Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg

Another One Bites the Dust, Disney Style Another destination has decided to take the first steps in going out of business, apparently using the Disney model. We just returned from our third, and very likely last, trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Our first trip was great, and we thought we had found a family-oriented company operated by helpful, caring people. Our second trip was even better; we had figured out how everything worked, everything that was there for the kids, and there’s a lot. This last trip showed that they had gutted the value in almost every way, and for the most part the people I encountered didn’t care. Let’s start with the value to the kids. We’ve always visited in March because that’s one of the grandson’s birthday. This year was no different. My wife asked about available birthday celebrations, and the person on the phone, instead of giving any details, asked for his birthday information. My wife gave it, figuring that it couldn’t hurt, and that we could always not book it. My wife asked how much a birthday celebration cost, and she was told “Oh, it’s already booked.” Flash forward to our arrival. We asked about what we could expect as we were checking in, and we were told that nothing was booked. We were annoyed, but we figured that we can always make our own celebration for him as we always had. Later, I called down from the room to see what was included and if we could still arrange to book it. The answer: “Why don’t you come down to the desk and I can show you.” You read that right. I was a little taken aback, and I said “What would you do if someone wanted to book it over the phone?” Then I thought “That’s exactly what they did. We tried to book it, and they wouldn’t give us any information about it. At that point, I gave up. We went to Walmart, got him a cake and a Happy Birthday sign. Why in the word would they make it so difficult to find out about a birthday celebration. It gets worse. We have always bought passes for the boys. They were expensive, but they bundled a lot with them, including a Build-a-Bear stuffy. They’re still expensive, but they’ve stripped a lot of the value out of them, including the stuffy, and if you know Build-a-Bear, they’re not cheap. When my wife booked the trip, the description said that stuffies were included. We told the staff this, and they had no comment. Worse, when my daughter made it to the shop close to closing time, the staffer said “Don’t expect the whole show, with the hearts and the wishes.” Next was food. I know that at least some Great Wolf Lodges have a full service restaurant, but this one has a buffet. With three small boys who sometimes act up, we tend to get takeout boxes. They’re expensive, but we assume (or at least we did until now) that the idea is that they expect us to stuff the boxes full. For this trip, they had very little food out. They watched my daughter empty some trays, but not come close to filling her boxes, but they left the trays empty…that is until she went around the corner, out of some. At that point they immediately put more food out. She came back and finished filling her boxes. In the room I went to plug in a USB cable so I could charge my phone when needed. I encountered something I’ve never seen before. The nightstand didn’t have USB plugs…but it did have HDMI plugs. Presumably this was so I could plug in my DVD player to the nightstand. I called the front desk and asked if they had another clock for the nightstand like the one in the kids’ room, which has USB ports built in. Answer: “You can come down to the gift shop and see if they have any adapter cables.” Great Wolf had already started charging to park last year. As of this year, it looks like they’re following the Disney model: charge as much as you can, for everything you can, and provide as little as possible. It's still an OK place, although it's getting long in the tooth, and it's definitely no longer a value for families.

Awesome concept the kids loved Awesome concept the kids loved, there as loads for the kids to do, explore and that was before we went to the pool. Our room had bunk beds which was a huge hit with the girls. As was being able to ride water slides after dark, when it was cold outside.

Family vacation fun I have nothing bad to say. From getting there early to checking out it was great. The room was standard, but it was very clean. Usual wear and tear of carpet but otherwise it was fine. We did the dining package, got food credits while playing at the water park. Every staff member we encountered was friendly, we did MagiQuest. Once we got there, we didn't have to leave for anything which was our goal. I would definitely suggest that you experience this once or twice or more, this is the second location that we have been to and my Wolf Pack enjoyed this one a whole lot. We are Wolf Pack for life. Edit: I totally thought i submitted this review. It has been almost 3 maybe 4 years since we came here. I wish my kids weren't older because we would all love to come back.

Great place to take kids. Exceeded expectations! We took our three grandkids to the Lodge (ages 8, 9 and 13), staying in a KidCabin Suite for 2 nights. We all had a great time. The kids loved the waterpark and the hotel. We didn't get the Wolf Pass, but did purchase the Magic Quest games for all three kids. It took a while to catch on to how the Magic Quest worked, but once we did, it was fun. The kids were surprisingly taken with the free wolf ears, LoL. We loved the Hungry Like a Wolf pizza and the buffet breakfast--very reasonable prices. The buffet dinner was OK. Service everywhere was great and the lifeguards were very attentive. I recommend getting to the waterpark early if you want a table. However, there are lots of chairs/chaises. There are also cabanas if you want to pay the price. The KidCabin was large and well-equipped with a small frig, a microwave, small table and sofa. The bunk beds and single bed were cute and had their own TV in the area. The double bed was very comfortable. The kids' sheets could have been a little thicker/larger, but we were fine. The hotel rooms were surprisingly quiet for all the activity going on. We didn't go to the gaming area, virtual reality, laser tag, or bowling, but might next time. The Wolf Pass is likely a good value if you want to do all of those things. We all really enjoyed our stay and look forward to visiting again.

Scam-like fees when booking rooms- beware! I recently booked a room at the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg for February. It turned out that a snowstorm was forecasted the day of our trip, so I had to postpone our trip. When I called to postpone the trip, the customer service agent charged us a $25 change fee and then said that the remaining deposit (with the change fee subtracted) would be held until we were read to book our new trip. I called 2 weeks later to book the new trip. The room rate matched what was shown on the internet, and the customer service agent began booking the new stay. He then told me that I would be charged ANOTHER $25 change fee. I'm furious. Not only did I waste nearly 3 hours calling customer service each time (each call was a 30 minute wait + 30 minutes to make the change) the Great Wolf Lodge seems to go out of their way to charge additional (and not aligned with their policies) fees at nearly every step.