Avatar

RailRider has announced over the Holidays that he and his wife are expecting their first child in June. I was just saying that I think he will change his mind about how far that walk is when doing it with little ones in tow. GWL mostly caters to families and I personally think that that walk is too far for most families.

You will change your mind after this comming June and for several years afte, I assure you that! Guest with little ones are probably the most impatient ones here too. They have young ones with small bladders and they need direct access to a bathroom as soon as possible. Also I think guest should complain especially when they have paid a hefty price to park then haft to park way out with no shuttle service. A Major Guest Turn-Off!!!

They do offer a changing room in the water park area for those who come early and are waiting for a room or for those who have checked out but wish to continue to use the facilities until 10 pm as they have paid in advance to use the GWL activities till 10 pm of their check-out date ( this applies to all GWL guests).

I was hopping that the GWL would get there own entrance to the park too. But after going and looking around I really did not see any where that they could do this that would be better than just going to through the front. I do hope that they do offer transportation to and from the park and the GWL.

Probably any kid over 7 can do this with ease, they pull the rope to fill two buckets then turn the water off so guest below do not see any dripping and they are following the designated path. Mean while the kids (young and old) duck under the wood front structure and peek through the slots and wait till the unsuspecting come by even if the guest look up they don’t see anyone there so they continue right into the path of this bucket splashing game. Yes this bucket should be shut off as it is located above a main artery, guest coming and leaving with their towels, camera’s, drinks and so on haft to go through this area. I seen several other places that they had the buckets turned off, that was more in the center of the park that would not bother anyone.. I have sevearl picture's of this happing to fully clothed guests, but my media card is not co-operating right now. In my opinion this is going to happen pretty regular as while we were there we witnessed two grown adults shouting up to the kids above and we also saw one life guard get really angry and shouted at the kids after he was dowsed.

Were they have this bucket located is pretty close to the front and were guests who are there to just check things out haft to come through because of the lounge chairs for the wave pool. We watched this happen all day when we were there and guest would dump these buckets on old ladies who where full clothed with they’re hair just made up and we also witnessed a man carrying two full size pizzas with four drinks get fully dowsed by this devious behavior. They know who they are splashing and can see if they are carrying anything or are fully clothed. All the men involved in this incident are idiots! First of all the first set of men were also in their 30’s and should have known better than to dowse a fully clothed family, they are setting a pour example for the kids too. And of course the idiot that let his pride get to him so much that he decided to take it to a violent act. Here’s what it looks like if you are standing under this bucket when they decided to pour it on you!!! notice the kids faces half way onthe right. You come in just under this picture then go under the bridge toward the wave pool and as soon as you turn to the right after the bridge is were all this bucket dumping takes place. As you can see the guest have no choice but to that direction because of the lounge chairs steer them that direction.

At the present time it is my understanding that only guest of the resort are permitted to participate in the water park at this time. Also as a side note; my Very Detailed trip report is almost done but some of my pictures are stuck on my media card and I cant get them off, so I will post what I have at this point. We are currently planning another trip to the lodge around the middle of February and I will retake the pictures that I’m missing at that point and repost them at that time.

I could not help but notice a GWL advertising ad on the PKIC info pages earlier today too.

I agree that the Wings Buffet needs a little tweaking as I felt that the selections where limited for the price and when we went a lot of the food items where a little dried out for my liking. But I did enjoy being able to build my own salad with my choice of toppings. On that day Ryan was very pleased with the breadsticks dipped in the Mac & Cheese so much so that he wanted to make that combination the official PKIC food choice.

The Great Wolf Lodge has just announced another great deal for those that are still on the fence and are thinking about going. $209 Winter fest Wolf Wakeup! 1/8/07 - 2/8/07 $209 for Family Suites $229 for Family Fireplace Suites $249 for Wolf Den™ and KidKamp™ Suites Sunday - Thursday Includes breakfast for 4 in Loose Moose Cottage Includes waterpark passes for your entire stay Includes $10 voucher to use towards any Cub Club craft Activities include: Snowman University, Snowflake Bingo, and winter themed crafts This is really a good deal as the Loose Moose breakfast buffet is $11.95 per adult and $5.95 for the children. So that is a $35.80 savings plus $10.00 for the kids Cub Club. So that would make your room price $163.20 after those deductions. I know $163.00 is a lot for a room for one night but if you really think about it, how much would a family pay for entertainment for two days and for the full use of an indoor heated Water Park. I would say a family would pay at least $30.00 per person for two days of amusement that would leave the room total to be just around $43.00 for one night. What I’m saying is that the newly released Winterfest Wolf Wakeup deal is in my opinion a fantastic deal for a family. They tell all the guest that even though the check-out time is 11 am you still have the full use of their facility until 10 pm. They offer a changing room with a shower to accommodate those who do stay later and have already checked-out.

