Great Wolf Adventures

We were fortunate enough to spend twenty-three-and-a-half hours at the Great Wolf Lodge near Olympia, WA. At the end of it all my sister-in-law commented on how incredibly exhausted we all were after only vacationing for the equivalent of one day. It was a very fun trip, although it felt rather expensive when it was all said and done. After meals and hotel and everything it was a mere tenth of what we spent for six days at Disneyland (that included air fare to L.A.), but in comparison to what you get with the whole Disneyland experience, the Great Wolf Lodge felt expensive. Next time we go I think I will try to find a coupon or something.

Great Wolf Lodge is a water park. After spending ten days being inundated by water parks in Wisconsin last summer, we all swore to never set foot in a water park again. Oh, how weak the resolve we have in these parts. We loved the water park side of this trip. Our favorites were the wave pool (Djeryd, Sean, and myself), the "blue slide with the raft" (Erik), and the toddler beach (Anna - I think this is because she can lie with her belly touching the ground while still waving her arms and legs around under the water so that she feels as if she is actually "swimming"). However, the favorite part of the whole two days was MagiQuest. Djeryd went bonkers for it and we are back on a dragon kick around here.

How it works is the kids buy a wand and an adventure. There are lots of adventures to choose from so that you can play a new one every time you head on over to the Lodge. There are interactive game screens stashed all over the hotel, along with magic pictures and talismans and chests of treasure. All of these magical entities respond to a flick from your magic wand. Some of them talk to you or blink lights and wake up sleeping tree sprites. It was very cool.

We also scored some arcade time with groovy black lights (hence Anna's glowing socks, pictured way above), and ice cream cones at the local hotel sweet shop. They also had a craft area where the "littles" could color or read or play Winnie-the-Pooh computer games. We tucked in for the evening after a short show and story time by the huge stone fireplace in the lobby. All in all it was a great little vacation for the family.