Our Visit to Great Wold Lodge – Grapevine, TX

I have lived less than an hour from the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX for the past 14 years and yet I’ve never stayed there.

I guess for a few years I didn’t really realize it was there. And then, when I did, my kids were too young to make our stay there enjoyable. Once my kids starting growing up we would look at dates when the kids weren’t in school and the rates for a one night stay in the Kid Room would be from $300 to $500 (depending on the season).

Then, my daughter’s Girl Scout Troop Leader announced that the girls would be staying for one night at the Great Wolf Lodge if they sold 1,000 cookie boxes as a troop. Were were ten girls then (we are now 12), and so e

The goal was met and the night at Great Wolf Lodge was booked. Now, if the moms wanted to stay the night as a chaperone, then they needed to pay $50 for the night.

Our daughter is 10 years old, and we still want one of us to be there as volunteers as much as possible. So, I signed up as a chaperone to go. Besides, it was a good opportunity to check out the hotel/waterpark at a fairly cheap price.

Here is what I thought of our 24 hour experience:

Pros:

-The kids LOVED it! They loved the bunk beds (in the small kid area in the room) and they LOVED the waterpark! They had the best time, ever! They ate junk food and had a blast! My daughter would certainly want to go back and she wants her brother to go, too!

-It’s indoors, mostly. No matter if it rains or shines… you can be in the pool and the slides.

-Super awesome gravity ropes park. It was three floors! It was amazing!

Cons:

-It isn’t Disney. The hotel, overall, was small and cramped. It wasn’t really dirty, but it wasn’t clean, either. It was also pretty dark. It felt like it was more crowded than it really was. Also, we lined up for over an hour to check-in.

-Uncomfortable beds! Well, the bed was ok, although it wasn’t a queen sized, it was a full. I got to sleep in the sofa bed and was miserable. I could feel the coils bruising my skin. And it wasn’t just me, one of the moms who got the sofa bed in another room had the same complaint.

-No closet in the room. There was a small kitchenette and that’s it. We out the bags where we could.

-Customer Service. Our troop leader asked for three rooms close together, at least on the same floor. The lady at check in told her that wasn’t a problem and when she gave me the key to our room we were on a different floor. Also, she paid for three rooms with the 3 kid beds and one of the rooms only had 2 (the bunk bed).

-Pools. At some point during our stay a small child pooped in the wave pool. They had everybody exit the pool. They removed the poop. They waited 10 minutes and let everyone back in the pool. I don’t know how sanitary that is or if that’s a normal thing to do, but… ew!