Petersons Never Give Up: Great Wolf Lodge

Last April we had a little trip scheduled to St. George. It got canceled with everything else when Covid hit. This year we decided to try planning a spring break trip again, but honestly I was skeptical it would actually happen. I was a bit paranoid that we would get our hopes up and then have to cancel again. But as it got closer it became clearer that it was actually going to happen. Sean was fully vaccinated back in December/January and I was fully vaccinated by the time we left. Both my parents came and they are both fully vaccinated and Seans parents are both fully vaccinated as well so we weren't concerned about bringing germs back to them. It felt like a trip from another world. We had SOOO much fun! Even with masks and some of the restrictions it felt like the world was getting back to normal!

When we planned the trip we decided to go to Arizona and try out a different lodge. Sean looked up airfare and it was $80 for the roundtrip ticket including fees! We were like "Heck Yes!" It was extra exciting to get to fly with the kids again and it was Lizzie's first flight. We left on a Wednesday. We decided we needed to leave for the airport around 9. Mom and Dad P picked us up and took us to drop Oreo off at the pet hotel. They then dropped us off at the airport. It was HUGE! We were in a B gate and it took us a solid 30 minutes of walking to get there. The kids were great and loved the moving sidewalks! They were all really good helpers with bags and staying near each other as we went through security.

We arrived in Arizona and got a Lyft to drive us over the The Great Wolf Lodge. They had our room ready when we got there which was closer to 1 instead of our 4 Pm check-in time. We got up to our room and unpacked/checked things out. Grandma and Grandpa were set to arrive about an hour after us.

We upgraded to the Kid Cabin Suite. So the kids had their own little cabin inside the room. It was done so well and everyone loved it!

Here was the view out our window:

We went down to get our wolf ears and get some pizza.

After eating pizza we found Grandma and Grandpa and said hi. We were ready to swim so we ran up and got in swim suits and jumped in the pool =)

There was a wave pool, lazy river, big slides, a kiddy area, a basketball pool and obstacle course pool and a giant water playground. Then the outdoor pool.

Something really cool that the Great Wolf Lodge does is these little passes you can buy for the kids. I got each kid a wolf pass for $84 each. It was such a great deal and gave them soooo much to do while we were there.

fun dancing lights in the lobby

Getting wristbands so the lifeguards know which slides you are safe to go on.

After swimming we met Grandma and Grandpa for some dinner, then played some magi quest (a fun video game type scavenger hunt he kids do with wands throughout the whole lodge), got our candy cups from the candy shop, Alana did some rock climbing, and then we went to bed. The kids giggled and giggled for a long time. It'll forever be one of my favorite memories of lying in bed listening to the just laugh and laugh about who knows what.

We bought the fancy all you can eat breakfast with our package and it was so yummy! There was so much good, gourmet food. The kids liked the cereal, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, and chocolate muffins. Sean and I loved all the things but one I loved the steel cut oatmeal and the breakfast quesadilla with queso. Alana did a great job at getting her apple juice medicine drunk first thing so we didn't have to worry about it throughout the day. Brett was so sweet and offered to give her $5 if she drank it everyday. He ended up buying her a geode to help encourage her and she was thrilled. We ended up going swimming first thing because the water park opened at 9 and most other things didn't open till 11. Grandma and Grandpa came swimming with us and we had such a fun time!

I don't have pics of us swimming that morning because I left my phone in the room. Its kinda annoying to wear in the waterproof lanyard, but I do love getting pictures of the fun!

After swimming and probably some lunch (can't remember) we did some of the adventure park stuff.

Here they are shouting spells at the ceiling, there was a star that would light up in this particular place.

We went mini bowling which was so much fun!

Brett, Sean, and Alana did the high ropes course:

Lizzie and Brett went rock climbing

We went to the gift shop and bought new stuffed animals for the girls:

Alana got a little wolf tail:

We went to the expensive and a bit disappointing arcade, but the kids had fun!

Then we went to dinner at the fancy restaurant. I liked the table teasers and would you rather games on the kids menus. We had lots of laughing as we discussed whether swimming in marshmallows or syrup would be better.

The kids pizza was absurdly priced but it came on a paw shaped plate so I guess it was worth it right?

Sean and I shared this brown rice quinoa thing with lots of veggies and chicken, it sounded amazing and was pretty disappointing. We helped my mom finish her ribs which were quite a bit better.

We tried to go swimming again after dinner but the water was kinda cold and so we didn't stay long. The kids slept super solid that night and it was only after we left that they all mentioned the blankets provided were too small. I told them we can always ask hotels for more blankets.

Friday morning we got dressed to swim right away. We had breakfast then swam. We went on the slides first thing and played in the water for 3 hours. Then we had some lunch and the kids got a bit tired and into a little scuffle. They were pretty upset but my dad came over and let them play some random albertsons monopoly game he got. They won all kinds of things like a jar of pasta sauce and some frozen veggies. It helped them forget they were upset though and calm down. We did more adventure park things together then got cafe rio for dinner.

One fun thing we didn't expect was this moonstone mine mirror maze. It was so well done and hard to see where we were going, but we found the moonstone and made our way out =)

Brett Defeated the dragon:

Water slides:

Albertsons monopoly in the room:

The mine store had fun hats:

We went bowling again:

We bought a big bag of dirt filled with gems, arrowheads, and shark teeth. We split it between the kids and they got some pretty cool stuff. They just have this little river that runs through the adventure park for the mining activity.

We went mini golfing:

I liked when Sean wore the unicorn backpack we used to carry stuff =)

Looking out Grandma and Grandpas window:

Heres the menu from the breakfast

The kids LOVED these huge bavarian pretzels. There are 7 restaurants at the lodge. Buckets which has hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken tenders, french fries, pretzels and stuff. Timbers which had tacos and carne asada loaded french fries. Hungry as a Wolf which had pizza and pasta and salads. Barnwood which was the fancy place that was kinda disappointing. Campfire kitchen which is the breakfast buffet. Ben and Jerry's with yummy ice cream and a Dunkin Donuts. All the food was great except the one fancy place.

On Saturday morning my mom and dad left first thing since they were driving. We had breakfast, went swimming, ate some lunch, watched Brett get his Magi certificate since he completed the Magi Quest. I did the ropes course with Brett and Alana. We packed up and headed for the airport about 2 pm. Our flight didn't leave till about 5:30 so we had a bit of a wait. We arrived home and Mom and Dad P picked us up. We made it to the Petsmart to pick up Oreo and 8:57 (they close at 9!) He was so happy to see us. We got home and all slept really well that night. Oreo got kennel cough from being boarded so he has spent the week on antibiotics and resting but he is feeling better. The vet told me that kennel cough can happen anywhere and not to worry that the hotel wasn't clean.