Great Wolf Lodge Water Park
Great Wolf Lodge Water Park
4
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
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4.0
454 reviews
Excellent
171
Very good
137
Average
76
Poor
40
Terrible
30
Angela C
1 contribution
Jul 2022
I booked a reservation and SPECIFICALLY asked about cancellation policy since my husband was having some health issues and I knew we might need to cancel. I was informed by the staff on the phone that "no problem, in the event we need to cancel a pack member would be happy to assist me at that time". My husband ended up back in the hospital and we did need to cancel. When I called to cancel, I was informed that since I didn't purchase trip insurance, I would have to pay a $100 cancellation fee per reservation (we had 2 reservations). I informed them that I was never offered the option to purchase any trip insurance, but I had specifically asked about cancellation policy when I made the reservation. They did not take responsibility for their oversight, even when I shared that I specifically asked about cancellations. If their staff failed to properly inform me about the policy, they need to take responsibility for their booking staff.
Written 28 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mitchamtoo
Eau Claire, WI95 contributions
Oct 2022 • Friends
Stayed here for four nights, Mon-Thurs., mid-October. The website states the resort has some construction happening. I wish I had heeded that warning. We were placed on the first floor and the patio door was locked due to the construction and we had to keep the curtains closed. The noise started at 7 am and went until after 7 pm every day. Machinery, trucks, workers yelling. It was a constant roar ALL DAY.
The water park: it is small and not well kept. The lazy river is just a small oval. There is a family hot tub and an adults only hot tub. Unfortunately no staff intervened when children were in the adult hot tub. The girl at the towel desk didn’t even look up at us, just a bored “how many.” I can’t imagine anyone spending more than an afternoon here; there just isn’t enough to do.
The beds are sooo uncomfortable. We had a fireplace suite with a love seat and it was like sitting on a log. Bathroom is really small. And the fireplace stays on about 10 min before shutting off. Not much of a feature.
If you don’t want to hear a herd of elephants walking above you make sure you get a room on the top floor!
I have no idea what the resort fee is for. There is no room cleaning during your stay.
When you feel relieved to be leaving you know it was not a great stay. I highly recommend staying elsewhere.
The water park: it is small and not well kept. The lazy river is just a small oval. There is a family hot tub and an adults only hot tub. Unfortunately no staff intervened when children were in the adult hot tub. The girl at the towel desk didn’t even look up at us, just a bored “how many.” I can’t imagine anyone spending more than an afternoon here; there just isn’t enough to do.
The beds are sooo uncomfortable. We had a fireplace suite with a love seat and it was like sitting on a log. Bathroom is really small. And the fireplace stays on about 10 min before shutting off. Not much of a feature.
If you don’t want to hear a herd of elephants walking above you make sure you get a room on the top floor!
I have no idea what the resort fee is for. There is no room cleaning during your stay.
When you feel relieved to be leaving you know it was not a great stay. I highly recommend staying elsewhere.
Written 20 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kenneth k
Upper Sandusky, OH2 contributions
Jul 2020
Great Wolf Lodge should be upfront with people and tell them that the hot tubs are closed. They don't even announce it on their website unless you click on their "Waterpark" tab and scroll WAYYYY down to the bottom where it is mentioned and then they blame it on Covid. Honestly it should be right on the front of their "Home Page". A hand full of adults are a lot more responsible than a few hundred children.
Written 20 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BandJE
Colorado38 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
Water park is small but clean. Staff is friendly and helpful. Kids activities were great-morning yoga, knighting ceremony, singing animatronics, character appearances. My 5 and 8 year old were very happy here for 4 nights. 42” kid could ride all the slides. Food was expensive and not great but many restaurants nearby. Magiquest game was very fun. Wished they would open the water park before 10am. Hotel was packed with small kids who were ready to swim by 8am.
