Great Wolf Lodge

What it is: Great Wolf Lodge is a large 80,000 square foot indoor water park located in Concord, NC, near Charlotte. Indoors they have water slides, pools and rides appropriate for different ages, an arcade and live-action adventure games for older children.  Outside they have a zero entry outdoor pool and min golf.

What we liked:  Great Wolf Lodge is a great water park for children of all age.  Located 2 1/2 hours from Durham, it makes for a great weekend or 2-day get away.  They have a lot of activities and rides for toddlers.  They have an entire section for toddlers with splash rides, water slides and zero entry pool up to 1 1/2 feet (Cub Paw Pool).  For the more adventurous toddlers there is a wave pool, and 4 story tree house with larger water slides (Fort Mackenzie) that they can ride on their own.  Our son who was 2 1/2 was a bit reluctant at first to go on the larger water slides by himself.  After watching other kids he went down and we could not pull him away.  Lastly they have lots of planned activities like treasure hunts and story times with animated characters including a night time story time where all of the kids get dressed in their pajamas.

The suites in the lodge were very spacious, clean and comfortable.  We stayed in the 'Wolf Den' Suite which has bunk beds with a cave theme.  We were able to save money by signing up for an upgrade to this suite based on availability.  This cost less money than if we had originally reserved the suite.  

Everything was very contained and convenient within the lodge including the activities, story time, arcade, ice cream shop,  and various restaurants such as Dunkin Donut and Pizza Hut Express.  There are also a lot of restaurants located within a one mile radius outside of the lodge so you don' t need to go very far to eat.

You can also make two days of the water park because they allow you to stay until 5pm the next day.

What we would change:  They have strict requirements on height for various water slides and rides. At the time our son just missed the cut off for a few rides to go on with us.  So it felt like what he could go on was a bit limited.

It can also be very pricey but they do run specials and offer discounts throughout the year.  We went on a Sunday and Monday night since it was cheaper.  You can view the deals for different months on their website or you can sign up to receive e-mail offers.

Website and other important information:

http://www.greatwolf.com/concord/waterpark/?s_kwcid=TC|15988|charlotte%20NC%20lodge||S|b|7229017980

Link for all activities and rides for toddlers:
http://www.greatwolf.com/concord/explore/toddlers

Address:
10175 Weddington Road
Concord, NC 28027

Reservations: 866.925.9653

Resort Direct: 704.549.8206
Fax: 704.549.8207
Email: ncinfo@greatwolf.com

Photos:

Fort Mackenzie in background with indoor pool in front

Indoor pool with floating tree trunks to cross

Bottom of water slide at Fort Mackenzie