Yeah I can see your reasoning as the GWL probably offers only periodic changes. My original thinking was to offer a place for members and especially those periodic guests viewers in the summer would have one place to get GWL first hand guest report information, without the need to hunt through all the other various forums. Well thanks for the feed back.

I have held off from posting this Trip report as I wanted to put a more emphases on the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park. But after going to the GWL it is in another whole class by itself. So while I am making a very detailed Trip Report of the Great Wolf Lodge I’m going to go ahead and release this trip report. Note; PKIC site will only let 18 pictures to be posted to a single post, so I used two posts to fit this trip report in. During a recent visit to Walt Disney World Theme Parks my family and I decided to take some time to enjoy two of Disney’s water parks named Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. This gave us some much needed rest and a break from the long over stimulating days at the other Disney parks. I believe it would be best to do a separate trip report for each water park then at the end of the trip report make comments regarding both water parks as a whole in the conclusion portion of this trip report. Short Video is included at the end of this trip report. TYPHOON LAGOON 1) Humunga Kowabunga...2) Storm Slides..........3) Shark Reef ...........................4) Crush n' Gusher 5) Castaway Creek............6) Bay Slides.............7) Ketchakiddee Creek..............8) Keelhaul Falls 9) Mayday Falls................10) Gangplank Falls...11) Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool Typhoon Lagoon is a heavily themed water park and has 11 fun attractions, some have several features or multiple slides counted as a single attraction. The whole water park is centered around its main featured attraction that attracts guest of all ages to enjoy called Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool, which is basically a wave pool. There are a few distinct feature differences to this wave pool as opposed to others. Most guests will come into the park and find ample lounge chairs that are placed in dived sections around the Surf Pool. Each section is separated from the other sections by lush tropical vegetation of palm trees and bushes which gives each section enough room to seat around 350 guests. Some areas are better suited for small children as they have tropical vegetation in the water to block the large waves washing into the beach area. A view of a boat that sits high above the park is visible from all areas and is used to blow out water and sounds a whistle according to the time of the hour that it is. A special note here, one of the greatest features of this park is that they use real gulf coast sand in all their seating areas which really adds to the tropical laid back feeling of Typhoon Lagoon. They offer two different types of waves and are run every other hour. The first type of wave they use is one that most water parks provide and what they call waves, which really are just ocean swells then small waves’ crest towards the swallow end of the pool. What separates Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool from the other wave pools is that they do have an actual 6 foot waves that are spaced about 2 minutes apart, the wave starts out as a six foot wave from the rope line and grows smaller as it reaches the sandy shore line. In the picture below notice the waterline to the right of the Surf Pool. This was one of my favorite attractions to this park; I loved wading in chest deep water then being pummeled by a six foot wave crashing over my head. Another Signature attraction that Typhoon Lagoon offers is the Crush ’n’ Gusher. Crush ’n’ Gusher is a water coaster that is also heavily themed as an old fruit crushing company that has closed down and since then it has been overgrown by the tropical vegetation. They offer 3 unique slide rides that can be ridden solo or as a 2 passenger ride. As I did enjoy the unique experience of this attraction for it’s length and nice up and down air pops. I will warn others that you need to watch out for the shooting water spray hitting the back of your head as you crest the top of one of the many water jet spray lift hills. This attraction uses a conveyor belt to launch its guests. Guests would go over and put their tube on the belt, and then they would get situated on the tube to be launched by a cast member when they felt it was safe to do so. Castaway Creek was our next attraction and it is a 20 minute tube ride that takes you around the over sized Surf Pool. This attraction features a continuous theme of caves, grottos waterfalls and rainforest areas. Ketchakiddee Creek was the next area that Miss Rae said that we must not put off any longer so as dutiful parents we split up, so that one parent could take a nap while the other could watch Miss Rae play or ride 20 kids attractions After taking turns napping and watching Miss Rae we all decided to walk through Mountain Trail; which is a lush trail that goes through caves and offers some nice scenic picture opportunities. From their I took a picture of the Humunga Kowabunga Slides. As you can see in the picture below Disney does a great job trying to camouflage their attractions into the landscaping. We did try all three of those slides and I must mention that their was seldom a wait for the waterslides as they allow you to go down one after another, just as long as you are not within touching distance. At the bottom of the splash pool if the guard felt that two guest were to close to each other they would tell them to space out next time. We decided to have lunch at one of the many counter service restaurants that looks over some of their many attractions. From there we decided it was time to do some snorkeling at the water parks own private snorkeling Shark Tank. I was pleasantly surprised that the salt in the water really keep you afloat on top of the water with little to no effort. We then rode took to ride the other water slides that were similar in nature to other various water parks. Typhoon Lagoon closed at 7 pm that evening but we had done everything that we cared to do there by 5 pm. BLIZZARD BEACH 1) Summit Plummet..............2) Teamboat Springs..3) Ski Patrol Training Camp.4) Tike's Peak Chair Lift 5) Winter Summerland.........6) Chairlift..................7) Cross Country Creek.......8) Melt Away Bay 9) Downhill Double Dipper..10) Runoff Rapids.......11) Snow Stormers..............12) Toboggan Racers 13) Slush Gusher Blizzard Beach is also a heavily themed water park and has 13 fun attractions; some have several features or as many as 6 slides counted as a single attraction. As we entered this water park we were immediately awe struck as to the unique atmosphere there. They have everything covered in what looks like snow and many of the shops and buildings have icicles hanging from them with water dripping from the icicles. . The whole water park is centered on its main featured attraction that attracts mainly the more adventuress thrill seekers. Summit Plummet is a 120-foot vertical free-falling body slide which at the bottom tells what your speed was. We actually decided to get a nice location to sit before we ventured out, as we knew that we would at times split up at this park. Buzzard Beach allows its guests to bring in their own coolers and offers hundreds of shelter houses (with picnic tables and ceiling fans) located amongst all the various guests lounging areas. So we picked a location that gave us a shelter house sun chairs and was close by Ski Patrol Training Camp (kid’s area). We decided that while we were all still together as a group that we would ride Teamboat Springs a 6 person raft ride. This attraction is a great family ride. The line moved rapidly as they launch each raft as quickly as everybody is in the raft, without holding go give separation between rafts. We all loved the length of this attraction and after the big slash towards the bottom you drift slowly down a long passage that is scenically landscaped. Then we took 2 six lane Toboggan Racers races. From their Lisa went back to the shelter house and watched Miss Rae play in Ski Patrol Training Camp area. The rest of us took several long ski lift rides up to Summit Plummet to take the plunge and to take in the other thrill seekers slides that are placed at or near the top of the snow mountain. Something worth sharing here is that you will appreciate the height as you can see almost all the area’s hotels and park icons from atop the snow mountain. We used the Cross Country Creek to get from one attraction to another as to the length of some slides really took us to the other side of the water park. This seemed to be one of the hottest days while we were at Disney and it was great to treat our selves to ice cream while standing in what seemed to be a blizzard wearing swim suites.Of course Miss Rae eats ice cream like other typical 6 year olds and the Disney photographer snapped this picture for us to take back home as a wonderful souvenir. CONCLUSION: We really enjoyed both water parks for their own unique atmospheres. I loved the laid back feel to both parks as they let us take water cameras on and into all the water attractions. The line moved quickly as they only regulated rider flow on a couple slides. I would go past a closer water park to get to more distant water park that offers real sand, top notch themes and gives some serious ride time to their attractions like both Disney water parks did. Most parties are divided to which Disney Water Park was their own personal favorite as our party was divided when questioned as to which was their favorite too. If you find yourself in the Disney area and are looking for some pool time I would recommend both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. If you are looking for a water park that offers a lot of thrill slides, then Blizzard Beach may be a great choice for you. But for me I really enjoyed the supper relaxed Palm Tree shaded areas of Typhoon Lagoon, walking through the cool sand and relaxing while watching Miss Rae play in the sand, that was what I really needed at the time. Here is the Link to; Disney Water Park Video

