Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine, TX

I was so excited when we first pulled into the Great Wolf Lodge. The building just looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. The entrance is flanked by two gigantic wolf statues, and very loud music plays welcoming you to the lodge.

When you walk in, you are shocked by the lobby's soaring ceilings and the amount of fun kid friendly lodge decor that surrounds you. The wall along side the check in desk is glass and overlooks the indoor water park. The entire scene makes you ready to get your room, get suited up, and start playing.

So, with extreme anticipation, we got in line to check in. Before we got to the front of the line...the 1 hour plus line...my two little ones were screaming and crying. The entire scene is torturous to young children. They can see the water park, but cannot yet enjoy it. After waiting in line for an hour and a half, we were told that our room wasn't ready (we were there after the check in time). The clerk at the desk took our cell phone number, told us to enjoy the city of Grapevine, and they'd call us when I room was available.

We went and ate at a nearby restaurant a bit. Still no call. So we waited, after all the restaurant was air conditioned. Two hours later, still no call. My husband called the lodge and they said our room still wasn't ready. We explored the Grapevine Mills Mall a bit, still no call. My little ones were getting super cranky. They needed a nap, but we still didn't have a room. My husband decided to go back to the lodge. He had a small fit and someone suddenly produced a room key to our room which was supposedly still supposed to be unavailable.

It was 4:30 in the evening and we were finally in our room!

The waterpark was disappointing. The commercials and website led me to believe that the waterpark had a splash zone and other areas that would be good for my 24 month old. Unfortunately, it turns out that the Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark is really no place for a toddler. Kids ages 5 and up would probably have a great time at their waterpark.

The website mentions that they have an outdoor waterpark area. If you are like me and were hoping to keep your little ones out of the hot Texas sun for most of the day in the inside waterpark and thought the outdoor one might be a nice break now and then, then you too would be sorely disappointed. The outdoor waterpark is actually a lot nicer than the indoor one. We ended up having to douse our little ones with sunscreen over and over because none of us wanted to hangout in the indoor park.

The website also claims that the indoor park is a nice and balmy 85 degrees. Well, we went the first week of August and it was more like 70 degrees, and the water was even colder than that! The water was so cold that our 24 month old's lips turned blue and her whole body started shaking.

So, as far as the "indoor" waterpark idea goes, it was worthless. And if you are going to douse yourself with sunscreen and stay outside any way, you might as well go to Six Flag's Hurricane Harbor that's just right down the road and much, much nicer with a ton of things to do.

The one nice thing I can say about Great Wolf is that you really don't have to leave the hotel unless you want to. They have various restaurants and snack shacks to choose from. They even have a Pizza Hut.

I was pleasantly surprised by the snack shack at the outdoor waterpark when I saw things on the menu like: club sandwich, chef salad, and a chicken wrap along side kid friendly items like hamburgers, french fries, and chicken nuggets. So, I got a chef salad. And, it was frozen! I don't mean it had been frozen and they served it to be thawed...I mean it was frozen when I got it. The boiled egg, lunch meat, cheese, and yes even the lettuce all had ice on them. In the heat, part of it thawed quickly and then the lettuce was all limp and soggy. Oh, and did I mention it was around $8.00, not including a drink!

My family all went down to the sit down restaurant to eat one night while I stayed in the room with the baby. My husband gave me a menu and asked me what I wanted and he'd bring it up. Since his sister was treating us to this meal I thought I'd order just a salad to save her some money. I ordered a salad that had grilled chicken, strawberries and a blackberry vinaigrette. Well, so much for saving money. My little salad was $14.95! They had a buffet that was $20 a person!

Ok, so how much does the glorious Great Wolf Lodge cost?

Just the plain Jane family suite (not even one of the neat themed rooms) is $189 a night and that is during the off season time (during the school year) and on a week day! The same room is $229 a night on the weekend during the off season months! The neat themed rooms run anywhere from $329 to $429 a night. And keep in mind that this doesn't include the food, which is outrageously high if you eat at Great Wolf.

We stayed in a family suite, had 4 adults and 3 kids (mind you, all the kids were free because they were all 3 and under) and after we paid for food, our little 2 night trip was well over $1,500! And that doesn't even include the gas we spent to drive up there!

We could have flown somewhere neat and stayed a few nights for that price, or gone to Sea World.

We were very disappointed with Great Wolf Lodge. It was just way too expensive and wasn't as age appropriate for toddlers as I had expected. Since it's better for school age kids any way, you'd be much better off going to Hurricane Harbor and staying at a nice hotel.

You could stay 2 nights at a nice hotel, go to Hurricane Harbor one day and Six Flags the next and still not spend as much as you would at Great Wolf Lodge.