Mickey4Us
02-06-2007, 11:14 AM
February 1-2, 2007
Since my kids had a day off from school, we decided to take advantage of lower weekday rates and try out the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of PA. The lodge is in Scotrun, PA which is between Pocono Mountain and Tannersville, just off Route 80 and a few miles from the 380/80 intersection. We picked up the kids from school and started our less than 2 hour drive in surprisingly beautiful sunny weather. We arrived at the lodge just before 4pm (check-in time). It was crowded but several people were working the front desk so the line moved quickly. Check-in was easy. I needed to present the credit card used for the reservations and a driver’s license. Our room was ready so we were able to head right up. Everyone in the party needed to wear wrist bands for the duration of the stay. The adult wristbands also served as the room key and allowed for charges back to the room. The exception to this was the restaurant which required you to show a room card. When making a reservation, be sure to understand the cancellation policy. If you cancel, you will be charged a fee. If it is within 72 hours, you will lose your deposit (1 night). The exception is rescheduling.
Back to the car to unload and get the family. The lobby is impressive. 4 floors high and decorated with lights, snowflakes, trees and lodge themed items along with a huge stone fireplace. The centerpiece is the Clock Tower. The tower comes “alive” with animated characters 3 times a day. We take the elevator to our room (3085). We have a wolf den suite. I was originally trying to book the family suite with 2 queen beds which is the cheapest room available but the discounted rooms were sold out. Discounted rooms were still available for the wolf den which made it cheaper than the family suite so I went for it. Upon entry (by waving your wristband in front of the door, cool), the bathroom is on the right. The sink (with hair dryer) is outside the bathroom and is on your left. Also on the left is a closet, a safe, a counter with a fridge and microwave. On the right is the main feature of the room. The room is named for the separated space inside the room called the wolf den. This room was made to look like a cave complete with fiberglass rocks and wall paper. Inside is a bunk bed and a flat panel TV on the wall. This became my 5yr old’s room. He loved being in the cave and having his own TV. We used the top bunk for playtime during the day. After the den is the main room which had a pullout couch (my 2yr old’s bed), a coffee table, a queen bed, a table and 2 chairs, a dresser and a TV. We had a balcony attached to our room and although we didn’t venture out there, it had a small table and 2 chairs as well as a nice view of the mountains. The room was very nice. It was clean and well maintained. The only disappointment was the heater which was located right next to the bed and was noisy.
http://tagrel.com/photopost/data/500/100_1092.JPG
It is almost dinner time so we head to the restaurant, Camp Critter Bar and Grille. It is a buffet. Our booth is made to look like a tent. In the corner is a tree whose branches spread across the ceiling. Kids are pointing magic wands at the tree. These wands make one of the braches sparkle and light up as well as a set of squirrels sing and swing on their swing. More about these wands later. The buffet is ok, lots of food choices but a bit pricey ($21.99 for adults, $9.99 for kids and under 3 free). A friend of mine went a few months earlier and paid less so check the price before entering. I wish I did. With dinner completed, it was time to explore and have our food settle before changing into our bathing suits.
As we are walking back to our room, we see more kids with magic wands. In the hallways they are using the wands to open treasure chests, make pictures and statues talk, etc. They are playing a game called Magi-Quest. It costs $14.99 for the wand and $9.99 to play the game. Choose a quest, each has a different level of difficulty. As you solve riddles you gain knowledge and power. We decide that since we don’t have much time and our kids are little, we are going to skip this. Instead we watch other kids activate various items around the hotel. We may try this next time.
Once we change, it is finally time to hit the indoor water park! It is about 91000 square feet. It has a wave pool, a kiddie area, water slides, hot tubs, pools and a tree house water fort. Towels and life vests are provided in the water park. The park is open 8:30 am – 10:00 pm. We park our stuff at a table and hit the wave pool. My kids love waves! The waves at the “deep end” are strong and there are lots of people on inner tubes so we opt to stay in the shallow half. Now that we are wet, we explore the tree fort. We climb around this giant structure, getting splashed, squirted and dumped on! A word of caution, if you don’t want to get wet, stay away from the splash zone. A giant bucket fills with water at the highest point of the tree house. When it fills, it dumps its contents out, the water cascades down the roof tops and pours all over those in the splash zone! We get out of the zone just in time and head for a large slide. My 2 yr old is not allowed on and my 5 yr old has to remove his life vest and go alone. He opts not to do this. He also decides not to try the lily pads/rope climb. We head over to the tube slides instead. Both kids can do these with life vests as long as they are with us. We head up the line and decide not to take the 2 yr old. So I take my 5 yr old up the stairs with a double inner tube. We decide to do 1 of the 3 tube slides. Whee! Some of the tube is open but some of it is closed and dark so the twists and turns come as a surprise. The tubes even whip you outside the building (you are enclosed and warm) then dump you in a pool. The hubby takes him on the next slide which we affectionately call the toilet bowl. I think you can probably guess what this does. I can just imagine what the teacher will say when my son returns to school saying he was flushed down the toilet! Next we head to the kiddie area. There is an area to play basketball in the water, several things to squirt and splash each other, and a series of slides. The kids can do these alone and with vests. The area is reserved for those under 48”. There are 3 straight slides (you must be at least 1 yr old to do these) and my kids love it. We stay at the end to make sure they get out ok but the water is shallow here. There are also 2 twisty slides which my 2 yr old can’t do but my 5 yr old can. There is also a section for older kids but we did not play there. There are also a few hot tubs including one designated for adults only. The water park has lockers (need quarters) and a changing area which we did not check out. It is now near 9pm and we decide to call it a night. We head for the lobby and find we just missed the clock tower show and story time is just getting over. We head back to the room for some much needed rest.
