Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains, PA

Family fun, but manage your expectations My 8-year-old son and I came on December 23 and stayed for one night. It’s only 90 minutes from where we live in NJ, which was nice. We checked into the hotel, which was busy and crowded, but they have kiosks to make check-in faster (although annoyingly, the first wristbands we got from the kiosk didn’t work, so we had to return to the front desk—you use the wristbands to unlock your room, enter the water park, make room charges, etc.). We had dinner at the buffet—totally fine, serviceable, what you’d expect at a family resort. (I’ve had worse food at a family resort—e.g., Legoland in upstate New York.) The room was big, but dated and not very “fancy.” It was also not soundproofed well; we could hear kids running upstairs (but luckily we are good sleepers, and we got good rest). We went to the water park the next morning at 10, stayed for about two to three hours, and had a great time. It wasn’t too crowded at this time, and we didn’t have long waits for any of the slides—which were a nice mix of fun, slightly scary, but not TOO scary. The water in the pools was quite warm, as was the air temperature—they heat it to 84, I believe. By the time we left, it was crowded, and most chairs and loungers were taken. Tips: go early to the water park (at opening), bring snacks and drinks of your own if you want (theirs are not cheap, and consider bringing your own beach towels (the ones they provide are thin). Overall, Great Wolf Lodge is good family fun. But it’s crowded and not high-end, so keep your expectations reasonable, and you will have a good time.

GWL - You can do better My family and I (2 adults and 4 kids ages 9/11/13/15) purchased a day pass for Christmas Day. We arrived right at the opening at 10am which was a great decision in retrospect. There were enough seats to choose from, no lines on the slides, and we had a great time overall. Things changed at about 1pm. They closed half of the slides (in mid day!) for maintenance, the place was packed, the other half of the slides were completely full and it took about 15-20 minutes wait time to go on a ride. They said in the beginning that the maintenance will take about 30 minutes however after 3 hours with no change, we decided to leave. In addition, there aren’t enough staff to handle the crowd, on top of the slides and at the bottom. One young person is responsible to handle multiple rides plus bringing the tubes in from the machine. Way too risky. Bottom line, it’s a nice place and more affordable than Kalahari but maintenance issues like that should not happen during peak times. Especially when they’re over booking the place. I don’t believe we’ll go back.

Too expensive for an infested room. Mental torment. Check your room, its our first day here and had to change our room because it was infested with roaches. They sent us to a much smaller room away from everything at the end of the resort. Like we're being punished. We was only in our room for 4 hours and we saw 3 roaches plus as soon as we got in the room I checked the coffee maker which had a dead one. My husband killed them but just to think there definitely is more hiding. Im mentality traumatized I can't enjoy my vacation. Unsanitary is the perfect word.

Wondeful family weekend! Our family trip to Great Wolf Lodge Poconos was amazing! From the moment we arrived, the staff welcomed us with big smiles. The indoor water park was the best part, with fun slides, a lazy river, and splash zones for the kids. We also enjoyed mini-golf and storytime. The food was delicious and in the evenings, we relaxed by the fireplace. Great Wolf Lodge is the perfect place for families to have fun and make wonderful memories together. We can’t wait to go back!

Another great experience at Great Wolf Lodge, Poconos. Fun filled trip for the family right before Thanksgiving! The kids love it. A lot to do for them, including the indoor water park, Magic Quest, mini-golf, bowling, Build-a-Bear, mining, mirror maze, and an arcade. There are also daily events for the kids to do in the main lobby.