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Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio Proved to Be Better Than Disney World: My Review

I thought the Great Wolf Lodge was simply a hotel with a big swimming pool. Boy was I wrong! Great Wolf Lodge is now our favorite family vacation spot. Read on to find out why you might just wanna skip Disney World this year.

Boy, was I wrong! My family went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason Ohio last weekend for 2 nights beginning on Friday and checking out on Sunday. Our experience was so amazing that I am coming out of a 9 month writing hiatus to share our experience with you.

It is not easy to figure out how to begin a review of such a multi-faceted experience. Since I plan on writing several pieces on the Great Wolf Lodge, I will make this review simple without a lot of tips and advice on how to make your Great Wolf Lodge experience better. Instead, I will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of this affordable, family oriented experience through our family's eyes.

I am a 35 year old mother with 2 boys, ages 7 and 4. My husband is 41 and the 4 of us went to the Great Wolf Lodge together. We are not new to vacations and have gone to Disney World nearly every year as our family vacation. You will hear me compare the Great Wolf Lodge several times to Disney World since I tend to compare all vacation experiences to our favorite destination. If I have not already peaked your interest in taking your family to the Great Wolf Lodge, I am thinking the following statement will do just that. After a weekend of family fun at the Great Wolf Lodge, I have decided that the Great Wolf Lodge is now my favorite family experience. You will have to read on to find out why.

Great Wolf Lodge Rooms:

We stayed in a Kid Cabin Suite when we visited the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. As soon as we walked in the suite, the roominess stood out for all of us. Our suite had a beautiful fireplace, a patio with a sliding glass door, a seating area, dining table with chairs, an area with a microwave and small refrigerator and a large bathroom. The Great Wolf Lodge's Kid Cabin Suites have a log cabin built inside the family suite. Inside the cabin, there are a set of bunk beds, another twin bed along with a TV and adorable animal murals on the wall. Our boys loved their area so much that I silently wished we could spend the whole weekend right in there with them. The truth is, right at that moment, I felt like even if we did nothing else, we had gotten our money's worth. If you knew what a very thrifty mom I am, you would know what a telling statement that is for me. This immediate feeling of satisfaction set a tone of relaxation for us. We did not feel like we had to participate in many things in order to feel that we had not wasted our money. We already felt satisfied. The suite was spectacular.

Our Great Wolf Lodge suite easily had twice the room of our rooms at Disney's Pop Century resort that we are used to having. At the Great Wolf Lodge suite, we had enough room to move freely and put our personal belongings away without feeling crammed and uncomfortable. My only complaint about our suite was the noise. We had a screaming heater that kept us awake. Noise proved to be a problem on our second night as well when we feared that the children above us would soon come through the ceiling. I thought the sound issue was less of a problem than at Disney's Pop Century where the walls are paper thin. At Great Wolf Lodge, we dealt with the problem by turning up our screaming heater and putting the pillows over our heads. We eventually fell asleep.

Great Wolf Lodge Children's Activities:

This section could be pages long but I am keeping it simple, as promised. The best children's activities at Great Wolf Lodge are the water park and Magi Quest but they will be discussed a little later as they are also their 2 largest attractions.

The biggest surprise we had was the large amount of things for our children to do that had nothing to do with water at Great Wolf Lodge. They have a program called Cub Club for children. There is a playroom set up for Cub Club with a play area and many tables. Cub Club hours were 10 to 7 when we were there. Cub Club was such a nice, quiet area for the children to play nicely. They have walls of crafts for the children to do, some are free and some have a fee. They have a children's computer and a family checker game area. Cub Club has their tye dye time from 1-4 everyday where the children can pay to make a Great Wolf Lodge pillow case or t-shirt. Our children still love to sleep with their Great Wolf Lodge pillow cases as a reminder of the fun they had there.

The Arcade is also a nice activity for children. Although money is required for the tokens, I did not find it unreasonable. The children collected tickets and bought small toys at the redemption center. The arcade has a couple of small rides as well and the ever popular, skee ball.

Every evening at 8pm, pajama clad children can be seen everywhere making their way to the clock tower show in the lobby. It is an adorable show with talking animals. A Cub Club employee comes out after the show and reads the children a story. Amy, a Cub Club employee, read the story when we were there and she was very good with the children. She had been very helpful earlier in the day when we visited Cub Club. It was very nice to feel like informed people surrounded you at Great Wolf Lodge especially for first timers. Amy answered all my questions.

Every morning, children are treated to a wonderfully educational experience at the fireplace in the lobby called Wolf Walk. A young employee named Stevi taught the children facts about wolves and other animals. She also played games with the children followed by making an origami wolf. My boys loved it. Stevi also assisted my boys with making their tye dye pillowcases the day before and she was extremely patient with them. I was impressed with her chipper attitude and friendliness towards the children. Both the clock tower show and the wolf walk are free to guests.

