Great Wolf Lodge - Concord NC

[hellokitty1]

Looking for some experience with GWL and by chance, was it the Concord one? We are taking a week off from work at the beginning of August with no real plans except making a visit there. I have random questions and would appreciate any opinions/tips?

- How does the waterpark pass work? do i get to use the waterpark on check-in day and check-out day? any timeframe limits, e.g check-in is not til 4pm so can i not use the park that day until 4pm?

- What are the hours for the waterpark?

- We'll have a 5 month old with us so I know he won't be able to do much but is the waterpark conducive to being able to "sit on the sidelines."

- I've been to traditional waterparks like Wet n Wild and would not envision going there multiple days. How is GWL different that would make you want to stay multiple days?

- How do they determine how many passes you get for one room?

tia.

[LD92599]

We are going to the one in the Poconos in 2 weeks, but based on what I did read on their site, maybe I can answer some questions?

The passes are good all day on the arrival day and check out day. We're going for one night, a Saturday, so we're planning on arriving by lunch time and then leaving mid afternoon on Sunday, so we'll get almost 2 full days of park time.

Each room includes 4 passes, you can purchase additional passes.

Waterpark Hours are: Variable ;-) Depends on the day and the location!

Hope this helps! We're really looking forward to going!

[Melaine]

I think it looks really fun from the commercials!
I realize that was not at all helpful, but I hope you enjoy your trip!

[gamma]

Be careful about canceling at Great Wolf Lodge! We canceled once due to DGS breaking his arm and having a cast on. We re-scheduled, then all 3 children came down with a stomach virus. Great Wolf Lodge will not allow us to reschedule and will not refund our $500. I'm very upset about it. A business which deals with children has to expect illnesses and injuries. Just a word of caution.

[LD92599]

Be careful about canceling at Great Wolf Lodge! We canceled once due to DGS breaking his arm and having a cast on. We re-scheduled, then all 3 children came down with a stomach virus. Great Wolf Lodge will not allow us to reschedule and will not refund our $500. I'm very upset about it. A business which deals with children has to expect illnesses and injuries. Just a word of caution.

Have you tried to call your CC company and them dispute the $500 charge?

[WatchingThemGrow]

Looking for some experience with GWL and by chance, was it the Concord one? We are taking a week off from work at the beginning of August with no real plans except making a visit there. I have random questions and would appreciate any opinions/tips?

- How does the waterpark pass work? do i get to use the waterpark on check-in day and check-out day? any timeframe limits, e.g check-in is not til 4pm so can i not use the park that day until 4pm?

- What are the hours for the waterpark?

- We'll have a 5 month old with us so I know he won't be able to do much but is the waterpark conducive to being able to "sit on the sidelines."

- I've been to traditional waterparks like Wet n Wild and would not envision going there multiple days. How is GWL different that would make you want to stay multiple days?

- How do they determine how many passes you get for one room?

tia.
We just went to the Concord GWL this weekend for my b'day :cheerleader1: Actually, I need to cut the wristband off for fear I look like a real dork taking DD to preschool camp tomorrow morning with it still on.

Check in day, you get waterpark access 1-9, then the following day, 9am-9 pm. checkout is at 11 so you don't get to come back to your room and change. I guess you can rent a locker for that day for some $$ (maybe $10??)

We had our 3 yo, 1.5 yo and 1 mo. old there, and the 1 mo. old did just sit in the BJCMD and get rolled around from pool to pool. We kept our SWC bag with pool towels (provided) in the 2nd seat.

There were several other activities that would fill up the time there for multiple days. We didn't do them, so I'm not sure about the value of them. Others seemed to enjoy them, though. We missed the Clock Tower Show at 8, but attended story time at 8:15. The MagiQuest game is around the building, so there are tons of 5-14 yos running around the building with wands slightly unsupervised in the evenings. There is a spa and a kids spa ($49 kid pedicures!), an arcade. Dinner was a $20 buffet which DH hated, but breakfast $13 was pretty tasty. The rooms were generous (we had a family suite) and comfortable.

