Have A Howling Good Time At Great Wolf Lodge

*Disclosure- I received the mentioned products courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.


If you follow along on my Twitter or Instagram, you'll have seen that Mariah was home from college last weekend, so we thought we'd load up the family and head over to Illinois and check out Great Wolf Lodge. 

We've passed by several Great Wolf Lodge locations on our travels, but never had the opportunity to go in and see what the fuss was all about. Thankfully, the stars aligned where the whole family was going to be together with nothing planned, so it was the perfect time to spend a day indulging in family fun activities.

When I think of Great Wolf Lodge, "water park" is the first thing that pops into my mind. However, it's so much more than that. We started our day off with dry-land activities. 

Howler's Peak Roper's Course was our first stop. Mariah was a little unsure of this obstacle course, so I hung back with her and let Allison and Jason take the ropes first. They were securely strapped into a rope harness, explained the safety rules for the course, then set off on their merry way.

After raving reviews from those two, Mariah and I decided to work our way though the course also. Our verdict? Tons of fun! Afterwards, the girls wanted to try their hand at bowling, so we cruised over to Ten Paw Alley. 

Allison left a bit miffed after losing by a few points, but redeemed herself by kicking Mariah's butt in a few arcade games in the Northern Lights Arcade.

The competition didn't end there though, because Mariah wanted to one up Allison again and challenged her to a round of mini golf at the Howl In One mini golf course. Here they both ditched the scorecard when they realized they were equally terrible at the game. It didn't stop them from whacking the ball around the course, giggling all the way.

Adventure Park has 40,000 square feet of dry-land activities, all designed for families to do together. There's even a spot to mine for gems at Oliver's Mining Co, in addition to MagiQuest, where you'll find 145 different quests located throughout the resort. Simply purchase your MagiQuest want in the MagiQuest shop and you'll be on your way to even more dry-land adventures.

Once we were done on "land", it was time to slip into our swimsuits and enjoy some water fun!

Here you'll find 80,000 square feet of water fun for all ages.  There's a splash pool for the littles, 15 water slides, 2 family raft rides, and a wave pool. While the girls couldn't get enough of the water slides, Jason and I spent the majority of our water time floating down the lazy river.

We noticed that the water area was easy to navigate, the slide lines were short, and there was plenty of seating available. This is because they do not sell day passes, unlike other indoor water park resorts. Water fun is reserved for resort guests only to keep lines to a minimum and prevent overcrowding. I love this!

All of that dry-land and water fun combined can wear a kid out, so they can head up to their room where we noticed they have the cutest little cubby areas just for kids attached right to mom and dad's room. Wiley's Den is where kids can tuck themselves into one of the bunk beds and watch their own television programs. It's a great little spot for kids to get some R&R and recharge before heading back out for more Great Wolf Lodge fun. (P.S. If you are looking to book for large families, the largest suit can hold up to 16 guests!)

If you need some movie snacks to go along with the cubby hole, stop by The Great Wolf Candy Company for some sweet treats. 

Or maybe run by Ben & Jerry's for a scoop or two.

There are also many different restaurants to stop at, where you can pick up goodies ranging from pizza to burgers to tacos. Yum, Yum!

 
We did notice they were just setting up Halloween decorations, which is fun in itself, but we were also informed through the month of October, every night they are offering trick or treating for the resort guests. Kids will be able to make their way through stations to collect treats all over the resort. Now, how fun does that sound!?

The central hub of Great Wolf Lodge is Story Time, where children ambassadors keep the fun going with dance parties, story time, and even yoga.

If you are looking for a full day of family fun and adventures, it's easy to see why Great Wolf Lodge is the perfect destination. There's something fun for families of all sizes and ages to enjoy here. We most definitely enjoyed our stay!

The Great Wolf Lodge resort featured here is located in Gurnee, IL, but you can find other Great Wolf Lodge resorts throughout the country.

Do you prefer dry-land activities, or would you be more interested in the indoor water park?