The Great Wolf Lodge stuffing station is similar to build-a-bear. Our boys picked our a flat stuffed friend and then a nice woman from the gift shop helped them stuff them. The boys really enjoyed pushing the pedal and filling their new wolves to their capacity. The cost was $19.99 for the pet. We chose to purchase a Paw Pass for our boys that allowed them to do several children's activities for a slight discount. I plan on breaking that down with it's pros and cons in another article.

Great Wolf Lodge Water Park:

The Great Wolf Lodge water park was beyond fantastic. I have to say that the most refreshing part for us will sound rather silly. My husband and I noticed that the families in the Great Wolf Lodge water park, playing with their children, were quite normal. Usually, any kind of beach or water attraction is filled with beach bodies, hard bodies and gorgeous people. My husband and I have never been a fan of water attractions in the past for this reason. We have felt that many times, water park visitors come to show off their bodies instead of coming to have fun with their children. The people at Great Wolf Lodge were very normal looking. Although we saw a few in the gorgeous club, most of the families wore modest suits and looked refreshingly normal. We loved the example to our children that people come in all shapes and sizes even at a water park!

The Great Wolf Lodge water park, like most areas, exceeded our expectations. The water park is not only huge, it is broken up into great sections that cater to every child's age. The wave pool was a family favorite. We also loved the family tube slide where the whole family comes down a round inner tube. I found myself exhausted later after climbing to the top of the big play structure over and over again with my boys. I was getting exercise without realizing it.

We thought the Great Wolf Lodge life guards were very attentive, more than we have witnessed at our local YMCA or local pool. I told my husband that I have never seen a group of young people so fixed on their jobs. It was comforting to see them watching the water constantly instead of talking with friends. We thought the life guards could have appeared a little happier and friendlier with the children but overall, they all did their jobs very well.

Great Wolf Lodge Magi Quest:

I had no idea what Magi Quest was before arriving at Great Wolf Lodge. Wikipedia describes it as " a live action role-playing game where the participant serves as the main character. Players, called Magi in the game, use an infra-red (IR) emitting wand to complete quests, adventures, interact with objects, find gold, and duel". Our boys loved Magi Quest more than anything at the Great Wolf Lodge. They loved walking all over the lodge looking for the required elements to complete a quest. The game itself costs $9.99 and we played on the same game until we left on Sunday. The end of the game is fighting a dragon so the boys were very excited about that. Players are also required to purchase a wand that can be brought back and used over and over.

The employees at the Great Wolf Lodge Magi Quest shop were the only employees that we considered uninterested in helping customers, especially children. There are a guy and a girl who seemed upset when a child interrupted their conversation to ask a question. They came right out and told my boys that they could not give them answers. It was frustrating since we were new and needed some guidance. The game and set up were mind-blowing enough to make up for the indifference felt by the Magi Quest employees.

Great Wolf Lodge Prices:

The Great Wolf Lodge room prices are quite high on line but I have seen coupon code websites that could offer a discount. We were/are very fortunate to have a friend help us get a fantastic rate. Whatever the price ends up being, it will be worth it, I assure you.

I am a thrifty person so I loath wasting our family's money on anything. The only wasteful spending that we did at Great Wolf Lodge was on the food. I found the cost of the food to be ridiculous. It was higher than our local museum's food which is already high. A personal pizza meal that barely feeds a child is nearly 8 dollars. We spent $100 on food by 6pm on our Saturday there. I decided that from then on, we would pack enough food for at least 2 meals and snacks.

Great Wolf Lodge does make packing meals easier by providing a refrigerator and microwave in most suites. Guests also have the option to drive out of the lodge area and eat. Our kids never wanted to stop long enough to leave the Great Wolf Lodge premises. Several pizza places also deliver to Great Wolf Lodge, which can be a more affordable option.

We found the Cub Club craft prices, the arcade, the stuffing station, and the Magi Quest to have reasonable prices. Overall, we found Great Wolf Lodge to be worth the money we spent.

Summary:

Our family usually goes to Disney World for our yearly family vacation but we have 4 trips planned to Great Wolf Lodge this year instead. I cannot say enough that Great Wolf Lodge is family oriented and geared towards the enjoyment of families.

It is still emotional for me to recall all the moments that were so special to us. Everywhere you look at the Great Wolf Lodge, there is another opportunity to spend quality time with your children WITHOUT the rush and pressure that higher dollar vacations give you.

There is something so magical and comforting about being inside a building moving from activity to activity with the people you love. There are no worries about weather, sunscreen, or huge crowds. Instead, you are consumed with worry about when you can take your family back to the Great Wolf Lodge again!