For the 2nd year in a row the Turnip clan visited the Poconos Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania .  You can read all about my first trip there in my previous Great Wolf Lodge review.  This year my aim was to maximize our family fun time.  For the most part I think we succeeded!

My boys are ages 5 and 7, both in the autistic spectrum.  Of the group only I can swim, so lakes and rivers were out of the question.  We needed a quick safe vacation during a window of opportunity when everyone was healthy.  This meant relatively short notice for reservations.  In northern NJ, there are many choices for water fun.  The Jersey shore waterparks, Great Adventure,  Land of Make Believe,  Camel Beach, and Dorney Park Wildwater Kingdom were all destinations I considered.  Because this was to be an overnight trip, Great Wolf Lodge was best bargain despite it’s high price. 

The Cost: The price of rooms at Great Wolf Lodge isn’t that high when you examine everything involved.  I paid roughly $200 for a night at their hotel, saving 20% off the normal rate by using the coupon code “pack”.  Included with the room were use of the waterpark for my family of 4.  Now compare this to Land Of Make Believe, another favorite destination of ours.  It costs our family $86 to visit there, plus another $120 for a hotel room located nearby.  However, the Great Wolf Lodge allows you to use their water park for 2 days.  So rather than breaking even, we actually got a second day of water park fun for free.  This makes Great Wolf Lodge the best 2 day waterpark vacation option in northern NJ.

Maximizing the fun was definitely my goal this trip.  This meant arriving at the hotel as close to 1pm as possible.  Route 80 always has traffic delays, so add an extra 30 minutes to whatever Google maps estimates.  We arrived at 1:30pm, not too bad.  Check In was effortless and fast.  Great Wolf allows you to use the water park beginning at 1pm on the day of check in, but your rooms may not be ready until 4pm.  Luckily, our rooms were ready as soon as we arrived.  We choose a weekday to save even more money and counted on the hotel being less crowded.

The rooms:  Once again we stayed in the cheapest room, the one with two double beds.  It was extremely large and comfortable.  The separate living room area had 2 tables.  The balcony is there for eating outside or grab the chairs and bring them inside to the table.  The room comes with a safe that lets you put your keys and wallet somewhere the kids won’t get into them.  Refrigerator and microwave allow you to bring your own food and beverages.  Free ice is available from the machine down the hall.

The waterpark: New this year is the River Canyon Run.  Minimum height is 42′ tall.  It’s a giant round tube that can fit a family of four.  Since the tube has a bottom, you get much less wet than on the other tube rides.  You travel down a giant waterslide tube full of twists and turns, but nothing jarring.  The end of the ride empties into 1.5′ of water vs 3′ of water for normal tube rides.  You can step out of the tube right onto the stairs of the pool.  Lines were short and even my youngest son loved it. 

My oldest son’s favorite this year was the Hydroplunge, which has a 48″ minimum height requirement that is enforced.  He insisted on riding this water rollercoaster over and over.  It’s the roughest of all the rides at the park, but tame by most standards.  Just some conveyor belt rises followed by some bouncy downhills.  The hardest part is the climb to the start.  It’s 5 stories above the ground.  If you ride it 20 times, that’s 100 flights of stairs.  At least you don’t have to drag a tube with you climbing up.

One thing I noticed was that Great Wolf provides 5-6 sizes of life jackets.  Other parks provide 2 sizes, if any.  Considering the deepest water is 5′, this is a nice service to provide for those parents who like the extra bit of safety for their non-swimmers.

Staff Friendliness:  Last year I found some of the check in staff a bit snippy.  This year they were extremely pleasant.  Random luck?  I doubt it.  I think it had more to do with the economy and corporate policy.  As less Americans travel, vacation destinations have to court those who do travel.  I caught a few of the staff lecturing each other about minor behavior infractions, so clearly someone was watching them.  When I returned home, there was a survey waiting that focused on staff friendliness.  I appreciate a courteous professional staff, ranging from the life guards, hotel employees, and cleaning staff.  When my son needed a life jacket his size, the towel guy got on a walky talky and  got me one.  He could easily have said “you’ll just have to wait” or “go check outside”.  It’s little things like this that make your trip enjoyable and stress free. 

Teens: Last year I said there was nothing for teens.  This year Great Wolf opened the Gr8 Space Tech Center.  As they describe it:

gr8_space features computers with teen-conscious internet access, docking stations for ipods and mp3 players, as well as multiple gaming stations for those who strive to win one of our contests on systems such as Nintendo Wii, XBox360 & Playstation 3. Play games like Guitar Hero, Rock Band and sing some karaoke. Come enjoy the movies, snacks, and today’s hottest music and videos.

Better than having kids sit in the room running up the bill on movies or knocking over the little ones in the wave pool, they get to socialize in a safe environment. Cost was $10 for 2 hours, or $15 for a 1 day pass. Like MagiQuest, this seemed reasonable.

MagiQuest: Last year my son at age 4 liked it, this year at age 5 he absolutely loved it, even asking to leave the water to go back to questing.  Expect to pay $10 to $15 for the wand, and another$10 to activate it.  If you saved your wand from last year, bring it back and reactivate it.  You don’t need the over-priced attachments, just get the basic wand.  Bring your own feathers and what not if you want to decorate it further.  My son brought his “magic necklace” from home as part of his questing costume.  MagicQuest is a perfect activity while one parent is out food shopping, checking in/out, drying off time, or when the waterpark closes for the night.

Tips:

1. Look for a coupon: you can always get 10% to 20% off using the common seasonal coupons found on the website.  You may save more if you belong to a college alumni, military group, or some other association that has a deal with the lodge.
2. Weekdays and off season costs less: I paid $25 less per room staying a Thursday night instead of a Friday night.
3. Stay one night, but use the water park for 2 days: On the day you arrive you can start using the park from 1pm to closing.  On the day you checkout, you can use the park from 9am-9pm, with the 9am to 1pm time having the park all to yourself. 
4. Use the changing rooms in the waterpark:  Even though you can walk back to your room in a wet bathing suit, I discovered the changing rooms have a bathing suit dryer.  Put the suit in a spinner, and 10 seconds later almost all the water is gone.  Fantastic, especially if you are leaving the park for the drive home.
5. Don’t eat at the lodge: The food is ridiculously overpriced.  A short drive and we paid half the price for pizza and ice cream. You are also allowed to bring in your own food and put it in the refrigerator.
6. Let toddlers watch the 10 minute show in the lobby: Showtimes are 10 a.m. and again at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
7. Avoid the Arcade:  It’s actually a casino for kids.  Suckering you into buying coins which you gamble for tickets, which then get converted into prizes, worth much less than the money originally spent.  Instead bring your own portable video game console.  Surprise your kids with a new game cartridge once at the hotel.