Great Wolf Lodge Water Park: What You Need to Know

Looking for info about the Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim? Technically it's actually the Great Wolf Lodge Garden Grove……..but either way, we're sharing everything you need to know about the indoor water park, hotel, and activities!

Thank you to Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim for hosting our stay.

It's family vacation season!  Our big goal this year was to try NEW vacation options…..and first up on our list? The Great Wolf Lodge Water Park!  Can you believe we'd never been to an indoor water park? I'd watched TONS of families we know visit their local Great Wolf Lodge (ours is the Great Wolf Lodge Southern California)….and couldn't wait to check it out ourselves.  While we may not get snow here in Southern California, lately we've been experiencing an abnormal amount of rain, and I felt like we'd been stuck inside more than usual. Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim (technically Great Wolf Lodge Garden Grove) seemed like the perfect solution.  Inside and WARM, with tons to do including a massive water park, an arcade, a bowling alley, a nail salon, and some super fun character interactions…..a visit to the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park was just what the doctor ordered.

Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim

The Great Wolf Lodge water park here in Southern California is located in Garden Grove (which is just past Anaheim by the way), it's easily accessible from all major freeways and was just far enough south to feel like a real vacation for us.  We headed down on a Saturday morning, and thanks to a stroke of LA luck…..hit NO traffic.  Our plan was to spend Saturday night at the GWL.  That way we had most of Saturday and part of Sunday to enjoy.

Pro tip: You can start using the water park at the GWL at 1 pm on the day of check in.  So an early arrival? Can turn into almost a full extra day of fun.

 

The Water Park: 

I was blown away by the size of the Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim water park.  It's HUGE!  There are a ton of water slides, and also five major pool areas….each with a different feature or focus.  Fort Mackenzie is a massive water tree fort that is perfect for all ages (this was my personal favorite), we also loved the HUGE wave pool, floating in the lazy river and Lydia bravely tested out the smallest water slide.  In addition, there is an amazing splash pad (Cub Paw Pool) that is perfect for babies, toddlers and younger kids.  One of the things that impressed me the most about the water park? The variety of ages it will appeal to.  From the splash pad for toddlers to the MASSIVE water slides, you can easily bring kids of all ages and they'll find fun activities to keep them busy for hours (and guaranteed they'll be exhausted by bedtime).

Hotel Rooms:

The Great Wolf Lodge has a TON of room options (standard, themed and premium suites).  We stayed in a family suite (2 queen sized bed and a sleeper sofa)….and it was more than enough space.  The room came equipped with a mini fridge, coffee maker and enough space for a whole family.  It was clean, and the beds were super comfortable!

Dining: 

Would you expect amazing dining at an indoor water park? Probably not.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised….we had some DELICIOUS food during our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge.  The Great Wolf Lodge has a variety of dining options from quick and casual (Hungry as a Wolf is great for a quick pizza or you can always grab something at Buckets Incredible Craveables inside the water park itself) to sit down and gourmet (we LOVED the Lodge Wood Fired Grill and the pizza cheeseburger on the new kids' menu).  Our favorite meal of all though? DO NOT MISS the character breakfast at The Loose Moose Family Kitchen.  It's a killer price ($19.99 for adults, $9.99 for kids 4-11, and free for kids under 4)……the food is amazing (be sure to check out the Loose Moose family kitchen menu to plan for your must eat items), and Lydia loved the chance to interact with all the characters.  They came right up to our table for a meet and greet!

 

Paw Pass and Additional Activities:

Great Wolf Lodge had a TON of fun activities beyond the water park.  We used a Paw Pass during our stay, an activities package that includes a bunch of fun activities.  Our pass included: One MagiQuest game (an active adventure game that takes guests alllllll over the resort), a choice of wand (even if your child doesn't participate in a MagiQuest game with their wand, there are a TON of magic activations you can use with your wand), one candy cup to fill in the Great Wolf Candy Story, a pair of goggles, a glitter tattoo, a personalized leather bracelet, a trip to the arcade, and one Creation Station animal (a stuffed animal building store).

Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim also has a nail salon for kids and a bowling alley.

Other don't miss activities? We loved Story Time in the lobby!

Are you planning a trip to Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim? Gear up, you'll have a total blast!