As I mentioned yesterday, we did our very first overnight to Great Wolf Lodge this weekend. I’m not going to do a super big post about it because it’s out of normal SFM territory and price range. Plus, I think we were practically the last people to go. In case any of you do want a few tips, I’ve got the Cliff Notes version below (Remember Cliff Notes? It was how slackers read books before the internet).
1. Great Wolf deals don’t come up often, but they do come up. Sign up for their emails to get first dibs. Don’t want an inbox full of Wolf Pack news? I have one email I use just for coupons, contests, etc. I highly recommend this approach. You might also like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter, if you tweet (I don’t yet).
2. Check-in time is at 4:00 but you can get a wristband and start swimming as early as 1:00 (lockers are available but cost ten bucks). Check-out time is 11:00, but you can stay at the waterpark until closing time at 9:00 PM!! Because of this, a lot of folks think it’s madness to pay for more than one night. On the other hand, it’s nice to have a room to retreat to when you’re feeling tired and chlorinated. We just went home around 1:00 and nursed headaches the rest of the afternoon.
3. Every room has its own fridge and microwave, so bring plenty of snacks and eats to save a little money. We got a pizza delivered to the lobby for dinner. There is food at GWL but it’s a bit on the pricey side, and the general consensus is, it’s not great.
4. Approximately every six inches, you will have the opportunity to buy something. This is After you have spent a fairly breathtaking amount of money on your room. Decide before you go which of these things you are going to buck up for. Then adopt a cheery mantra to use as you navigate the halls. Ours was, “I see that. We’re here to use the waterpark.” The Magiquest wand and game are super popular, and I suppose in a couple of years we’ll have to buck up for that. If you have friends who have gone recently, you might ask to borrow their wand (I know this sounds crazy) and just pay for the game and wand reactivation.
5. Consider going on a weekday or get ready for a crowd. I ran into my bargain loving friend Kathy while we there (she had gotten in on the same deal,naturally). She shared that they had been twice before on Fridays and thought it was much less busy.
All in all, we had a wonderful time. The place was packed with preschoolers having a ball, but I’m looking forward to going when ours are old (and brave) enough to do the bigger slides.
The rate we got was part of a special organized by some of my favorite NW deal bloggers, and I was thrilled to meet Jen from Thrifty NW Mom, Heather from QueenBee Coupons, and Angela from The Coupon Project, although it was a little embarassing to be meeting and talking to people in my bathing suit.
For more howling good tips, I highly recommend this post from bargain blogger Abby of Steals and Deals.
For an overview with a bit of a humorous slant, I enjoyed this interview at NW travel site, Cascadia Kids.
We did the same deal and went on Friday and I have to agree that it was not as busy on Friday as it was on Saturday. We have gone before and I came to realize this weekend that it is better to go on a weekend where they have something special going on like the Halloween stuff because it was free and my kids enjoyed trick or treating and giving their costumes a try before Halloween. I also found that in the cub club we could make pet rocks for free and they have a corner with coloring pages and lots of other things to make fun crafts and that is free as well. I did allow my kids to paint me a lanyard that was $3 for a pass that I have for one of their schools. I was already prepared to have extra money with me since there where a few things that we didn’t do on our first trip because I was not prepared to be forking out a fortune to hang out there. First I did allow my kid to get one of those wands but the guy was really cool and he activated them to where they could still make everything go off in the halls but I didn’t have to pay the extra $13 for them to do the quests. And he said that the kids bring those every time they come so I thought it would be okay as long as I keep them put away once we are home and we can get multiple uses out of them. Second I did budget for ice cream. For the price they charge they do give you a fair amount so I had no problem with that. Also I got them the little red lid slushee cups that you can bring back the next time you go and just pay the refill price. But beyond that if you are brave enough to risk losing your parking spot I suggest you venture out for dinner and go to DQ or one of the other local restaurants in Grand Mound. I baked a pumpkin spice bread before we left and brought that and some yogurt and grapes for breakfast and of course brought other stuff for snacks but we where on the move so much in that place we never even touched our snacks. I would suggest staying away from the arcade unless you make yourself a budget for this because you will go broke in there. They charge too much per game in my opinion. Beyond that it’s a great yearly trip to do if you watch out for the deals.
Jessica,
Great tips! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. I think we will do the Magi Quest game next time. We had gotten a late start on Saturday, so we were pretty focused on getting the most out of the waterpark. It’s great to know what other moms think is worth the splurge. Would you like to share your pumpkin bread recipe? Let me know….it sounds yummy! Maegen
LOL! I would love to share it. I just go to Costco and buy the box of the Krusteaz bread mix. I have been buying that stuff for three years now and I can’t make it fast enough. I’m far from creative in the kitchen so this works great for me and no one believes me when I tell them it came from a box. Rumor has it that you can get it at Walmart in smaller packages but I’m content gettign it at Costco since I stop there often for gas anyway.
Thanks, Jessica! That is my very favorite kind of recipe!
I just bought the Living Social package for 8 on Sun-Thurs. I will try to pass on anything that might be helpful to others going with older children. I’m splitting the deal with my boyfriend and bringing all the kids (substituting any empty spots with friends). So I’m in it for half $124.50 so far. Promo cost was $249 before taxes and such. I saw on the “this post” that you get you $10 back when you return the key to the lockers for those of us who will stay the extra time at the water park. The link, also, has a lot of ideas to save money and tips. Thank you for adding the link. What I am really wondering is…. If the water park closes at 9:00 pm, what are cheap ways to entertain older kids besides gr8_space. I heard that you can rent DVDs and Game stuff for your rooms but was wondering if you could just bring the play station or Xbox. BTW I was referred to this site from The Hungry Housewives who was passing on your comments on the LS promo.
Thanks for sharing, Laura. It sounds like you’ve got a fun and affordable plan cooked up.
I’m glad you found SFM!
Older kids at GWL…..I don’t know! The MagiQuest game, while not cheap, is fun for kids, but maybe not teens. I’ll ask our Facebook community for thoughts!