Great Wolf Lodge Scottsdale Review

We had the most amazing time at Great Wolf Lodge in Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago. I had been looking forward to this little trip with my family for a long time and I am so happy to tell you it did not disappoint! Today I am sharing all of the fun we had and a full Great Wolf Lodge Scottsdale review.

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GREAT WOLF LODGE SCOTTSDALE REVIEW

When we first arrived, our room wasn’t quite ready yet so they gave us our Wolf Passes (more on those below) and our wrist bands and we checked our bags with the front desk. We were given access to the hotel and water park and we got busy exploring! (You can get into the waterpark at 1 pm on the day you check-in and you have access to the waterpark until it closes the day you check out!) We spent the hour checking out the property and getting familiar with all it had to offer before heading up to our room.

ROOM

We stayed in a KidCabin Suite. This room has an en-suite log cabin kids sleeping area with bunk beds and a twin size day bed.  The kid’s area also has a TV with Netflix ready to go. The main area of the room has a queen-sized bed and a full sleeper sofa as well as a TV and a small table with 2 chairs. There is a minifridge and coffee maker in all of the rooms.

Audrey did not sleep well at all (an ongoing issue that had nothing to do with the room situation) so we ended up using the sleeper sofa for her and I and Abe slept in the queen bed.

We had plenty of room in this suite and the boys, of course, loved the bunk beds! To avoid any conflict, Abe was a total genius and told the boys they had to switch who got to sleep on the top bunk. Connor got to sleep on the top the first night and Noah got it the second night.

ATTRACTIONS

There is so much to do at Great Wolf Lodge! In fact, there are so many activities to do that once we arrived on Tuesday, we didn’t leave the hotel property again until we were ready to go home on Thursday at 9 pm!

I really recommend you look into getting the Pup/Wolf passes for your kids. We bought the boys the Wolf Pass and Audrey a Pup Pass. The passes are very similar with the Pup Pass being geared more towards younger kids.

Wolf Pass ($70) Includes:

• 1 MagiQuest game
• 1 MagiQuest Wand
• 1 round of Howl In One Mini Golf
• 1 game at Ten Paw Alley
• 1 admission to Moonstone Mine
• 1 admission to Howlers Peak Ropes Course
• 1 climb on Rustic Ridge Climbing Wall
• 20 Paw Points to use in the Arcade
• 1 serving of bulk candy
• 1 scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s

The Pup Pass ($50) includes:

• 1 Color Your Own Item from Camp H.O.W.L
• 1 Furry Friend from Build-A-Bear Workshop
• 20 Paw Points to use in the Arcade
• 1 Serving of bulk candy
• 1 scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry’s

Arcade: The Northern Lights Arcade is awesome! There are tons of games and prizes for kids of all ages. I really appreciated that there weren’t any crazy violent/shooting games (other than a Jurassic Park game).  There are several multi-player games which makes it more fun for families to play together. The arcade is open 24 hours and your Paw Points (tokens) never expire so you can bring your card back the next time you visit.

Howlers Peak Ropes Course: The boys were really excited to try the ropes course. Abe had to follow behind Noah (kids below 48 inches require an adult to help them) so he got to try it, too! Even though the boys got a little nervous, they did so great! It was so much fun to watch them cross over the different obstacles and to overcome their nerves to complete the course! Don’t forget to bring closed-toe shoes for the ropes course!

Ten Paw Alley: This bowling alley is really cute! The lanes are shorter and the balls are lighter so it’s perfect for kids. No special shoes are required.

Howl in One Mini Golf: 9 holes on miniature golf. The course is pretty small and honestly wasn’t the boys’ favorite activity but they still enjoyed it.

Build-A-Bear Workshop: With the Pup Pass, Audrey was allowed to pick any animal from the Build-A-Bear Workshop. She chose Violet, one of the Lodge’s mascots. There are tons of clothes and accessories to pick for your animal if you’d like. We left Violet as is.

MagiQuest: The MagiQuest game is so much fun! To be honest, Abe took over this part of the vacation with the boys so I’m not 100% sure what the end goal is. But, basically, you get a wand and wave it at different portals throughout the hotel. You have missions to complete and activities at each portal. My favorite part of the MagiQuest is that it was something the boys did the entire time we were there. It wasn’t like an hour in front of a game and then it was over. And you can pause and resume as you please. It was nice to have this activity for the boys in between all the other things we were doing. We bought Audrey a wand (the Pup Pass doesn’t include the MagiQuest game) because there are other things throughout the hotel that respond to the wand. Her favorite was a few rocks that played music when she pointed the wand at it.

