7 Things Families Love About Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio

I was a guest of Great Wolf Lodge for the purpose of creating this content. All opinions are my own and reflect my true experience.

This wasn’t our first visit to a water park, and it wasn’t even our first visit to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, but it was different. The last time we took our children to GWL, James was one and I was pregnant. This time, our family is complete and baby Quinn is almost two years old. This means that we had more fun actually playing WITH our kids, instead of just sitting and watching them.

You can book your own Great Wolf Lodge vacation here.

We went on water slides together, played MagiQuest before bedtime, went to a bubble dance party, sat for story time at the Clock Tower, won tickets side by side at the arcade, whipped their pants off at bowling and mini-golf and snuggled in our hotel room until breakfast.

Our family had a blessed weekend — and we squeezed every little drop of fun out of our time together, we left no room for “we should have done____.” We did it ALL!

5 Things You’ll Love About Great Wolf Lodge

1. With a variety of water slides, pools, and activity areas, our children were all entertained to perfection. The littlest ones played in the Whooping Hollow water playground and the biggest ones hit the water slides and the wave pool all day long. My middle two, ages three and five, really challenged themselves by trying new elements in the park every single day, they especially loved the Fort Mackenzie activity playground. My timid five-year-old waited all weekend to finally give it a go on a waterslide and then we couldn’t get her to stop. My three-year-old was all in from the beginning.

See our tips for visiting an indoor water park with babies and young children.

2. While the waterpark is the big draw for Great Wolf Lodge, it isn’t the only attractive offering for kids and families. Programming provided by Great Wolf Lodge Kids throughout the day includes character visits, arts and crafts, games, picnics, exploration, story times, dance parties, and more!

3. While GWL appears to be built for kids, it was actually built for the whole family, even the adults were taken into consideration when it comes to amenities. The selection of suites available range from your typical stay at a resort, with a twist — you’ll find a microwave and refrigerator in each room — to suites with private rooms, fun children’s sleeping areas and entertaining areas.

If keeping up with your exercise schedule is on your mind, stop into the Iron Horse Fitness Center. Time for some pampering? Take your kiddo to Scoops Kid Spa or make an appointment just for you at the Elements Spa Salon. Need a break? The North Hot Springs at the water park is just for adults 21+.

During the day, in the water park, cocktails and beer are available at Grizzly Rob’s Bar. In the evening, when it’s time to relax, the quiet hours have set in, Magiquest is put to rest and the kids are tucked into bed, adults can enjoy a special Wine Down delivery. Sweet treats and your favorite wine can be ordered and delivered to your room.

4. Our littlest ones are generally ready to crash at about 8 pm, add in a full day of fun and activity, and bedtime creeps up a lot sooner. Great Wolf Lodge has some “dry” fun activities that my husband and I divide and conquer with the kids — one of us stays in our room with the sleepy babies and the other plays late with the big kids in

our family.

You’ll find the Ten Paw Bowling Alley, Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, Northern Lights Arcade, and of course, the famous MagiQuest interactive game. All of these are available all day, even after the water park closes, and for those of you with early risers or kiddos that go to bed late, the arcade is open early in the morning and until 11 pm on weekends.

5. Great Wolf Lodge is super active in the local community, sharing character visits with local schools and organizations, but during out visit, their spring lemonade stand really stood out. Every afternoon, families can stop by the lemonade stand for a free cup of lemonade. For $1 each, you can get a plastic Great Wolf Lodge color-changing cup. This cup features GWL characters and drawings of Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a childhood cancer foundation that raises funds for research into new treatments and cures for all children battling cancer. Great Wolf Lodge donates the sales from each cup to the foundation! This is just one example of how engaged they are in the community.

6. When it comes to family dining and vacation, Great Wolf Lodge is winning; with a buffet in the main restaurant for all three meals, a pizza restaurant, a burgers stand in the waterpark, a sit-down restaurant, and even catered options, you’ll never have to leave the resort! Satisfy your sweet tooth at Bear Paw Sweets and Eats, Dunkin’ Donuts, and the Great Wolf Candy Company.

7. There are always great ways to save on the best vacation ever! We’ve found the occasional awesome deal on Groupon, and Expedia.

We’ll see YOUR family at Great Wolf Lodge soon!