Experiencing The Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas
Looking for a great place to Vacation with little Kids? How about the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas
Often when you think of a Family Vacation, you think of a Destination (like Disneyland) and then you think of a good family friendly hotel to stay in. However, there are some places you can stay that offer soo much for families to do they are practically a destination in and of themselves. That is what it is like staying at the Great Wolf Lodge.
I have been wanting to take my family to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge ever since I first heard about them. I mean how cool is it that the Hotel has it's own Indoor Waterpark!!
We finally got our chance to stay at a Great Wolf Lodge on our recent trip to Kansas City, Kansas and we absolutely LOVED it there. The Lobby of Lodge really set the tone for the whole experience. The first thing you see when you enter the Lobby is the Great Clock Tower, two leather couches facing a cozy fireplace, their kid's activity area (where they do various kids crafts and activities throughout the day) and a glimpse of their candy shop and restaurant. Behind the clock tower is an elevator and a view of their amazing indoor waterpark.
At check-in, we were given info on all their amenities (included and extras) as well as a schedule for when everything was available. They also gave each of our kid's cute little wolf ears to wear throughout our stay. My kids had to put their's on right away and start acting like little wolf cubs...Cute howls and all.
For our stay, we stayed in their standard Family Suite. In the suite, the 2 Queen sized beds are separated from a living room (consisting of a pull-out couch bed, coffee table, and two-person table and chairs.
Their TV sat on a rotating stand on the dresser allowing you to move the screen to watch movies in either the living area or beds. (Which my kids totally took advantage of that first night to watch Disney's Brave on the Disney channel while my husband and I brought in all our bags and settled in.
The bathroom had a full shower/bathtub which was nice since we had small kids with us. The room also came with a mini fridge (filled with 2 complimentary bottles of waters) a microwave, coffee maker, blow dryer, and high-speed internet.
I love how included in your stay The Great Wolf Lodge offers a variety of fun kids crafts and activities. To join in all you have to do is go to the lobby at the scheduled time. These activities were a great way to fill in those down times between our main activities (at the Lodge and around Kansas City, Kansas.) During our stay, our kids enjoyed the daytime activities of making buttons, picture frames, foam airplanes. Balloon animals. At night they had fun playing BINGO, participating in the Pajama Dance Party, watching the great clock show, and story time at night to get them all ready for bed.
Being a Family Hotel they have fun Character Mascots at the Great Wolf Lodge. Throughout the day these characters will appear for meet and greet where they kids can say hello and even get a picture. We were soo busy with everything we only got to meet two of the characters. At the evening Story time our second night there my kids enjoyed meeting Brinley Bear and the next morning while checking out we got to say goodby to Oliver Raccoon.
Of course, the highlight of our stay was spending the day enjoying their amazing Water Park. After getting a glimpse of the Water Park while exploring after we checked in, the kids couldn't wait to go have some epic water fun. Since the waterpark is indoors we didn't have to worry about sunscreen or the weather. I was happy to note that the water was a perfect temperature for comfort. This made it possible for us to spend several hours there.
The water park really was built for all ages. They had a splash pad (with kid-activated water features) with a hollow pool and small slides for the younger kids. My youngest spent quite a bit of time playing there.
Next to the little kid area was a fun pool that had basketball hoops, a small obstacle course and some fun floating Lilly pads. It was fun watching my boys play with my husband (where he lifted them up in the air so they could make slam dunks in the hoops, while my daughter kept doing the obstacle course. **For those concerned with safety they had lifejackets in all sizes available for use on a first come first serve basis. These were really handy with my small kids.
Then there was this giant tree house water fortress that had bridges, more water slides and lots of kids activated water features. At the top of the water, the fortress was this humungous wood bucket that was constantly being filled with water that once filled would dump on everyone below with a huge splash before it began to fill with water again.
And of course, there was the lazy river and tube water slides. We never actually made it to enjoy the lazy river (soo much to do elsewhere) but we did have fun taking my middle son down the various tube slides. (my oldest opted not to do the slides and my youngest was just a wee bit to short.) I have to admit that going down the slides on a tube with my 6-year-old was sooooo much fun. We went 3 times and then he went a few more with my husband before had to leave to get dinner.
Like I said we had such a fun time there as a family. We only wish we could have had a longer trip (we had to get home for my brother's wedding). Next time we go, my kids want to do my daughter has asked if she could get pampered with me at the Scoop spa, my boys want to spend more time at the arcade. And all my kids want to do the Magic Quest!
Like I said if you are looking for a fun Summer Getaway for your whole family check out the Great Wolf Lodge. **In addition to the one in Kansas City, Kansas they have lodges across the United States! Find a Location near you here.
