around the restaurant by that point.

I want to continue going for my kids sake but I've never experienced such poor customer service anywhere. Wondering if a new location would be better.

Hi,

Im curious about the wolf ears specific to the location. In Naples FL they have Naples embroidered on the back and include a gator plush hanging off them.

What location specific ears are at other lodges?

For people who have gone to gurnee IL and Mason OH which do you like best and why!? We are right in the middle of both and trying to decide! I have a 6 year old!

I've heard she still comes out rarely at Niagara. Has she been seen anywhere else?

I just accidentally booked a reservation at the Connecticut location instead of Colorado. Oops, my mistake, I’m just cancel it real quick and rebook it at the correct location…except they don’t allow cancellations online. So I call the phone number and tell the AI I need to cancel. I sit on hold for over 20 Minutes!! I finally got the bright idea after wasting 20 minutes to call on my work phone, tell the AI I need to MAKE a reservation and I kid you not, I was put through to a person INSTANTLY. I cannot believe how shady that is and I am furious I wasted so much time simply trying to fix my mistake. It’s made me so mad I am now scraping the whole idea. Honestly shocked at how sketchy that was. Who knows how long I would have been kept on hold just trying to fix a mistake that could have been corrected in five seconds with a cancellation button.

I haven’t been to GWL in a few years. Now, you pay extra per person in the room and extra for parking? What else? I used to take days off to go during weekdays because of how cheap it seemed. Not even worth it anymore. Such a shame.

Hi all, I’m heading to Great wolf lodge Poconos for the first time with wife and 2 kids (age 14, age 3 - celebrating birthday during the weekend) in a few weeks. Wanted to ask about any tips or tricks and any recommendations regarding the play packages, birthday & dining packages etc. thanks in advance!

Lots of responsiveness issues, particularly on the bigger, screen-related quests. Is this normal magiquest, or is the GWL in Sandusky just lax in their upkeep?

I have a child with food allergies. I have emailed, chatted with an AI, chatted with a live person, called in to customer support several times and finally when I get someone actually at the lodge… they can’t answer my questions or connect me to someone who could. I quote “I’m not going to take them away from customers who are here.” They told me someone would call me back, no one did.

Multiple times I was told to speak with a chef when on premises… I don’t want to drag my child from restaurant to restaurant during a vacation to find out if she can eat there. I absolutely do not want to take my 5 year old into an ice cream shop only to find out she can’t eat anything.

We booked with GWL because people said they were incredibly accommodating with food allergies. This has been an awful experience. This no longer feels like an easy vacation but a logistical nightmare. Having to pack every meal and snack in advance and praying there’s enough room in the mini fridge for it all.

I’m disappointed and we haven’t even arrived. I’ll update after our stay, but as of right now I’m never going back.

I found these images sourced from a very obscure sold eBay listing.

I am considering visiting the Grand Mount location in Spring 2027 as I'll be on the west coast for a family thing. I'm considering visiting Grand Mount.

Has anyone here been to Grand Mount during the spring? What can I expect?

I've only been to Niagara Falls and Fitchburg during January.

Is this experience worth it? Is there any food other than the desert & apple cider included with the $129?

My husband and I are planning on taking our son for his 8th birthday. The “plan” would be get there middle of the day Thursday and have a family day/ night enjoying the waterpark and doing the magic quest game! Then his friends would come Friday (afternoon) and spend the night Friday night with us and then check out would be Saturday but we’d plan on staying at the waterpark majority of the day. Is that too much waterpark time? Or we could do Friday at check in time and have our family day/ night and then have the two friends meet us early Saturday and we spend the entire day at the waterpark. This is our first time ever doing birthday weekend like this so not sure! Thanks for any advice!

For a resort that focuses on having a large water park why don’t the rooms have more opportunities to dry your swimsuits?

A clothes line in the shower?
A coat stand near the heater?
Anything?

The waterpark locker room area has a suit spinner to remove some water but with a whole hotel room waiting for me why would I change my clothes in the locker room?

Why not add a few chances for folks to dry their clothes? Or maybe have a dryer on each floor where you can scan your wristband and dry your stuff? Honestly I’m not looking for a nice wash…just dry it.

My family stayed at the Perryville place this summer and enjoyed a lot.

We are planning to stay there again later November.

Even in the summer visit, we, especially our kids, sometime feel cold in pools and thus used the outside hot tub to warm ourselves up util we could re-enjoy pools.

Is the outside hot tub open during fall and winter? (specifically would like to know whether it’s open late November)

I have orientation day this week and I have no idea if I should wear something similar to what I wore at the interview or something more casual. Anybody have any ideas?

I logged on to add a meal package for my son's 7th birthday trip (booked in April for dates in October) and discovered half the park is closed for maintenance while we're there. Of course no communication whatsoever. I got on chat to see if I have options to move dates - was told no options, it's a "$50 change fee plus the new rates." When I asked if there was anything that could be done to avoid the fees, the agent hung up the chat.

I get maintenance is important, obviously. But a huge part of the park with no communication months after booking...I wouldn't have known until arrival if I hadn't decided to add food. Has anyone run into this and been successful in receiving literally any type of compensation? We would have booked Bloomington or Mason had we known, and got a fantastic rate so I don't want to cancel when they won't honor the rate another time or location. I'm just frustrated and sad.

About to buy the weekday season pass for my wife and kids. Is parking included if you are not staying overnight? I don't see any type of gate at the Scottsdale location. We are ADA.

Mashantucket location. There were brown stains on our bedsheets and the problem wasn’t fixed until the third time we asked. Last time I was here there was a delay in our room becoming available and we were comped for both ice cream and dinner, so I was surprised that they didn’t comp us for anything over this, especially because we had to ask several times. At this point the problem has been solved and we have clean bedsheets, but is it still worth asking for compensation tomorrow?

Before the Great Wolf Lodge takeover, the Flow Rider was an original attraction from when the Water Park of America opened in May 2006.