We stayed at our first Great Wold Lodge resort last springs. They opened a location a mile away from Disneyland and we took our daughter for her birthday. We had so much fun and couldn’t wait to go back, so when I heard they were opening a location in Colorado Springs (an hour south of Denver) I was so thrilled because we could now visit more than once a year since it would be so much closer to us. This past weekend we packed our bags and headed down to Colorado Springs for some family fun and the kids even asked if we could move in because they had so much fun!
5 Reasons You Should Stay at Great Wolf Lodge
1. It’s the perfect staycation (or vacation) spot – Located just an hour south of Denver the Colorado Springs location has some amazing mountain views. Snow capped in the winter and green in the summer, they are breath taking. You can get away for 1 night or a few and the scenic drive goes by so quickly. It’s a great way to escape the cold in winter and heat in summer with some good family fun. Since it’s not too far from where we live this is definitely going to be on the top of our staycation list.
2. Fun for the whole family – There is something for everyone to do, from babies to adults. Great Wolf Lodge Adventure Park which features Bowling, Mini Golf, Ropes course, rock wall, gold mining, creation station where they can make stuffed animals, and arcade. Plus dance parties, story time, and of course the 50,000 square feet of water park fun. There is a variety of water slides for all age ranges, a pool with a rock wall, ropes course, and basketball, wave pool, Fort Mackenzie which is great for splashing around, and our favorite spot – the cub paw pool which is where we spend most of our time with our toddlers. Our 6 year old was big enough for all of the rides except for 2 and she had a blast doing everything around the water park. Our 3 and 1 yr old loved the cub paw pool and the slides in there are the perfect size for them. They even had a blast splashing around Ft. Mackenzie and our 17 month old LOVED going on the slides in there.
4. The Food – Great Wolf Lodge really strives on bringing good food choices to families and working with families who have food allergies. I got to sit down with Chris Hammond, the Corporate Director for food and beverage, at Great Wolf Lodge. Chris is a great guy and so passionate about the food they serve at Great Wolf Lodge. He’s worked really hard to offer families better food options while visiting Great Wolf Lodge. They serve mac and cheese without yellow dye, offer organic food options, serve foods that are healthier like hummus and veggies as a snack option inside Buckets, salads that are fresh, they’re removed gluten from a lot of their foods – like their chicken fingers, and they use non-gmo oil for frying. They’ve revamped the menu over the years and are constantly looking for ways to make it better. All the food we had there over the weekend was delicious and the price points were similar to going out to a restaurant.
5. It’s great for Family Bonding – It was great being able to get away from everything for a few days and to spend some quality time together playing, laughing, and having fun. As a family we were able to bowl, play mini-golf, attend story and dance time, and play around the water park together. When our older daughter was off on the big slides with her dad it gave me and the little ones a chance to play together in the cub paw pool. There were also many opportunities for me to get 1 on 1 time with the kids. I was able to take our daughter to the Scoops spa where she got pampered a little and headed down with the older kids to Barnwood for some parmesan fries that were delicious. There’s so many things for families to do together (and 1 on 1) that we barely spent any time in our room. We were out having fun and exploring the gorgeous resort. When we were in our room the room was clean, comfortable, and quiet.
You can see more from my trip on my Instagram Page
Some Tips for your stay:
If you’re looking to save money during your trip each room has a microwave and refrigerator. You can easily bring your own drinks and food for your stay.
The weekends can get pretty busy so if you can plan your stay during the week I would suggest that to avoid lots of people.
We ran out for something on Saturday afternoon and parking was an issue in front of the resort, BUT there is a lot more parking on the side of the resort that can be easily missed.
You can get to the resort as early as 1pm on check-in day and start playing in the water park. You can stay all the way until 8pm when the water park closes on check out day. Check out is at 11am, but you still have the whole day to take advantage of the fun.
EVERYTHING except for the water park is open to the public. So if you’re looking for a family fun day you can head inside and bowl, play mini golf, or do the ropes course and enjoy lunch or dinner.
Once you stay at Great Wolf Lodge they send out some pretty awesome coupons and give you first dibs on special promotions.
I’ve seen a lot of people complain about pricing, but it’s worth it in my opinion because the room comes with water park passes for your family. The resort is clean and staff friendly. Even when we thought it was crowded it wasn’t horrible and the lines for the rides weren’t very long, it’s a lot better than other water parks I’ve been to. You’re not out in the extreme cold or heat which is always a good thing.
There are a lot of lifeguards on duty and they look like they’re very well trained. They were on top of guests doing things that weren’t allowed and constantly checking all around them to make sure everyone was safe.
They provide life vests for the kids and have towels for the family.
You can book your stay at Great Wolf Lodge on their website. They even offer military discounts.
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You can also check out my Facebook Review of Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs!