Great Wolf Lodge

We had a family anniversary trip this year. For our 14th wedding anniversary, we traveled north for about two hours to Grand Mound, Washington. Located is this little town, just five miles north of Centralia, is a 'hotel' called Great Wolf Lodge. Not just a hotel, but rather a water park - with a hotel built for it. Your admission to the water park is your hotel room fee.

There was a special rate we got for the room - maybe 20% off. The rooms are quite spendy - check out the website yourself to see. And the food prices in the many on-site restaurants and in the park locations - whew. I guess this place must be one of those profit deals. Somebody has to pay the utility bill, I guess.

The fun was just as described on the website. Constant water, warm, and fun. But - what they won't tell you....it is crowded.

With around 400 rooms - and between 2 to 8 people per room....there are a lot of people running around the place. Also - you can start playing in the park at 1pm on the day of your check-in, even though check starts at 4pm. You can play the whole next day as well. So do the math....minimum of 2 people x 400 rooms = 800 people. More likely count is 4 people x 400 rooms = 1,600 people. Then figure that maybe 50% of the people are there after check-out... maybe not. So 1,000 to 2,000 people? I know that is not how many people are really in line for the Howlin' Tornado ride - but it sure feels like it.

It is also loud. Really loud. Constant water noises. Constant people having fun noises. Loud. You can't hear the voice on the people you are talking with more that 10 feet away.

Tegan running across the water

Connor uses his hands a little