We attempt to get up early and finally get everyone up around 8. I opted to included breakfast for an additional $10 for all of us so we head to the Loose Moose Cottage. This is actually the same place as the dinner buffet with a separate entrance. Breakfast is a buffet with made to order omelets, waffles, pancakes, bagels, Krispy Kreme donuts and the usually breakfast fare. The food was good and well worth the $10 for our party of 4. Other food choices: bear claw café (snacks, sweets, pizza hut), Starbucks, Spirit Island Snack Shop (in water park) and Grizzly Rob’s Bar (in the water park).
While having our food settle, we head to the arcade. The kids play lots of games. Games are 1-4 tokens each (each token is $0.25). Some give tickets which can be redeemed for prizes. We head back to the water park for more wet fun. We do all of the tube slides, the wave pool and the kiddie area. We watch the time so we can get back to the room to shower and change before checkout (11 am). You are allowed to use the facilities from 1pm on day of check-in to 10 pm on day of check out. Other activities (we didn’t do these): children’s craft and activity room (a different craft about every hour, each craft was $5), Elements spa, fitness room and outdoor pool. We opt to leave after checkout since I wanted to get some shopping in at The Crossing Factory Outlets. There are other area attractions including Claws and Paws Animal Park, golf courses, Camelback ski area, Bushkill Falls, etc. After a few hours of shopping with kids too tired to even complain, we head back home already planning our next trip.
Other Great Wolf locations: Grand Mound WA; Grapevine TX, Kansas City KS; Mason OH; Niagara Falls Canada; Pocono Mountains PA; Sandusky OH; Traverse City MI; Williamsburg VA; Wisconsin Dells WI
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Edited by MargaretJ to fix picture link.
Since my kids had a day off from school, we decided to take advantage of lower weekday rates and try out the Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono Mountains of PA. The lodge is in Scotrun, PA which is between Pocono Mountain and Tannersville, just off Route 80 and a few miles from the 380/80 intersection. We picked up the kids from school and started our less than 2 hour drive in surprisingly beautiful sunny weather. We arrived at the lodge just before 4pm (check-in time). It was crowded but several people were working the front desk so the line moved quickly. Check-in was easy. I needed to present the credit card used for the reservations and a driver’s license. Our room was ready so we were able to head right up. Everyone in the party needed to wear wrist bands for the duration of the stay. The adult wristbands also served as the room key and allowed for charges back to the room. The exception to this was the restaurant which required you to show a room card. When making a reservation, be sure to understand the cancellation policy. If you cancel, you will be charged a fee. If it is within 72 hours, you will lose your deposit (1 night). The exception is rescheduling.
Back to the car to unload and get the family. The lobby is impressive. 4 floors high and decorated with lights, snowflakes, trees and lodge themed items along with a huge stone fireplace. The centerpiece is the Clock Tower. The tower comes “alive” with animated characters 3 times a day. We take the elevator to our room (3085). We have a wolf den suite. I was originally trying to book the family suite with 2 queen beds which is the cheapest room available but the discounted rooms were sold out. Discounted rooms were still available for the wolf den which made it cheaper than the family suite so I went for it. Upon entry (by waving your wristband in front of the door, cool), the bathroom is on the right. The sink (with hair dryer) is outside the bathroom and is on your left. Also on the left is a closet, a safe, a counter with a fridge and microwave. On the right is the main feature of the room. The room is named for the separated space inside the room called the wolf den. This room was made to look like a cave complete with fiberglass rocks and wall paper. Inside is a bunk bed and a flat panel TV on the wall. This became my 5yr old’s room. He loved being in the cave and having his own TV. We used the top bunk for playtime during the day. After the den is the main room which had a pullout couch (my 2yr old’s bed), a coffee table, a queen bed, a table and 2 chairs, a dresser and a TV. We had a balcony attached to our room and although we didn’t venture out there, it had a small table and 2 chairs as well as a nice view of the mountains. The room was very nice. It was clean and well maintained. The only disappointment was the heater which was located right next to the bed and was noisy.
http://tagrel.com/photopost/data/500/100_1092.JPG
It is almost dinner time so we head to the restaurant, Camp Critter Bar and Grille. It is a buffet. Our booth is made to look like a tent. In the corner is a tree whose branches spread across the ceiling. Kids are pointing magic wands at the tree. These wands make one of the braches sparkle and light up as well as a set of squirrels sing and swing on their swing. More about these wands later. The buffet is ok, lots of food choices but a bit pricey ($21.99 for adults, $9.99 for kids and under 3 free). A friend of mine went a few months earlier and paid less so check the price before entering. I wish I did. With dinner completed, it was time to explore and have our food settle before changing into our bathing suits.
