Contained Kid Fun: Great Wolf Lodge

In an unusual turn of events, E and his sitter/our family friend A got an opportunity to take in Williamsburg, Virginia's Great Wolf Lodge this summer!  Great Wolf is simply kid legendary in the area--E was thrilled and gave it two thumbs up.  The lodge itself is convenient to I-64 in the Williamsburg area, which also makes a fabulous excuse for visiting Colonial Williamsburg and other great area attractions including but not limited to Jamestown, Yorktown, the Virginia Living Museum, and the US Army Transportation Museum.  We opted to have E and A enjoy a total in-resort two days (really a half day, full day, and a half day) to take full advantage of the water park, however, on their trip.

E had a lot of fun in the water park area, which is nicely contained and thoroughly supervised.  It was a bit smaller than we expected, and the more grown up slides, which are basically all enclosed, had a clear element of mystery about them.  If you can, go sliding with friends and family after dark--there are many options for tandem/group slides and some unique lighting in the slide tubes.  The lazy river and the wave pool are also winners, being reasonable places to relax.  Do, however, expect sensory overload--it's a noisy, busy place.  Other places where you can get a dose of sensory overload include the sprayground water playground in the center of the park.  You will get seriously drenched here, and you will do serious climbing as well--consider water shoes if your feet are sensitive.  Other items we enjoyed included the water obstacle course, which is more difficult than it looks but which E navigated with skill.

If you go, know the resort area can definitely keep kids busy for at least a day or two, particularly if they have a friend present.  We'd recommend taking full advantage of the indoor water park, but summer travelers should know there are not a lot of water features outside.  E also recommends MagiQuest and thinks it's cool you can keep your wand for playing at other sites.  If you already have a wand, consider bringing it along for potential cost savings for your MagiQuest play.  Take a look at various packages offered for activities--and know you can trade passes between kids.  Not every kid is going to want to do every activity (and we judged some overpriced), so take a good look at the resort layout itself.  Also, consider toting your food in from the very nearby Walmart for a cost savings.  And adults, the play areas of this resort can get loud--bring some quiet activities for the kids to chill with in your room (some nice board games or something) so they can get away a bit every now and again.  Other items you may wish to be aware of: life jackets are available, everyone wears digitized room keys that are plastic bracelets (and to which you can load funds for incidentals), the resort grounds are quite large (expect long hallway walks), there are long lines at peak check-in times in the lobby, and there are a handful of casual restaurants including Pierce's Pitt BBQ really nearby if you wish to leave the resort and sit down and eat as well.