Written 12 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eric G
7 contributions
Dec 2021 • Family
There were great things about it like the free masks in the hallway and the water park, of course. But the workers were rude like with returning the towels: my husband took the kids the first day but didn’t tell me I had to return the towels to the pool. I thought I was being helpful by putting them in a towel bin in the hallway. Then the pool people were super rude saying they were going to charge me like I stole two towels! I didn’t. Then I spent 4 hours with my son on the magi quest only to reach the dragon and have the computers turn off right as it was his turn to defeat the dragon. I didn’t know there was a cut off time. Then the next day we tried again. It took us an hour to figure out when to hit the buttons at the exact right moment. So we missed the master magi quest ceremony and the front desk couldn’t help us get him a pin! What!!! That’s 5 hours not to get even a pin for being 15 minutes late. That lady seemed bothered that I even asked. The wolf den room in our room was nice but there was no night light and even though we left the bathroom light on our kids said it was too dark and climbed in our bed both nights. Another thing is that we purchased the top Wolf pass so our kids could all of the fun but it was a waste because we couldn’t do all of the things because of time and when things closed down and not knowing where to get the items. The GWL app was great up until 11 on the day of check out. The chat was no longer available so we couldn’t ask where anything was, like the candy shop (that was under construction so you had to go to the build a bear workshop to get the candy). Who knew it would be there!?! And then there is the whole thing about ‘use your wristband for purchases’ that they say again and again but the recharge for the arcade cards don’t use the wristbands and neither do the vending machines that were clear at the other end of our hallway. You had to have your credit card for those and of course we didn’t have our credit cards so we had to go all the way back to our rooms for that! It’s a huge hotel! And having Dunkin’ Donuts would have been nice except they ran out of egg products and donuts! This trip overall was a let down. We asked our kids if they wanted an experience Christmas instead of gifts so we chose GWL. We are leaving exhausted from all the up and down of the magi quest and disappointed at all these other things that happened or didn’t happen one after another. Wish I could say we would try it again but after spending over $1000 bucks for two nights, we probably won’t.
Written 22 December 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karim S
London, Canada2 contributions
Feb 2023
Save your money and go elsewhere. I booked this trip online without ever stepping foot in the resort, therefore, I relied entirely on the information provided on the website when making my decision. The information is misleading (false description of restaurants, no room make-up service for multiple night stays, additional fees) and there are numerous more charges added to your bill that are not disclosed on the website (to the tune of $84 per night in additional fees, over and above the already steep prices). Beware the daily fees for a basic room - Resort Fees ($34.99), Room Local Occupancy Tax ($10.65), Room County Tax ($14.20), Room State Sales Tax ($23.96). The quoted price online is far from the total you will be charged.
Save yourself the money eating at the resort as you can find a number of restaurants around the hotel that will suit all tastes, for far less money.
As for the resort, it is fine for kids up to 8 or 10 years old, but beyond that, the older kids will get bored as the equipment is geared for smaller children.
For the price and the experience we had, we're going back to Zehnder's Splash Village
Save yourself the money eating at the resort as you can find a number of restaurants around the hotel that will suit all tastes, for far less money.
As for the resort, it is fine for kids up to 8 or 10 years old, but beyond that, the older kids will get bored as the equipment is geared for smaller children.
For the price and the experience we had, we're going back to Zehnder's Splash Village
Written 28 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cassandra B
1 contribution
Aug 2022 • Family
Upon checking in they failed to mention a hold on your credit card. Which was ridiculous for the amount we paid for the whole vacation. We had a themed room which was a lot smaller than I imagined and the outside patio was off limits due to remolding which was a little upsetting but no big deal. The bathroom is insanely small you open up the door it almost hits the toilet. The park doesn’t accept cash at all. Not even the vending machines that didn’t work. With 2 kids and 2 adults this room was small and felt like a jail cell. I will never go back to this park if only for a day pass.
Written 13 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tricia A
1 contribution
Feb 2024 • Family
My recent stay at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio, left much to be desired. Despite the hotel being sold out, it was severely understaffed in every service department, leading to significant delays and a lack of attention to detail throughout my visit.
Upon entering my hotel room, I was greeted with disappointment. The cleanliness of the room was subpar, with mold evident on the ceilings and floors of the bathroom. This is simply unacceptable for a hotel of this caliber.
The pool area was overcrowded and lacked sufficient seating, making it difficult to enjoy the amenities. The fast-food service was equally disappointing, with frozen food and stale chips being served, and the mobile ordering system failing to function properly.
Dining experiences were also disappointing. Despite being told there would be a 30-minute wait, I waited over two hours for a table, only to be informed that the kitchen was too backed up, and I was advised to seek food elsewhere. The breakfast the following day was marred by poor service, with waitstaff unable to manage their tables effectively and a lack of drink refills.
Although the entertainment staff did an admirable job of entertaining the children, it did little to make up for the overall disappointing experience.
In conclusion, I am disappointed by the lack of quality and service provided during my two-night stay in a loft fireplace suite. Considering the prices charged, which rival those of Disney World, I expected much more. I hope that management takes this feedback seriously and implements changes to improve the overall guest experience at this location.
Upon entering my hotel room, I was greeted with disappointment. The cleanliness of the room was subpar, with mold evident on the ceilings and floors of the bathroom. This is simply unacceptable for a hotel of this caliber.
The pool area was overcrowded and lacked sufficient seating, making it difficult to enjoy the amenities. The fast-food service was equally disappointing, with frozen food and stale chips being served, and the mobile ordering system failing to function properly.