As we are walking back to our room, we see more kids with magic wands. In the hallways they are using the wands to open treasure chests, make pictures and statues talk, etc. They are playing a game called Magi-Quest. It costs $14.99 for the wand and $9.99 to play the game. Choose a quest, each has a different level of difficulty. As you solve riddles you gain knowledge and power. We decide that since we don’t have much time and our kids are little, we are going to skip this. Instead we watch other kids activate various items around the hotel. We may try this next time.
Once we change, it is finally time to hit the indoor water park! It is about 91000 square feet. It has a wave pool, a kiddie area, water slides, hot tubs, pools and a tree house water fort. Towels and life vests are provided in the water park. The park is open 8:30 am – 10:00 pm. We park our stuff at a table and hit the wave pool. My kids love waves! The waves at the “deep end” are strong and there are lots of people on inner tubes so we opt to stay in the shallow half. Now that we are wet, we explore the tree fort. We climb around this giant structure, getting splashed, squirted and dumped on! A word of caution, if you don’t want to get wet, stay away from the splash zone. A giant bucket fills with water at the highest point of the tree house. When it fills, it dumps its contents out, the water cascades down the roof tops and pours all over those in the splash zone! We get out of the zone just in time and head for a large slide. My 2 yr old is not allowed on and my 5 yr old has to remove his life vest and go alone. He opts not to do this. He also decides not to try the lily pads/rope climb. We head over to the tube slides instead. Both kids can do these with life vests as long as they are with us. We head up the line and decide not to take the 2 yr old. So I take my 5 yr old up the stairs with a double inner tube. We decide to do 1 of the 3 tube slides. Whee! Some of the tube is open but some of it is closed and dark so the twists and turns come as a surprise. The tubes even whip you outside the building (you are enclosed and warm) then dump you in a pool. The hubby takes him on the next slide which we affectionately call the toilet bowl. I think you can probably guess what this does. I can just imagine what the teacher will say when my son returns to school saying he was flushed down the toilet! Next we head to the kiddie area. There is an area to play basketball in the water, several things to squirt and splash each other, and a series of slides. The kids can do these alone and with vests. The area is reserved for those under 48”. There are 3 straight slides (you must be at least 1 yr old to do these) and my kids love it. We stay at the end to make sure they get out ok but the water is shallow here. There are also 2 twisty slides which my 2 yr old can’t do but my 5 yr old can. There is also a section for older kids but we did not play there. There are also a few hot tubs including one designated for adults only. The water park has lockers (need quarters) and a changing area which we did not check out. It is now near 9pm and we decide to call it a night. We head for the lobby and find we just missed the clock tower show and story time is just getting over. We head back to the room for some much needed rest.
We attempt to get up early and finally get everyone up around 8. I opted to included breakfast for an additional $10 for all of us so we head to the Loose Moose Cottage. This is actually the same place as the dinner buffet with a separate entrance. Breakfast is a buffet with made to order omelets, waffles, pancakes, bagels, Krispy Kreme donuts and the usually breakfast fare. The food was good and well worth the $10 for our party of 4. Other food choices: bear claw café (snacks, sweets, pizza hut), Starbucks, Spirit Island Snack Shop (in water park) and Grizzly Rob’s Bar (in the water park).
While having our food settle, we head to the arcade. The kids play lots of games. Games are 1-4 tokens each (each token is $0.25). Some give tickets which can be redeemed for prizes. We head back to the water park for more wet fun. We do all of the tube slides, the wave pool and the kiddie area. We watch the time so we can get back to the room to shower and change before checkout (11 am). You are allowed to use the facilities from 1pm on day of check-in to 10 pm on day of check out. Other activities (we didn’t do these): children’s craft and activity room (a different craft about every hour, each craft was $5), Elements spa, fitness room and outdoor pool. We opt to leave after checkout since I wanted to get some shopping in at The Crossing Factory Outlets. There are other area attractions including Claws and Paws Animal Park, golf courses, Camelback ski area, Bushkill Falls, etc. After a few hours of shopping with kids too tired to even complain, we head back home already planning our next trip.
Other Great Wolf locations: Grand Mound WA; Grapevine TX, Kansas City KS; Mason OH; Niagara Falls Canada; Pocono Mountains PA; Sandusky OH; Traverse City MI; Williamsburg VA; Wisconsin Dells WI
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Edited by MargaretJ to fix picture link.