It’s pretty hard to make teenagers (and one tween) happy, but Sarah and I managed to do it when we took our kids to The Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim. We were invited to spend the day experiencing the lodge, its indoor water park and all of the fun activities for families as guests of the resort.
We started our day at the Northern Lights Arcade, which was like a tiny Vegas for kids. My older son won hundreds of tickets on one of the games and bought a great wolf for my younger son. It was by far the cutest thing that has ever happened and if we had gone home right then, the day would have been worth it. But it just got better from there.
All six of us played Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, which was mini golf with black lights, and went on a MagiQuest with our own magic wands. MagiQuest is a magic shop at Great Wolf. Guests can buy a wand and go on a magical quest throughout the hotel using the wand to make artifacts light up and talk to you. It was a great way to explore the Lodge, which is an all-suites resort.
We were also given a tour of the suites. The Lodge was introducing Deluxe Wolf Den Suites for larger families that include a “wolf’s den” with bunk beds for the kids, a king-size bed and queen sleeper sofa. The rooms were adorable. In addition to the new suites, the Lodge is offering Wine Down Service for parents, which is a brilliant idea for parents who might want a glass of wine (and cheese and chocolates) at the end of a busy day, but don’t want to leave the kids in the room to go down to the restaurant to get it. Instead of knocking on the door, room service will text guests so they don’t wake the kids.
In addition to seeing the rooms, we were able to try out one of the many dining options for families. Great Wolf Lodge has 5 restaurants, a cafe, and a Dunkin’ Donuts. As part of our fun day, we were treated to a fabulous lunch at the Lodge Wood Fired Grill. The kids had a buffet that included mac n’ cheese, chicken tenders, and the cutest dessert ever (and a great party favor idea) – a mason jar filled with a cookie, brownie bites, gummy worms, and gummy bears. The adults had a fabulous lunch that began with butternut squash soup and a spinach salad followed by veal cheeks over creamy polenta, sea bass over risotto, and roasted root vegetables. The veal was perfectly cooked and you can’t go wrong with creamy polenta. The soup and the sea bass were delicious, but the soup and sea bass sauce were a little sweet.
After lunch, we hung out in the indoor water park. Only guests of the Great Wolf Lodge can use the water park, which has a lazy river, wave pool, exciting water slides, and a surf simulator.
There was also a beautiful outdoor pool with lounge chairs, cabanas, and a snack bar.
After spending hours in the water, we were ready to go home. The Great Wolf would be a great place to stay for families visiting Los Angeles or ones who want to have a vacation close to home.
For more information including rates and packages, visit Great Wolf Lodge. To see more of our day at the Lodge, check out our video below.
Disclosure: We were hosted by Great Wolf Lodge for the day and given game tokens to play in the arcade.