Upon check-in, we were all outfitted with bracelets that also served as our room key. You were also able to set up your bracelet to charge incidentals back to your room and eliminate the need for you to be carrying anything else with you while inside the resort. Our kids were given these adorable Wolf Ears on a headband that said Great Wolf Lodge on the back of one of the ears. Aside from sleeping and playing inside the water park, I don't believe those wolf ears left their head the entire time of our visit. They were quite cute and a nice keepsake to come home with from our trip, too.
Our family stayed in a Family Suite with a Balcony. The room was spacious, clean, and had a small half-wall to separate the sleeping area from the sitting area and sliding glass door to the balcony. Additionally, the room was equipped with a cold mini fridge and a microwave inside, too. Our balcony had a view of the woods on the Pocono Mountains and had two chairs and a small table outside ready for you to relax.
The reality, however, is that your payment for the room includes unlimited access to the indoor waterpark, namely Bear Track Landing Waterpark, during its operating hours both on your arrival and departure days, and any days in between if staying longer than overnight. This translates into a lot more time spent splashing with your family and much less time hanging out in the room.
Bear Track Landing Waterpark is filled with a giant four-story tree house complete with slides to return you to the bottom, a wave pool, a regular pool, huge water slides of varying proportions and thrill levels, an outdoor water area and pool, two hot tubs, a basketball pool, lily pad crossings alongside one another in another pool, a lazy river, a toddler play area with small slides, and tons of splashing fun! Of all of the indoor water parks we've been to before, this offered the widest variety and greatest assortment of entertaining splash time for the family. It was very clean and well kept, they were stocked with clean towels awaiting us as we walked through the door, and we were able to get seats alongside the wave pool to leave our cover-ups and towels while we ventured off to explore.
Slap Tail Pond, their indoor wave pool, delivered excitement with waves up to 3 feet tall in five minute intervals. Almost every time our family took a break from riding the various water slides in the park, we found ourselves back here for many rounds of the incoming waves. Between wave cycles, the water returned to its calm state and a siren would sound to warn of the wave cycle beginning again. It did offer zero depth entry so we saw quite a few really young ones enjoying the waves from the wading entry area, too.
This is the center of the Coyote Cannon water slide, which was a family favorite for us! You ride in your tube all the way from up top and circle inside this bowl until it drops you into the funnel area which exits you down the final slide, either facing forward or backward depending on the current and flow at that time. It was so much fun and was revisited multiple times during our stay. Underneath this slide was Crooked Creek, the Great Wolf Lodge lazy river, which had buckets filling and dumping on top of riders along its path. With plenty of single and double rafts available, it was easy for us to float along the lazy river for quite some time between water slide adventures and the kids loved getting "stuck" under the buckets. The wetter they got, the happier they were...and then they would inevitably request one more lap.
The blue slide pictured at the top of the photo below is called Hydro Plunge and Great Wolf Lodge refers to it as "roller coaster meets waterslide" with its 52 inch vertical drop! While our youngest didn't yet meet the height for this one, our oldest couldn't rave enough about it. A quick pace with unexpected launches upward, it was a thrilling water ride.
We spent quite a few hours each of the two days we were there sloshing and splashing around in the Bear Track Landing Waterpark. The ride operators were attentive to measuring height (my youngest was turned away from a ride and was within an inch of the required height), so I was pleased to see they took those requirements seriously for the safety of the kids. There were a lot of lifeguards and each seemed to have an area to patrol walking back and forth, but at the end of their area was another lifeguard doing exactly the same for their section. They had eyes on the water at all times and were focused on their job. As a parent who watches her kids very carefully any time they are around water, I was pleased to see that the lifeguards were equally attentive and seemed to have every area of water covered with a pair of eyes during our stay.
After spending our entire first afternoon in Bear Track Landing Waterpark, early evening crept upon us and it was time for some dinner. We learned that Loose Moose Restaurant is the only sit down restaurant on the property, though there are many other quick service dining options inside as well. We opted to do the dinner buffet at Loose Moose Restaurant that evening. The waitress was pleasant and informative, and the options for dinner were plentiful. Overall, our dinner was good. There was a wide array of choices from pasta, meats, pizza, seafood, various salads and soups, and more available to us at the buffet. There were a couple of stand out items that were really delicious, like the fajitas and the soups. After working up a huge appetite splashing around the water park, it was nice to go up and refill our plates as much as we wanted, and finishing our meal off with the dessert bar was perfect.