Any plans yet for a winter construction tour for the pending unannounced new attractions or changes?

I can’t believe I’m making another post regarding this matter but since it was brought back up I will make a quick update since my last post. Last week here in Indianapolis two facts came out; First one was the test scores; the charter schools where very exited to see huge gains in their test scores, while the public schools saw yet a significant decrease in their scores even after they threw major amounts of money at the test score problems. In fact the Charter schools scored 42% higher over the public schools. Second one was the Superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools announced that because so many new students are leaving to go to the more popular charter schools that they needed to shut down several local schools and to lay-off some teachers by next school year. He also added that if the current trend continues more closings and lay-offs will be forth coming So sounds like the Year Round .Charter schools here in Indianapolis is kicking into high gear enough so that it’s forcing major changes here. I’ll just add that the Charter Schools usually buy the closed schools so that they can accommodate their fast growing new student enrollments and hire some of the good layed off teachers.

I so agree!! We actually look forward to going to new style of restaurant’s when we are on our trips. I think that they should but some sort of International type of restaurant in that space to reflect it’s name. Such as a international buffet, an Italian style restaurant complete with an Italian Chef or a Japanese steakhouse that cooks the food right in front of the guests as a form of entertainment. Although we did make a suggestion to ourselves that maybe we should consider the Loose Moose Buffet at Great Wolf Lodge for a special unique dinner as their wide variety of choices where very tasty.

