Great Wolf Lodge Poconos Family Activities

The Indoor Park: Bear Track Landing
The indoor water park is a sight to behold. It's enormous, and the highlight of the resort. It has six pools and 11 waterslides, which vary on the thrill scale from tame toddler slides to extreme free falls. There are slides for every age group, and swimming ability, some of which wind in and out of doors. Upon arrival, older kids will run straight for the slides, younger kids will get a kick out of the enormous bucket of water slowly filling up at the top of a sprawling treehouse. In fact, we missed two elevators waiting for the thing to fill up and tip itself over, my son's face pressed against giant glass windows. It finally dumped, soaking a dozen delighted children (and a few crazy grownups) below. As we later learned, this gigantic contraption holds almost 1000 gallons of water, and cools off a happy crowd approximately every five minutes, all day long. Fun! The bucket is atop Fort Mackenzie, which is a giant treehouse, complete with squirters, water guns, steering wheels, soakers, waterfalls, bridges, and waterslides.

There is a separate kiddie area in the indoor park, with four waterslides and an activity pool. Two of the slides are quite small, about the length of a normal park slide, and two are slightly longer and winding. Water depth at the bottom of these slides is just over a foot, and our not-even-two year old was flying up and down them on her own (with someone catching her at the bottom) after just a few minutes in the pool. The kiddie pool is zero depth-entry, which means even the tiniest babies have somewhere to sit and play.

Also indoors are a giant wave pool, a lazy river, an area to shoot water hoops, two whirlpools (one for adults-only) a water roller-coaster, four tube slides and two body slides. Our six year-old was too small to ride the coaster, much to his dismay, as there are height requirements on the bigger slides; but he loved the other slides.

In the center are tables for eating, lounge chairs, showers, swimsuit dryers, and lockers, which can be rented for $10 a day. There is also a snack bar with light food and drinks; you may eat or drink anywhere in the resort, including the lobby. Life guards are present in every area of the park, plenty of them, and are nationally certified. They were very attentive and seemed to take their jobs seriously, paying close attention to the youngest kids in the kiddie area, in the event a busy parent wandered off. Towels and life jackets are available free of charge; but towels are small and must remain in the water park, so you might want to bring a beach cover-up and a small towel of your own. All children who are not potty trained need to wear swimmy diapers, which are available, along with just about every other water-related item you can think of, in the gift shop.

The Outdoor Area: Racoon Lagoon
The outdoor park is called Raccoon Lagoon, and is a giant pool with plenty of room for swimming, basketball nets in the deep end, and a kiddie slide and sprayers in the shallow end. It is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and hours vary. There are no water slides in the outside park. There are lounge chairs and tables with umbrellas set up, as well as a food stand which serves snacks and quick meals like hot dogs, burgers, wraps, as well as soda, beer and mixed drinks. Prices are moderate to expensive. Parents will like that fact the area is enclosed and smaller than inside; so you can watch your child in the pool from any seat. The one downside we found to the outdoor area is that while we were there it did not open until 10 a.m. We awoke early, picked up breakfast at Starbucks and planned to sit and eat outside; much to our dismay, we had to settle for bagels in the chlorine-scented indoor park on a beautiful summer morning.

MagiQuest
MagiQuest is a big part of the Great Wolf Lodge experience, and it's worth the money for kids 6 to 12. The game is basically one big interactive fantasy adventure, where you work your way through different floors of the resort with a magic wand, completing quests in order to get to complete levels. The process begins by choosing a magic wand from the MagicQuest store, as well as optional toppers and decorations. All around are interactive "stops" where you can use your wand: Wave it at a treasure chest and it lights up, opens, and begins speaking to you; wave it at the ceiling and lights flash green. You can choose from a variety of quests, from simple to difficult, and as you solve riddles, you gain power and knowledge. Your magic wand records your accomplishments and remembers what level you are on, so you can go at your own pace. A wand costs $14.99 and the game is $9.99.

Young and tween girls will love Scoops, a mini-spa just for kids which does manicures and pedicures, and features ice-cream themed products. There kid spa is surrounded by glass windows, so parents can keep an eye on children without interfering. Parents will also love the Cub Club, where children can do crafts, as well as decorate their MagicQuest Wands and T-shirts. Parental supervision is required at Cub Club, except during special hours of the day, during which time children who are potty-trained may stay without their parents for $15 an hour, for a maximum of two hours. There is also a fitness center and a large indoor arcade.

Each night at 8 p.m. at Great Wolf there is a short nature show and story time in the lobby. The show takes place beneath the clock tower, and most kids will love the animated characters and songs, which play for about 10 minutes before a story is read in front of the fireplace. Mascot Wiley the Wolf usually makes an appearance at story time.