Dining experiences were also disappointing. Despite being told there would be a 30-minute wait, I waited over two hours for a table, only to be informed that the kitchen was too backed up, and I was advised to seek food elsewhere. The breakfast the following day was marred by poor service, with waitstaff unable to manage their tables effectively and a lack of drink refills.
Although the entertainment staff did an admirable job of entertaining the children, it did little to make up for the overall disappointing experience.
In conclusion, I am disappointed by the lack of quality and service provided during my two-night stay in a loft fireplace suite. Considering the prices charged, which rival those of Disney World, I expected much more. I hope that management takes this feedback seriously and implements changes to improve the overall guest experience at this location.
Written 20 February 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Voyager62194631705
1 contribution
Aug 2024 • Family
We went to great wolf last December 2023 and stayed 4 nights. We went back in August 2024 because we got an email saying we would get all this money off to come back. So we went back for 2 nights and stayed. We actually paid more this time than we did in December. You now have to pay 15 dollars a night for parking even though u pay for the room. You have all kinds of taxes like a breakfast tax. A tax on the passes you buy. They told us we owed 1300 more dollars on our bill after we made the deposit to hold the room. When we got there we ended up paying 2100 dollars. Last time we go there. We r going to kalahari next time. Another couple were there with the grandkids and they said they would never be back down because they couldn't believe the price. They were going to go to kalahari too.
Written 16 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ashley E
1 contribution
Nov 2023 • Family
DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION...
****BEDBUGS****
My family and I stayed here for the weekend and just got back home this Sunday. I noticed I had a sort of rash. Which I just thought maybe from all the chlorine I had just indulged in. Turns out they are bedbug bites! I'm mortified and afraid I've brought them home with us. Although very thankful that none of the children have bites. I would have never thought this place would have them. The amount of money families pay to have fun with thier loved ones you would think they'd use some of that revenue to properly care for the rooms in thier lodge.
Our first time was wonderful. The children had a fabulous time and wore my husband and I out. Room was clean, and service was great. Incidentals return hit our account in a reasonable time frame. As for this time my account was over charged and the incidentals deposit has yet to been credited back into my account. When talking to thier 1-800 representative he said it can take up to 7-10 days to hit. The gentleman didn't seem too bothered or surprised about the bug bites I contracted from the lodge. I was told someone would call in 72 hours and if they didn't call that number back. Something tells me I will be calling and doing the same conversation over again with nothing solved.
Take your family's elsewhere not here.
****BEDBUGS****
My family and I stayed here for the weekend and just got back home this Sunday. I noticed I had a sort of rash. Which I just thought maybe from all the chlorine I had just indulged in. Turns out they are bedbug bites! I'm mortified and afraid I've brought them home with us. Although very thankful that none of the children have bites. I would have never thought this place would have them. The amount of money families pay to have fun with thier loved ones you would think they'd use some of that revenue to properly care for the rooms in thier lodge.
Our first time was wonderful. The children had a fabulous time and wore my husband and I out. Room was clean, and service was great. Incidentals return hit our account in a reasonable time frame. As for this time my account was over charged and the incidentals deposit has yet to been credited back into my account. When talking to thier 1-800 representative he said it can take up to 7-10 days to hit. The gentleman didn't seem too bothered or surprised about the bug bites I contracted from the lodge. I was told someone would call in 72 hours and if they didn't call that number back. Something tells me I will be calling and doing the same conversation over again with nothing solved.
Take your family's elsewhere not here.
Written 23 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Laura
Innisfil, Canada
Are there any lockers that you can rent, and how much do they cost?
Written 23 June 2023
Laura
Innisfil, Canada
Are there any lockers that you can rent, and how much do they cost?
Written 23 June 2023
Pamela P
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Can you get a day pass to the lazy river without renting a room
Written 31 July 2022
How many total nights would be recommended for a 3 year old and a 2 year old? Never been to a great wolf lodge before.
Written 10 October 2020
I took a 6 year old and a 1 year old. For 2-3 there isn’t a ton to do outside the water park. I would think 2 nights would be plenty. There are only a few areas that aren’t geared toward older kids.
Written 10 October 2020
Is it better to purchase the food passes or buy when you get there?
Written 1 October 2020
We bought a little bit when we got there but there are a huge number of restaurants around the area that are cheaper and have more variety.
Written 1 October 2020
Do the rooms have refrigerators and microwaves?
Written 13 September 2020
Megan
Cleveland, Ohio
How much is a one night stay with three kids 9,5,2 && two adults and do they have any rooms with a jacuzzi tub inside?
Written 2 July 2020
If we get to the lodge before check in time can we use the pool and slides?
Written 31 January 2020
Yes, I believe after 1pm. You can stay on the day you check out as late as you like.
Written 25 May 2020
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.