Great! Wolf! Lodge!

Two Christmases ago, my mom sent us money as our gift. Darren and I excitedly planned to use it to take the kids to an indoor water park about an hour away -- during February, the draggiest and grayest month of the year. Well, last February struck back with its withered hands and raking claws: someone in the family was sick every single day of the month. No water park for us.

This past Christmas, my mom sent money again -- as she says, money is a color scheme that goes with anything. We'd already been adding a little every month to her last year's gift, and were in the mood to really sock it to February this year. So we skipped the day-trip water park, and went for the real glitz: two nights at Great Wolf Lodge.

(Or, as the kids referred to it, Great! Wolf! Lodge! (x24) )

The only *only* way we could even consider going was because our friend, Geni, advised us to find out when the Homeschool Week discounts were. Normally, rooms at GWL go for $380/night. During Homeschool Week (which GWL does in conjunction with nearby Williamsburg), the rooms are discounted to $139/night. A splurge, but doable. So, we did it.

It was two and a half days of nonstop fun. There was always something to do: the huge indoor water park with six slides, the arcade, the miniature bowling alley, the candy shop, the teen space with movies and video games, and (this was a major reason why we wanted to go in the first place) a MagiQuest game built into the hotel itself. We first discovered MagiQuest three years ago in Tennessee. I wrote about it, saying, "...it's not like it was worth the seven-hour drive down there just to play it or anything. Three or four hours, however, is entirely justifiable." Um, right, so as I was saying, we drove four hours down to Great Wolf Lodge, where there was a MagiQuest...

All six of us had a grand time. Addi and Stuart could come and go as they pleased, playing MagiQuest in the hallways until it shut down at 10. We didn't let Daphne wander around the hotel by herself, but since the water park provided floaties for children, she could go nearly wherever she wanted in the water park. And Pip was so comfortable with the setup that on the last day I took my eyes off him for seven seconds and he vanished. Addi spotted him ten minutes later in the glass elevator, apparently enjoying the ride.

The entire experience was just a little surreal, to be honest. Here we were, in a self-contained world of Fun. We slept there. We could eat there. We had nothing to do but have fun! Even money wasn't a problem! All we had to do was swipe our computerized wristbands (which everyone was required to wear the entire stay), and the charge automatically went on our credit card! If I needed a snack, or a souvenir, or even more tokens for the arcade, just a little swipe would get me whatever I wanted. You got the feeling that pretty soon the Nice People In Charge would turn out to have very dire designs on the happy, hapless revelers.

But if so, we escaped unscathed. Relatively so, although the credit card statement is going to be a little hot to the touch, I'm afraid. Doesn't matter. We kicked February in the teeth, and had fun too!

Notes:

1. Don't even think of booking rooms at GWL unless it's a discount week (which they don't advertise on their website).

2. Our kids were good ages for it. Two years is the youngest that I'd enjoy having there; they wear out so quickly, and can't really appreciate all the Fun Stuff. Daphne (5) had a good time. Addi and Stuart (10 and 9) were in heaven.

3. Also on the advice of Geni, we didn't try to combine GWL with Williamsburg. Far too much to cram into two or three days.

4. We bought the three older kids a "Paw Pass." They were $50 each, so weren't cheap; but they gave the kids things like a stuff-your-own animal, a hair extension, a Kandy Kup (literally, a cup full of candy), tokens for the arcade, and a discount on a MagiQuest wand and game. It was worth the money.

There were posters up informing us that we'd save money if we booked another stay before we left. We didn't show these posters to the kids, but it doesn't matter. They've got our family vacation inked in for next year anyway.

-- SJ