You definitely do not have to buy the passes, but if you’re planning on doing the attractions (which is why you’re there, right?) I really suggest getting the pass. Not only does it include all/most of the attractions, it actually kept the boys from asking “can we do that again? I want to do that again!”. Each pass lists out all the activities available and the employees cross them off as your child uses them. For my boys, seeing them get crossed off was enough for them to know they did it once and that was enough. Without the passes, I could totally see my boys asking to do things over and over and the cost of each attraction multiple times would definitely add up! If you wanted to allow your kid to do the attraction again they totally can, you just have to pay for another round.

In addition to these activities, there is so much more! And, there are free daily activities as well. Yoga, storytime, and dance parties are just a few of the free activities to enjoy.

Don’t forget to pack closed-toe shoes. For the ropes course and the rock wall, closed-toe shoes are required. I knew this and reminded myself to bring closed-toe shoes over and over but guess what…I forgot. There is a Target right around the corner so I quickly grabbed the boys some shoes and they were ready to play!

WATER PARK

There is so much to do in this 85,00 sq foot water park and we had the best time! In the waterpark is a wave pool, a toddler area with 3 slides and a splash pad, lazy river, 5 slides, a huge treehouse with slides, and another pool with basketball and an obstacle course.

Initially, I was a little unsure of how we would do the water park with the boys and Audrey. But the water park is set up so nicely for families with kids of different ages. We were all able to do things together and I felt comfortable letting the boys hang out at the treehouse or wave pool while Abe and I were with Audrey in the toddler area.

Abe and I took turns spending time with Audrey and the boys but really we did most of the water park together as a family. There is a 5 person slide that even Audrey was allowed to go on so we went on that several times together.

Connor was obsessed with the wave pool and loved the slides! I was shocked to see him go on Wolf Tail, a vertical drop water slide that is super fast, over and over again! He convinced me to go on it once and while it was fun, once was enough for me!

Noah loved the treehouse and spent so much time going down the slides and hanging out under the buckets waiting for them to spill over with water.

A few things about the waterpark:

• Before entering, your kids will be measured and assigned wrist bands representing which attractions they are able to ride based on height.
• Get your towels from the towel stand using your wristband (which is also your room key and allows you to charge to your room) and don’t forget to return them when you’re done. It’s a $15 fee per towel if you don’t return them.
• There are tons of life jackets in various sizes right at the entrance of the waterpark. They aren’t required but you can use them as you need.
• There are tons of chairs all over the waterpark. Grab a few seats and set out your towels. The park does have lockers you can rent but I felt comfortable leaving my bag under the chair.
• The waterpark has several bathrooms and they are incredibly clean. The main bathroom has showers and changing areas.
• You can order food from two different restaurants and there is a bar in the center of the waterpark.

FOOD

There are several food options available at Great Wolf Lodge.

• Dunkin Donuts
• Ben & Jerry’s ice cream
• Timers Tacos has tacos, nachos, and quesadillas. You can order from here inside the waterpark as well as inside the hotel.
• Buckets has burgers, hot dogs, and fries. You can also order from here inside the waterpark
• Campfire Kitchen has a buffet for breakfast and then closes until dinner.
• Hungry as a Wolf has pizza, pasta, and salad.
• Barnwood is a sit-down restaurant with craft cocktails and shareable plates

We ate at all of the food options except for Barnwood. And I have to be honest, we were not impressed with the food at all. This was the biggest bummer of our entire stay at Great Wolf Lodge. The tacos at Timbers were okay but so, so tiny! The burgers at Buckets were kind of gross and the pizza at Hungry as a Wolf was also just okay.

It is so convenient to have so many food options right at the hotel but it was really disappointing that all of our meals were pretty boring.

I really hate to be so down about the food but I am just being honest. We ate it and we survived but for the price per meal, I wish it tasted better.

I hope you enjoyed this Great Wolf Lodge Scottsdale review and that is was helpful. You definitely have to check out the hotel for your next vacation. I know your family will love it!