After checking out all of the facilities at the hotel, we headed back to the room and got changed so we could go to the water park.
The Beartrack Landing water park is simply amazing. Since I have 2 small children (both under 4), I wasn’t sure how they would respond, or if there would even be very much that they could do. My concerns were unfounded. Just as the rest of the hotel is geared towards children, so is the water park. The water park certainly has something for everyone. There is a very shallow pool for children. It only went up to about my knees, so if your child can walk, they can go in the pool. There are buckets and hoses that the children can play with, and 3 water slides they can go down (each one getting progressively longer and higher). Even the wave pool starts out where you can just walk in and go in as far as you like. Both of my sons enjoyed sitting with me near the top of the “ramp” and having the waves roll over them.
There is also a giant playground which they loved. You climb up to different levels and can spray people or yourself. And of course at the top is the giant tipping bucket. The first time it came down on me was funny. I was near the top of the playground with my oldest son, and there were small buckets that were filling up. I tipped one of the buckets over on him, and immediately the giant tipping bucket tipped over on me. I guess it served me right 🙂
The water park also has several large water slides for older kids and adults. I didn’t go on those as that isn’t really my thing. There is also a lazy river, and a lily pad play pool. I tried to get my oldest son to go with me on the lazy river, but he was afraid so I went on my own. The lily pad pool has several ropes suspended over the pool, and then floating lily pads in the pool. You are supposed to use the rope to hold yourself up and you try to balance on the lily pads and walk across the pool. It was much harder than it looked! There were lots of teenagers at this pool and they looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Near the entrance to the water park there is a small retail store where you can buy swimsuits and other accessories. Also near the entrance are lockers, public washrooms, and an area where you can get towels and borrow life jackets for the children.
Another interesting thing was the “mat” that you walked across as you went into the water park. It’s hard to describe. It wasn’t a real mat. It was a water image being projected onto the floor from a projector in the ceiling. There were sensors, and as you walked across the “mat”, the image rippled as if you had disturbed the water, and there was a splashing sound. The kids loved it.
We played in the water park for a couple of hours, and then headed back to the room. The following morning I had to go back to work, but my wife stayed with the kids. They went back to the water park and played for a while longer (you can stay all day, even after you check out).
More information:
- Great Wolf Lodge home page
- See pictures of our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Great Wolf Lodge in Spring 2006 gallery
- Read another article in the series: Great Wolf Lodge – The Hotel
- Read another article in the series: Great Wolf Lodge – Other Observations