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Get ready for our Great Wolf Lodge tips from our getaway with the cousins! Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge with the cousins? It all started with that annual question between my sister, Cam, and me: “What do the cousins want for Christmas?” Cam’s kids. My kids. The cousins.
Time out.
In recent years, Cam and I have tried to encourage other of our children’s gift givers to move from giving “stuff” to giving “experiences” (or maybe even college funds!) for Christmas and birthdays. As such, we thought we should consider it for ourselves too.
Time in.
I (Nic) had what I thought was a somewhat crazy idea to present to Cam. What about taking our families to the Great Wolf Lodge (Anaheim/Garden Grove area) for an overnight of themed water park fun? Like, as a combined family/cousins Christmas present? She said yes!!!!! We quickly made our reservations and began planning how to reveal it to the kids. (Spoiler: They found out at Thanksgiving, since our visit to Great Wolf Lodge was in mid-December.)
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Check-In
When we arrived at Great Wolf Lodge on a Sunday afternoon, we were in for a fun surprise. The property was decorated for the holidays, and while we were in line to check-in, it even started “snowing” in the lobby!
Speaking of checking-in, try to take advantage of online check-in and, thus, shorter wait times when you arrive. Make sure you do the online check-in, however, within their specified window of time. Online check-in worked for Cam, but I missed the timing, and we had to stand in the regular check-in line. Thankfully, there wasn’t a long wait, and…snow!
At check-in, everyone in your party will receive a wristband (and “wolf ears”…more on this below). This is your “ticket” into the water park. The adult wristbands, in addition, are your room key and can be used to charge things to your room during your stay. Very handy!
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Timing of Your Visit
Our visit was from a Sunday afternoon to Monday evening in mid-December. Cam and her family had never been to Great Wolf Lodge before, and our only other experience was being there mid-week in mid-January.
There was a marked difference in the amount of people there from our mid-week visit to this one. Although there were a lot more people there this time, wait times for various water slides were minimal. As you can imagine, there is also a price difference between those peak and off-peak times as well.
Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge
It was fun to experience Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge, so we’re glad that the timing worked out for both of our families. I mean…snow flurries in SoCal while you’re at the front desk…and a snow dance party where the first song was *NSync’s “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays.” Yeah…it was fun!
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Have Fun with It!
Before we even made it into the water park, we noticed that people take Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge seriously! We saw countless family groups roaming the halls and other public areas wearing matching Christmas PJs and slippers. I guess it’s a thing? We’ll have to think about that for our next Christmas-time visit.
At check-in, everyone in your party has the option to receive complimentary “wolf ears.” Get them and wear them…yes, adults too! It’s part of the fun at Great Wolf Lodge!
Most of the fun for us was being together with family. The cousins had a great time hanging out together!
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Communication
I had Black Friday gifted myself with an Apple Watch. It turns out that this was very helpful for our Christmas at Great Wolf Lodge experience. Cam and her husband also have Apple Watches. These little high-tech, water-resistant devices allowed us to keep in contact with each other throughout our time at Great Wolf Lodge.
It seems that, as long as our iPhones were connected to the WiFi at Great Wolf Lodge, our Apple Watches were able to communicate with each other all around the property. It was fantastic! Using the Messages app on the Apple Watch, we could send texts and voice messages to each other, all while enjoying our time in the water park. Where’s so-and-so? Messages. When should we eat lunch? Messages. You get the idea!
Plus, walking around the Great Wolf Lodge water park all day can help you close your activity rings!
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Food
This is one area where we chose to be budget-conscious, rather than splurging…it is semi-budget travel, after all! We would be on-property for three meals…dinner, breakfast, and lunch. There are several restaurants on-site at Great Wolf Lodge. For dinner, however, we chose to pack sandwiches and eat together in one of our hotel rooms. It’s much cheaper and much quieter, especially after being in the water park for a few hours (it’s loud in there).
The kids were excited that Great Wolf Lodge (Anaheim/Garden Grove) has a Dunkin’ Donuts on-property. So, for breakfast, we had Dunkin’ Donuts, supplemented with yogurt that we brought with us.
For lunch, we ate at Buckets Incredible Craveables, which is right inside the water park. There’s no need to go anywhere, dry off, etc. Use your wristband to pay, grab a table, and enjoy!
Comfort & What to Pack for Great Wolf Lodge (Beyond the Obvious)
Comfort, you say? Yep, I do say.
Bathrobe
Why pack a bathrobe? This isn’t a spa day. Whelp, here’s why. Once you exit the 84-degree water park, the rest of the property is not heated/cooled to 84 degrees. You will also (most likely) be wearing a fairly wet swimsuit. It will be a chilly walk back to your hotel room. Hence the recommendation to bring your favorite warm fuzzy bathrobe and/or your own large beach towels. There are an abundance of water park towels provided by Great Wolf Lodge, but they are really small in size, and they are supposed to remain in the water park area.
Large Waterproof Bag
Also on your packing list should be a large plastic garbage bag or other large waterproof bag. Once you’re back in your hotel room to change, put your wet swimsuits into the plastic bag, head back down to the locker room in the water park, and use the swimsuit water extractor. It spins a bunch of water out of your swimsuit. You’ll thank yourself for taking a few minutes to do this, especially the next day when it’s time to put your swimsuit on again.
Tarp or Clothesline
Back in the room, we have a large blue tarp that we put our swimsuits on to further dry overnight. Otherwise, you can find somewhere to hang them up.
Great Wolf Lodge Tips: Check-Out
One of the great features of Great Wolf Lodge is that you can stay at the water park until closing time on the day you check-out. The one problem is that you do, in fact, have to check-out earlier in the day. Here’s how we made it work.
After our Dunkin’ Donuts brekkie, the Dads and kids helped pack up, got their swimsuits on, and headed to the water park. Cam and I, in our respective hotel rooms, got our swimsuits on, gathered everyone’s clothes for changing into later (and that handy plastic garbage bag), finished packing things up, and checked-out of the hotel. We took our large suitcases to our cars, which were parked in the hotel’s parking garage (make sure to AirTag your bags!). In order to save a few more $$, we decided to share a locker inside the water park. There, were stored the car keys, dry clothes, shoes, and plastic bag (for the wet swimsuits). We proceeded to have water park fun with our families for the next several hours, including having lunch right inside the water park. We called it a day before dinner time, got our stuff from the locker, changed in the locker rooms, put the wet swimsuits in the plastic garbage bags, and headed to dinner together off-property.
And our cousin adventure was complete!
Do you have any Great Wolf Lodge tips you’d like to add? Please share in the comments below!
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Your idea of experience is a better gift than than material is a great idea. Children (and adults too) would enjoy and build better relationships when doing so. Amazing pictures! I could see that people of different ages will really enjoy this water park.