Great Wolf Lodge (Grapevine, TX)

[PottersDaughter]

Has anyone ever been to one? The Grapevine, TX one?

We're planning a trip for early August of next year. Any tips? What can we expect? Any ways to save money on this vacation? I already know they provide a fridge and microwave so we will of course be taking advantage of that for at least breakfast and lunches.

Anything appreciated! Thank you!

Also, I know there is a LOT to do in Grapevine... But any suggestions? Stockyards?

[sclotdebro]

I haven't been in the Great Wolf Lodge, but I've driven by it. The Stockyards are in Fort Worth, but you can take a train from Grapevine. I've never done it. Grapevine has a large outlet mall (Grapevine Mills). The Gaylord Texan is nearby too, which is interesting to visit if you haven't been in a Gaylord hotel before. Grapevine has a wine festival, but I think it's in September. You'll be sort of in between Dallas and Fort Worth, so you could visit both cities. I wasn't aware that there's lots to do in Grapevine, so I'll be interested to see what other responses you get. There's a cute spa in downtown Grapevine that I've visited twice (Renata Salon - ~ Renata Salon&Day Spa ~ Located in Grapevine, TX ~ www.renatasalons.com ~).

[thecooperhouse]

My brother and his family stayed at one, but not in Grapevine. But they loved it!! He has two boys (12 & 6) and the entire family loved it!

[NJOYURLIFE]

We stayed at the one in PA this past May to celebrate a special occasion for our 8 yo dd. At first I was leary to pay the high cost for JUST a waterpark. The room cost us something in the high 400's for one Saturday night. We had a great time, but there were some additional costs once we got there. The main one being these magic wands. The base wand was about 15 and then for add'l money you can add decorations and a top to your wand. We purchased one for each of our 3 children and then later I learned there was an add-on package that included one wand plus some other additional things that made it worth it. After I learned about this package, I went back to the store and they told me to ask one of the hotel managers who then made the appropriate adjustments for us.

The next question is: "What are these wands for?". Well, all over 3 of the floors were objects, pictures on walls, tables against the walls with objects on them, etc. You get a booklet with clues and you need to follow the clues to eventually slay some kind of monster (I think its a dragon) and then rescue someone (I think it was a princess). The are 5 different levels that you had to get through before you got to the dragon and you had to do things in certain order. When you solved a clue you would have to find the object that the clue referred to and touch the object with it. There were children all over the place because one object may ge on the left wing on floor 3 and then the next object would be on the right wing on the 1st floor. I am a very controlling mom who absolutely hates to leave my children out of my site (even though the oldest two are 14), but eventually I just let all 3 of them go with the older two keeping the 8 yo with them. There were only two elevators, so most of the time during the hunt you were taking the steps. It really kept the children occupied when we were not in the water park. Then the best thing about this game was that at 10:00 everything automatically shut down, so the children had no choice but to go to bed, if they made it to 10:00 after a day in the water park and then doing the hunt. My 8 yo was out like a light by 8:00 and when on vacation she can usually stay up much later. It was a lot of fun.

There were also shows, a child care room, arcade and other things to do. Since we were only there one night so we only did the park and the wand thing. In fact, they loved the wand thing so much that I had to force them to go to the waterpark - which was the main purpose of the stay and the reason we paid the high price. I also want to note that our price was probably higher than an average family because alot of the less expensive rooms only accomadated 4.

Make sure to go to the website and sign up for their email list because they'll send you deals. Most of the deals are for week nights and then once you stay there you get deals mailed to you.

It was definately worth it to us and we wished we could have stayed longer.

[mrsrudyjax]

I live about 10 miles away from the Great Wolf Lodge. I've driven by it many times, but never been there. There are plenty of things to do in the area. What types of activities does your family enjoy? You can PM me if you want.

[luvmy3boys]

I have been to one in Kc, KS. The kids loved it. They want to go back. We only spent 148 on a room. I think the cheapest rate is like 159 plus tax and then I found a 10% code. I think it is repeat. I think the weekend is the most expensive rate. The room is very nice. I just got the basic one. There are more expensive ones with bunk beds and such but for the amount of time you are in your room it is not worth it. Also, there is a pizza hut there and it is the same price as the real one. So we got two large pizzas for like $30 bucks. They don't take coupons! LOL. I didn't think that was bad for being in a hotel.
Have fun!

[jillybn1313]

Grandpa & Grandma started bringing the grandkids for Christmas last year. Going again the Saturday after Christmas this year. They absolutely loved it. My daughter (3 at the time) can still remember details and has talked about it all year long. We live only 5 miles from the one in Cincinnati, and drive by it regularly. It made an incredible (positive) impression on all the kids. Theya re thrilled to be going back again this year. Christmas is a great season to go with all of the decorations. Even ran into Santa in the stairwell -- surprised him as much as all of us.

[lilac48604]

We went to the one in Traverse City, MI. It's awesome!! They run great deals sometimes. We had 5 people in a basic room for something like $129/night and that included waterpark passes for each day for 4 people. They do have waterproof digital cameras you can rent and they charge you to put the pictures on a disk...but the kids thought it was cool....they kept taking pictures of each other under water. It was well worth the money (IMHO). Every room had a fridge & microwave so we brough groceries and ate in the room. They had continental breakfast too that was pretty good...the kids loved the waffles.

[frugalfamilymom]

We went this past summer to the one in PA. We had lots of fun but I personally think it was way over-priced. We bought the wand in a package, which I was lead to believe was a deal. Lots of stuff they said was included in the package was either wrong or misleading. I also had to write three letters of complaint before I could get an itemized bill at the end of the stay. They claimed to have two restaurants but there was only one and it was a buffet. I don't mind buffet now and then but we even called down about the other restaurant and it seemed to exist until we went to go there.

The employees were wonderful but once I left, I complained about the misleading prices and was promised a discount voucher which they never bothered to send. If you really want a frugal vacation, I don't recommend this. I think it costs more than Disney.

[Papenfuss]

I have been to the GWL in GP, great place to stay. If you look on Groupon or LivingSocial they usually have a deal for there every 4-5 months. You just missed the last one I believe, or maybe that was the GayLord which is also very nice; GWL is very family oriented and even fun for adults.