Holiday vacation at The Great Wolf Lodge at LaGrange, GA
Holiday vacation at the Great Wolf Lodge at LaGrange, GA
One of our family traditions is to go on a vacation during the holidays, and we plan it based on activities that are kid-friendly. They are currently three and four, so we have to be sure that we choose a destination they can enjoy.
One day, while watching the travel channel, I learned about the Great Wolf Lodge — what caught my attention was its indoor water park and the hotel’s rustic theme. It also helps that it’s suitable for all ages! With so many activities and restaurants, we thought this would be the perfect destination for our four-day holiday vacation. Since we live in Florida, we chose the LaGrange, GA location because it was closer to home. Traveling with kids requires strategic planning. No toy or coloring book can be left behind.
Essentials things for small kids:
• Coloring books
• Crayons (at least three colors)
• Tablets (don’t forget the chargers!)
• Stuffed toy
• Other small toys
• Blankets
We arrived at The Great Wolf Lodge in the evening, and once we got into the lobby, I was taken back by the grandeur. The massive Christmas tree was the focal point — it was nicely decorated and had well-placed wolves, tying it in with the lodge theme. Behind the festive Christmas tree was a large stone fireplace surrounded by rocking and lounge chairs. Just around the fireplace was another eye captivating part of the lodge. It was an incredible stage area with small children-sized chairs.
I love how the lodge incorporated their small guests with this feature. Low and behold, the lodge had a gingerbread house. It was a quaint little house that people reserved to dine inside.
We booked the theme suite with wolf den bunk beds for our little ones. When we entered the suite, the kids were extremely excited to see their room! I lost track of how many times they climbed up and down from the top to the bottom bunk. The den had a TV and plush pillows that resembled rocks, which was another cool way to display their rustic theme. The rest of the suite was spacious and greatly accommodated our family of four. The room had a large dresser with shelves, a small refrigerator centered in the middle to maximize space, and a nicely placed table in the back corner or room with designated lighting. A love-seat with a decorative trunk was also part of the decor.
The hotel is designed for kids with wonderful activities and events for the whole family to enjoy. The stage area had story time, dancing, singing, meeting the wolf characters and more. Our first activity was the Magi Quest — to play it, you start by purchasing a magical wand that lights the particular items needed for that journey. I love a good scavenger hunt and so did the kids. We went from item to item, lighting up the mystical posts.
Throughout the hunt, we went through the miniature golf area, which was the perfect size and people were able to move to through the holes quickly. We then took the kids bowling and they really enjoyed it! The virtual screens interacted with the kids after each bowl; they could see their little faces on the screen beside their pictures. Since our kids are still pretty young for certain activities with height requirements for the Howlers Peak Ropes Course , we just played more video games and wandered around the hotel ground floor searching for mystical elements to complete the Magi Quest.
How can I not talk about the main attraction, which was the indoor water park? Our family went from the wave pool to the designated basketball pool area, to the lazy river, and finally to the toddler area that had height appropriate slides for the little ones. We also enjoyed several water tube slides and a combination of slides, forts and other water activities for the whole family.
Now, to another favorite part… food! The hotel had so many amazing food options, making it so hard to narrow it down to one — so we checked a bunch of them out! . We had breakfast at The Campfire Kitchen, one of their buffet-style restaurants. We made reservations for dinner at Barnwood and my taste buds are still steaming over the shrimp and grits and short ribs with grits dishes. I tend to dislike non-homemade grits, but the cooks at Barnwood definitely changed my mind.
We had a quick bite at the Hungry As A Wolf restaurant that also served delicious wings. We had a fabulous waitress named Caitlin with an “i” (my daughter’s name is Caitlyn with a “y”). Caitlin was still kind and warm, even though it was almost closing time, and provided us with great customer service. When we were at the water park, we ate at Buckets Incredible Craveables… and they did not disappoint. With each restaurant, I was constantly surprised by how delicious the food was — especially for accommodating so many guests. The hotel did not water down the food experience.
The hotel staff are top-notch. Everyone we came across was knowledgeable and kind. I especially liked Miss Gerry who worked in the Camp H.O.W.L. Kids Club. Whenever we visited the camp room, it was as if we were going to grandma’s house; she was gracious and interacted with our kids with so much care. The kids colored, made their own personalized badge, romped around with other kids and colored some more.
With all good things, this too had to come to an end. I am glad we were able to call the Great Wolf Lodge our home away from home during our vacation. I can now check this vacation off my bucket list!