I actually took most the pictures in segments when I was usually away from the family. We also decided to move our dates up by one day so e actually left around 3 pm on Christmas Eve and it was very noticeably less crowded (we even suggested that maybe next year we should stay over the Christmas break). The Water Coaster has several issues; every so often and on a regular basis guest will be stuck on a water coaster craft that fails to make it up on the second lift. It usually only takes a couple minutes for the staff to get the guest out and to remove the water craft. So guest in line usually see this and think it will take a long time to get it up a running again so the line very quickly reduces down to a few guests. I did see on a couple occasions that they were having trouble with the conveyer that takes the water crafts up. The biggest problem that was very noticeable was the staffing level. Several times during our stay various water attractions were closed due to the lodge not having enough staff to cover all the sections of the water parks including a major attraction like the River Canyon Run . The Staffing problem is a big problem with several departments of the lodge and is very noticeable when staying for more than one night. I will go into more detail later in my in-depth report. Also just a note to the Admin staff the “We like to do something special for them†for being the first to make a reservation at the Mason location, never happened.

I know this forum is a Kings Island forum, but since the Great Wolf lodge is the official resort for Kings Island, may I suggest that maybe a new Root with it’s own forums topics be incorporated into the current Roots. I have a few other suggestions for a Great Wolf Lodge Root section if you are interested in something like this.

I did not experience any restaurant’s serving family style. But the Loose Mouse severs a wonderful buffet that caters to all ages with a special unique lodge style twists in service presentations to food ingredients. I"m saving the best pictures for the GWL report.

Yes; I have tons of pictures everything from room pictures that include what the balconies looked like to showing what each light fixture looks like up close. Also pictures of the restaurants and what the food looked like as it came out of the kitchen. Kids Plate from the Buffet Of course tons of pictures of the water park and the Cub Den with finished projects. So I think I’ll do one long report in sections such as check-in, restaurants, gift shops, kid’s activities, Water Park, rooms and views, current problem areas and finish with Tips, Tricks & suggestions for those yet to go. As you can see this will take a few days to complete and I still need to get the pictures back from the water camera. I may even throw in a slide show complete with synchronized music.

Please keep in mind that the picture above was taken from the forth floor and was able to see over the long elevated land strip that is used to try to hide that dirt access road and maybe the power lines from the guest using the outside pool. The picture below is a picture of the outside pool and would have the same view as the above picture, except that it is four floors lower.

Honestly, most guest staying at the Great Wolf Lodge are most likely are a family and walking all the way to the front gate would be doable but not likely. I don’t think most guests would not want too especially if they think how hard it is to walk all the way back to the lodge with very tired little youngsters in tow P.S. As most of you know my family have just gotten back from the staying at the lodge for three nights and four days. We ate at every restaurant, bought from every gift shop, participated in every children’s activity offered and spent a lot of time using the water park. So my question is this would you like a very detailed report about all guests’ offerings with pictures or would you just like an abbreviated report with pictures? Both would include both the good and not so good facts about the Great Wolf Lodge from a guest’s point of view.

I agree, it was supper annoying when we didn’t have fast passes during the “05†season. So we still went our usual 2+ trips to Kings Island, being all annoyed. Then I suggested that we should buy a season pass so that we would be able to enjoy the great perks too. During the “06†season went over 20 times and I spent on an average of $100.00 per trip. It was the perks that got me to buy the KI season passes then in return KI got over $2,000.00 from me when they would have only gotten around $200.00-$300.00 from me. So yeah please take away the perks that temp me to buy season passes so that I can spend my money going to other places maybe even buy a few new items for my sailboat.

Yes it was from the end of the hallway window and it was from the fourth floor. The Great Wolf Lodge doesn’t really offer any great views of Kings Island from the rooms. Except for the farthest east wing rooms facing the south, if you are out on the balconies and look to your left then you can get a great view of the park. Gabriel; I know you worked hard and late the night before so you must have a lot of passion for flying, to keep those late work hours and then up early the next morning for flyovers. Well great photos and thanks for the new pictures.

I don’t know if this would be any basis for the removal of old attractions from certain areas are not but, from my recent stay at the Great Wolf Lodge I could easily see the old trams and other old not used portable structures. So I wonder if they decided to move some unsightly structures from plain view of the Lodge. I know the picture doesn’t really show those structures to well but I wasn’t trying to focus on them at the time, but I could easily see them.

I agree that watching any parade these days is like watching a long commercial. But since we just returned from a trip there a couple month’s ago it was nice to watch the Disney parade with my daughter and reminisce about our time there. Disney knows that the families are the big draw for them and where they will make most sales is from the families. I would gladly go to Disney to spend a fair amount of money to spend some great family time while my daughter is still in that magical “I believe†frame of mind. ABC and Disney are owned by the same company and know how to use each other to maximize their usefulness coverage for each other.