As far as the passes, I'm not sure. Maybe just one for each guest in your room (see occupancy number for each style of room). We had 2 adults, 3 kids, but since 2 of our kids weren't 3, they didn't need wristbands. I was able to get a friend who lives in Charlotte to meet us and I asked the front desk for another adult band so she could babysit our newborn while we played with the big kids. In reality, she watched 2 kids while I went to the room to pump and bring our luggage down.

It was a fun 1-night getaway, with an Ikea trip in the afternoon. We went back to the park before we left town, so it seemed like a pretty good value. In all, we went to the water park 3 different times for probably 2 hours (?) each time. We probably could have gotten another visit in before checking in, but we weren't in a hurry to do that.

HTH!

[hellokitty1]

Thanks. This is so helpful. I keep procrastinating on reservations but we are going in a couple of weeks and decided on just one night. We are going on a weekday so hoping it won't be too crowded. I did find out you get four passes per room, or at least for the type of room I am looking at. But we only need three bc DS is too young. Was thinking about bringing someone like my mom to help watch DS but haven't decided. Was there enough room to navigate a your BJ?

And I applaud you for going there just a month after giving birth. No way my butt would be in a suit that soon after. And congrats, by the way.

Glad you enjoyed your stay. We may go by the outlets but I think we had our fill of Ikea back in June.Thanks for responding.



We just went to the Concord GWL this weekend for my b'day :cheerleader1: Actually, I need to cut the wristband off for fear I look like a real dork taking DD to preschool camp tomorrow morning with it still on.

Check in day, you get waterpark access 1-9, then the following day, 9am-9 pm. checkout is at 11 so you don't get to come back to your room and change. I guess you can rent a locker for that day for some $$ (maybe $10??)

We had our 3 yo, 1.5 yo and 1 mo. old there, and the 1 mo. old did just sit in the BJCMD and get rolled around from pool to pool. We kept our SWC bag with pool towels (provided) in the 2nd seat.

There were several other activities that would fill up the time there for multiple days. We didn't do them, so I'm not sure about the value of them. Others seemed to enjoy them, though. We missed the Clock Tower Show at 8, but attended story time at 8:15. The MagiQuest game is around the building, so there are tons of 5-14 yos running around the building with wands slightly unsupervised in the evenings. There is a spa and a kids spa ($49 kid pedicures!), an arcade. Dinner was a $20 buffet which DH hated, but breakfast $13 was pretty tasty. The rooms were generous (we had a family suite) and comfortable.

As far as the passes, I'm not sure. Maybe just one for each guest in your room (see occupancy number for each style of room). We had 2 adults, 3 kids, but since 2 of our kids weren't 3, they didn't need wristbands. I was able to get a friend who lives in Charlotte to meet us and I asked the front desk for another adult band so she could babysit our newborn while we played with the big kids. In reality, she watched 2 kids while I went to the room to pump and bring our luggage down.

It was a fun 1-night getaway, with an Ikea trip in the afternoon. We went back to the park before we left town, so it seemed like a pretty good value. In all, we went to the water park 3 different times for probably 2 hours (?) each time. We probably could have gotten another visit in before checking in, but we weren't in a hurry to do that.

HTH!

[WatchingThemGrow]

Was thinking about bringing someone like my mom to help watch DS but haven't decided. Was there enough room to navigate a your BJ?

And I applaud you for going there just a month after giving birth. No way my butt would be in a suit that soon after. And congrats, by the way.

Glad you enjoyed your stay. We may go by the outlets but I think we had our fill of Ikea back in June.Thanks for responding.
The BJCMD was totally fine in there. It was smaller than a lot of the people there ;) DS2 just camped out with his eyes closed at the edge of every pool (with the brake on!)

I almost didn't have a suit to get my butt into. Did you see my frantic post while packing?? My pp shape was similar to lots of other shapes there. I kinda wondered what a normal body was supposed to look like after being there for a couple minutes.

The outlets were a bust. I ran into SR looking for a navy 8.5 sneaker for DS1 (no luck) and divided Corelle plates (no luck) so it was just not thrilling.

Your family will enjoy the trip I bet!