6 Reasons We Love Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California

This is a partnered post with Great Wolf Lodge. All opinions are mine.

When my 3 boys were little, I had the opportunity to take them to Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington and they had so much fun! It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Great Wolf Lodge, so you can imagine how excited I was to take our blended family of 8 to the Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim, California. Our kids (and both of us adults) had a howling great time! In fact, our kids keep asking us when we can go back again!

Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim, California is California’s first and only indoor water park resort and is a “must do” when it comes to planning your family vacation! The water park has over 105,000 square feet of fun-filled action and you’ll find indoor water park fun for your entire family! And when I say entire family, that even includes your little ones.

As I said, we loved Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California. In fact, there are a lot of reasons we love going to Great Wolf Lodge, but for the sake of not having a crazy long post, I’ve narrowed it down to our Top 6 Reasons We Love Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California (ok I still think it’s gonna be long with all the pictures, but believe it or not, I didn’t even use all of the pictures I took)!

6 Reasons We Love Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California

1 – Indoor Water Park – Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim, California is California’s first and only indoor water park resort. With over 105,000 square feet of indoor water park action, there are so many fun things to do! Water rides and attractions include the jaw-dropping Wolf Tail, the Howlin’ Tornado signature thrill slide, Wolf Rider Wipeout surf simulator, a massive water fort tree house with a gigantic tipping bucket, zero-depth entry pools, a wave pool and so much more. Make your vacation in Southern California an unforgettable family experience.

                                                                                                      Slap Tail Pond (wave pool)

                                                                                                            Slap Tail Pond (wave pool)

                                                                                                Wolf Rider Wipeout (surf simulator)

                                                                                           Wolf Rider Wipeout (surf simulator)

Our kids’ favorites were the Slap Tail Pond (wave pool), Wolf Rider Wipeout (surf simulator), Wolf Tail (the floor drops out from under you – some of our kids liked this one), Mountain Edge Raceway and Crooked Creek (lazy river).  It’s a lot of fun watching the water spill out at Fort Mackenzie! There are a ton more water rides and your family is sure to have a blast!

                                                                                         Wolf Tail (photo courtesy of Great Wolf Lodge)

                                                                                                  Crooked Creek (lazy river)

                                                                                                                      Fort Mackenzie

                                                                                                          Fort Mackenzie

                                                                                          Cub Paw Pool (perfect for little ones)

                                                    You’ll find life jackets and vests throughout the waterpark, as well as lifeguards.

                                                                                       Towel hut where you can get fresh towels

I love that there are lifeguards, as well as life jackets and vests throughout the water park. I knew that our kids were safe and sound and having an absolute blast. While you do have the option of renting cabanas (note that these fill up very quickly, so be sure to reserve online), there was plenty of seating when we got to the water park (before noon). In fact, Frank and I found a nice table where we could see the entire water park. There is also a snack bar in the water park, which sells snacks, sodas and beer. I enjoyed relaxing and reading my Kindle while the kids were making their way around the indoor water park! If you’re not sure which of the water rides your kids can go on based on age, be sure to check out this helpful guide.

2 – Activities (bowling, 3D movie, arcade, glitter tattoos, laser show) – There are tons of activities in addition to the water park that you can do at Great Wolf Lodge. In fact, there are different passes you can buy that include a variety of activities. Since we had 6 kids with us, we had fun doing a few activities individually. Attractions include MagiQuest, Lazer Frenzy, Ten Paw Alley (kid-size bowling alley), Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, Northern Lights Arcade, Creation Station, Clubhouse Crew and Howly Wood XD Theater. The girls and I even went and got glitter tattoos.

3 – MagiQuest – I remember MagiQuest when visiting Great Wolf Lodge in Washington, but the boys were really little and they just liked pointing at things with the wands (awww they were so little then). That was a long time ago! However, on this trip, all 6 of our kids loved playing the MagiQuest game. In fact, they can’t wait to come back and play it again and get to new levels! MagiQuest turns Great Wolf Lodge into a live-action game where you’re the star. You can choose a special magic wand, top it with extra powers, and set off on a quest.

Immerse yourself in Vellara, the realm of imagination, as you help the Guardians to protect the realm portals. Along the way, befriend the Treetop Pixies, battle the evil dragon, Charlock, fight to defeat the Goblin King, and earn the title of Master Magi.

Or travel to the future to save Vellara from the Shadow Lords who have corrupted the realms. Using a mystic figurine to summon the help of a spirit Totem animal that comes to life with your wand. Power your Totem with Relics, battle the evil minion army and challenge the leader of all the Shadow Lords to change the fate of the realms!

MagiQuest Tips:

• You can take your wand home as a souvenir and bring it back to use over and over again with the purchase of new adventures. Your wand will remember all of your completed quests, to pick up where you left off at your next visit to any Great Wolf Lodge!
• You get to decide how much time you want to spend in the realms of MagiQuest. Each quest takes 15 to 30 minutes to complete, and you can choose how many quests you undertake at a time. With unlimited play during your stay, you can always take a break and come back later.

4 – Affordable family meals – With a family of 8, eating out can get kind of pricey if we don’t look for specials and deals. We were surprised at how affordable it was to eat at Great Wolf Lodge. In fact, both nights we were there, we ordered pizza and pasta that was delivered to our room. It was perfect because we could sit back, relax, watch tv and eat in the comfort of our room.

Before arriving to Great Wolf Lodge, Frank ordered a breakfast buffet package at Loose Moose Family Kitchen. We all really enjoyed it! They had muffins, cereals, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, yogurt, bagels, toast and even an omelette station (that was my favorite)! We’ve come to find that with growing kids (half of whom are teenagers), buffets are perfect for their never-ending appetites.

5 – Variety of Rooms for Your Family Needs – At Great Wolf Lodge, you’ll find a variety of rooms based on your family size and needs. We were so excited that there was a room size that would fit our family of 8! Usually we need to pay for 2 rooms if we stay in a hotel, however, at Great Wolf Lodge, the Grand Bear Suite was perfect!

The Grand Bear Suite comfortably sleeps up to eight people (perfect for our big family) or you can bring along a friend or maybe even Grandma or Grandpa – there’s plenty of room. The private master suite includes a queen bed, while the main area of the suite has two queen beds and a full-size sofa sleeper.

Suite Features: 

• Private master suite with king-sized bed and a 32-inch, flat-screen HDTV
• Two queen-size beds
• Living area with a full-size sofa sleeper and another 39-inch, flat-screen HDTV
• Two full baths
• Microwave
• Mini fridge
• Coffee maker
• Hair dryer

The Grand Bear Suite was awesome and is definitely the perfect size for our big family! I highly recommend it if you have a big family or want to bring along grandma, grandpa or friends!

6 – The kids want to go back! One of the biggest reasons we love Great Wolf Lodge is because the kids (and grownups) want to go back! Great Wolf Lodge in Southern California was definitely everything I expected it would be and more. The staff was friendly, the water park and MagiQuest games were fun, the food was good and the resort in general was so fun! There was also a dirt parking lot for us to park our RV in.

Check out this 360 Video we filmed inside the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park!

Have you been to Great Wolf Lodge before? What was your favorite thing to do?