After dinner, our kids were ready with their wands to visit the MagiQuest marketplace and select their quest. For those unfamiliar with what MagiQuest offers, you purchase a wand and a topper for the wand, then select a game to activate for your wand and you are given a guide book of clues for how to complete your quest. Following the riddles and clues inside your guide book and using your wand at interactive stations throughout the resort, you collect items to engage characters in battle. At Great Wolf Lodge, there were three gaming options available, namely MagiQuest, Compass Quest, or Shadow Quest.
Eager to become Magi and help the leader of the light pixies save the light that was being taken from them, they selected to venture on the Shadow Quest.
Over our two days at Great Wolf Lodge, our kids collected all of the runes necessary to engage in the interim and final battle to save the light and help the light pixies. We certainly walked off our dinner and dessert the first night going from station to station, and the kids couldn't get to each one fast enough. We even managed to find hidden items by the lobby fireplace and in the stairwells that were activated by the wands! Their excitement was contagious, and we played until the last minute they could for the night. Of course, they had only completed about one third of the quest by that time, and they were so eager to finish that we began our next day with Shadow Quest first before heading back to the water park. It took them all morning, but they both collected all of the remaining objects to get all of the runes needed to engage in the final battle with Malikai. They will both say it was difficult but they did each manage to win their final battle and retrieve the light. This was the final battle station and they were very proud to complete Shadow Quest successfully.
As the parents, we were very pleased with the staff members working in the MagiQuest wings of the lodge. There was one guy in particular, dressed in a crown and cloak and carrying his own wand, who was extraordinarily helpful to our kids on both days when they got stuck and couldn't figure out a clue. Another woman was wearing fairy wings and assisted us towards the end of their Quest as well. It was nice to have individuals familiar with the game accessible and available right where the kids were playing, as there were times that even we needed the guidance to help the kids.
Once we completed Shadow Quest, we spent the remainder of our second day back inside Bear Track Landing Waterpark again. You can't beat an 84 degree indoor waterpark for some swirling and sliding family water fun.
There are also many Great Wolf Kids Activities going on inside the lodge. The Great Clocktower Show in the Grand Lobby features these adorable creatures and happens a few times each day. For the parents, there is a Starbucks a few steps off the lobby area at which you can grab a coffee or tea to enjoy as your kids are entertained.
Additionally, there are Wolf Walks, Story Time in the Grand Lobby, and various entertainment options available for your kids. There was a screen in the lobby that told you what was happening at what time, and while our kids were too consumed with ShadowQuest when they weren't in the water park area to stop for any other than the Great Clocktower Show, we did pass by dance parties, bingo games, and more happening with a crowd. Lots of these Great Wolf Kids Activities are free, with a few craft ones requiring an extra fee.
Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos proved to be an exciting and fun-filled way to celebrate school being out for summer with the kids. An easy overnight destination at only two hours away, it was a worthwhile and enjoyable trip for us all. Our family was offered a media rate for our overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. For our readers, take advantage of Summer Savings of 15% off a two or more night stay available right now for Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, PA when you enter the code SAVINGS at this link. This promotion is valid until August 28, 2014.
In closing, I'll leave you with a few tips for your stay: (1) Pack conditioner, as they provide you with a conditioning shampoo but if you or your little ones tend to have tangled hair after water park time, you'll be happy to have the heavier conditioner along with you; (2) Remember that there is a small fridge and microwave in your room, so you can take advantage of them for drinks, snacks, or small meals; (3) In addition to the MagiQuest/ShadowQuest and Bear Track Landing Waterpark that pleasantly consumed all of our time at Great Wolf Lodge, they also have these other activites on site: Northern Lights Arcade, Ten Paw Alley for bowling, Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, Great Wolf Kids Store creation station where you can bring a furry friend to life, Elements Spa Salon for the adults, and Scoops Kids Spa to pamper the kids. Each of these offer exciting and fun activities right on the premises and will be an additional expense as they are not included with the room rate, so be sure to include any you want to partake in on your visit in your budget for your stay. They offer a few different Paw Pass options that help to discount the additional activities available to you on site. A ropes course is in the process of being built outdoors as of the time of our visit, which will be another exciting addition to the property when it is done.
