Saturday, May 17, 2008

Great Wolf Lodge


Wow. Andrew's parents, Erica, Andrew and I all had so much fun.

The only downfall: my throat continued to feel raw... and worse, Erica got sick too. We had been planning on leaving Friday night, but left around noon instead. Which I guess really wasn't that much difference. Anyway, we were able to get to her pediatrition while they were still open [why do Dr's close early on Fridays?] and she got medicine.

That aside, let me tell you about all the FUN we had!

We got to Scotrun [the town it's in] around 5:00 and stopped at a Friendly's to eat dinner. Then off to the Great Wolf Lodge. The place is amazing when you first see it. I really wanted to get a picture from the outside, but never had a chance to. Sorry! I did take pictures of the inside lobby, and those will be posted here.

After unpacking, we got ready for swimming. Upon first looking at the waterpark, it seemed a tad bit smaller than I thought it would be... but when you really look at it, its packed full of many different things to do. All of the slides/tubes are very close together, to make the best of the space.

There's a wave pool. That was nice; it waves would be on for maybe ten minutes and then off for ten. There was another pool area with slides just for little kids. Erica did these slides first. There were five total, ranging from short&strait to long&curvy.

Once that was "mastered" we moved on the the big jungle gym type thing. There's a huge structure with tons of nozzles, hoses, water buckets, water guns, etc etc etc. When you climb to the very top, there are two slides you can take down. They were much bigger than the kiddy-pool slides but Erica decided to try it. She loved it! One of those slides was a big more twisty than the other, and on that one she did tip over and bang her cheek. But that didn't stop her from going on the other one again and again.

Of course, there are more adult / older kids' tubing slides. The first time I went down them, I screamed. The one drops you into a big bowl-shaped structure, and you go round and round before being sucked down the bottom. I liken it to going down a toilet. Well, I went down head first and it freaked me out so much I screamed: "Mommy, help me!"

The pinnacle ride is one you actually go down on a raft. You need enough people to add up to over 200 pounds, b/c at one point you get airborne, and if there's not enough weight, you'll crash. Anyway, Andrew and I went down together; it was tons of fun.

Besides that, there was also a lazy river; you could just sit in your tube and float around and around. Also there were lilly-pad plastic floating things that you tried to walk on to get over the water. And a pool with lots of basketball hoops. Is that everything? ... Oh, and two hot tubs, one just for adults! That was nice.

At nighttimes, kids can gather in the lobby for a "show." I have a picture of it; if you look close, you can see Erica in a yellow shirt, sitting in the front. The animated plastic animals, trees, people tell a story and sing. Afterwards, a staff person reads a story to all the kids. He was very animated; good at telling stories.
There's a "Cub's Club" for kids; a room where kids can draw, play games, do crafts, etc. Erica went there for a storytime and craft Thursday afernoon. Its very much a place for kids. They have a special thing where you can get a magical wand and use it to solve puzzles and games around the hotel. It was too above Erica's level though. Oh, and an arcade. One night, Andrew and I stayed out after his parents and Erica went to bed, and we played games. I beat him twice at skiball. Ha ha!!
They also have a spa. Awe... Bonnie [my MIL] and I had massages. It was fantastic. So relaxing.
All around, a GREAT time.

5 comments:

Kristi said...

I was largely pregnant for my 2nd child when we went so I couldn't enjoy all of the water slides but Noah was a toddler and loved the kids area.

Our favorite part was the story time at the end of every night. I hope we can go again someday now that the kids are old enough to enjoy the big kid slides.

Karen said...

Looks like so much fun - I've heard that Great Wolf is wonderful for families.

Love the new blog look, too.

Anonymous said...

Nice pics!

Looks like a fun place to be!

Smalltown RN said...

Well it looks and sounds like you all had a wonderful time!!! I really hope you are feeling better and that Erica is also on the mend...but by the looks of the last picture I don't think to much could bother her....thank you for sharing your adventures!!!

Anonymous said...

Looks and sounds like tons of fun, thanks for sharing it will us.

Hey when you are all well, let me know and we can get together!