Great Wolf Lodge Minneapolis Review: Highlights and Tips
Thinking about doing a fun local activity with the family and kids? Look no further than Great Wolf Lodge. This is a review of Great Wolf Lodge Minneapolis highlights as well as tips to boost your fun.
For my kid’s 4th birthday, we gave him the choice of either picking a birthday party with classmates or taking a weekend trip to the Great Wolf Lodge. Due to the awesome time he had at Great Wolf last summer, the decision was easy.
I had been to the Great Wolf Lodge (Wisconsin Dells) multiple times but this was the first time to the Minneapolis location. And what a thrill it was!
As this was a local place (stay vacation), it was a fast and easy trip. The fun started after finishing work on Friday and lasted until Sunday morning.
Facilities Review
Originally, the place started as Water Park at Mall of America and was many years old. In 2017, it underwent a $30 million renovation to become a Great Wolf Lodge resort.
The facilities definitely felt new and fresh. Comparing this location to Wisconsin Dells, a major difference was the rooms. Specifically, this location was built better including sound proofing. At the other location, I could have sworn there were elephants rumbling above us.
Previously, we had a subpar experience at a different hotel + water park for a friend’s birthday. Needless to say, flip flops in the bathroom were a necessity for fear of stepping on something gross.
Everything at Great Wolf Lodge was super clean including the bathrooms which was much appreciated.
Facilities Grade: “A” – Clean and Fresh
Restaurants & Food Review
There was one primary sit-down restaurant which we ate at for dinner and breakfast buffet. The breakfast buffet had a good variety of hot & cold foods, fruits and pastries. For dinner, we ate the standard American food such as burgers, fries and drinks.
For both mornings, we enjoyed the Dunkin Donuts bar to get our caffeine fix. In addition, there were multiple places throughout the resort offering foods like pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc.
Although we did not do this, there were food and drink options available inside the water park area. We may consider this for the next trip due to the convenience factor.
Food Grade: “B” – Ok and As Expected
Entertainment Review
The entertainment activities are why my kids love Great Wolf Lodge. From the start of our trip until the end, I felt there was no shortage of activities. As a genuine sign of appreciation, my youngest actually shed a few tears as we headed home.
Great Wolf Lodge offers many free activities throughout the day such as bed time story, wolfercise and bingo. Check out the events calendar in your room check-in packet.
While waiting in a long check-in line, my oldest kid was one of the lucky bingo winners netting us 1 free scoop at the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop.
Although not as spacious as the Wisconsin Dells location, every space was utilized with activities within the resort. The remodel was planned well not feeling overcrowded or cramped.
My kids enjoyed the MagiQuest game and the Arcade the most.
MagiQuest Game
This is an interactive fantasy game sending you on missions located throughout the resort. There are treasure chests, paintings, gemstones, and “portal” stations that you wave your wand at and interact with.
The game requires a lot of physical stamina going back and forth across the resort and up and down the stairs. During a 2 hour session of MagiQuest, I logged over 12,000 steps and climbed an equivalent of 10 floors of stairs.
As a tip, you can click on the items that you need to gather for a mission. The portal will give you hints to what realm (area in resort) you need to go to. This will save you many steps by not wandering aimlessly around the property.
For the trip, we played about 3 to 4 hours total and only made it past the preliminary phases and onto the first boss battle. Fortunately, the game will resume for us on our next trip so we don’t have to start all over again.
Both my kids were on the younger side for MagiQuest so this required 100% adult participation.
Arcade
I would say the arcade is a cross between Chuck E Cheese and Dave and Buster. It is a good mixture of video games, claw games to win stuffed animals, and ticket generating games.
Initially, I started with a $10 game card which lasted about 5 minutes flat with the kids. The typical game requires 4 to 8 credits which equates to $1 to $2 a play. $10 goes very fast especially if you play the claw game a few times!
As a tip, go big and buy a larger amount card as it provides a volume discount. The second round I went for a $25 card. As I was checking out, it gave me an offer to double the points for additional $10. Do it! For the $35 I paid, this gave us about 200 points equivalent to 5 or 6 refuels of the $10 card.
The 200 points lasted much longer (1.5 hours of fun). Afterwards, we were able to convert all of our ticket winnings to 2 stuffed animals, a jump rope, and a car toy.
Entertainment Grade: “B+” – Nice variety of activities for kids of all ages
Water Park Review
Thought I forgot about the actual Water Park review? I was saving the best for last!
In comparison to the Wisconsin Dells location, the Minneapolis location was probably ½ as small for the water park area. However, this was plenty for us.
My kids enjoyed 3 areas the best:
- The kids area where they had suitable sized water slides, water spouts and jets to interact with.
- Swimming along the lazy river (Crooked Creek) that flowed around the edges of the water park
- Giant Tube Ride (River Canyon Run) where all of us could ride and scream together
For myself, I enjoyed the Giant Tube Ride the most. It is quite fast and also scary especially if you are riding facing backwards.
The lazy river was nice and good exercise as we went around and around until my wife and I got tired. Due to the big crowds, our primary job was to walk behind the kids and make sure they did not get barreled over by the others.
When the kids get older, there are other activities to try like the surfing and traditional 1-person tube rides. I definitely look forward to trying these out in the future.
On the first night, we spent about 1 hour in the water park and about 2.5 hours on the second day. For most guests, I am assuming they spend much more time in the water park especially since you can eat and drink there.
Water Park Review: “A-” – Great Fun! Prepare yourself for crowds especially if you go on a weekend
Tips to boost your fun
Here are a few tips for your next trip to Great Wolf Lodge.
Consider Off-Peak Time
Next time we will consider an off-period such as a Sunday night to Tuesday visit to avoid the crowds.
As this was a prime time (weekend and winter season), there were lines for everything such as check-in, restaurants, water park tube ride, etc.
Benefits of Stay Vacations
As one advantage of Stay Vacations, you can just load up your car and pack heavy for the resort. For us, this meant not worrying about number of suitcases, bringing our kids’ favorite toys and many snacks to last through the weekend.
Another benefit of Great Wolf is its close vicinity to the Mall of America. On the first morning, we actually left the resort for a few hours to go to the aquarium and eat at our favorite lunch place at the Mall.
Not a time to be Frugal
As my wife reminded me, there will be many other days in the year to pinch pennies. Great Wolf offers a lot of opportunities to spend your money on in addition to food and drinks.
Here were a few examples for us:
- Indulging in the candy station that charged $10 per cup
- Buying a Great Wolf stuffed animal for my son’s birthday for $15
- Resuming our MagiQuest game from last summer ($15/each)
- Refueling the Arcade Cards ($45)
These small things brought smiles to my kids’ faces which in the end is priceless to me!
As one way to save money, my wife did well booking ahead and taking advantage of discounts. She was able to get 30% off the room resulting in about $180/night.
Off the deals page, there are sometimes specials to save up to 50% off if you book at least 60 days in advance. Plan ahead and save!
Another easy way to save is to take advantage of the Paw Pass. The bundle package offers hours of fun at a discounted price.
Summary
This was a Great Wolf Lodge Minneapolis Review providing highlights and tips to boost your fun.
Ratings Overview
| Facilities – Clean and Fresh | A |
| Restaurants & Food – Ok and As Expected | B |
| Entertainment – Nice variety of activities for kids of all ages | B+ |
| Water Park – Great Fun! Prepare yourself for crowds especially if you go on a weekend | A- |
| Overall | A- |
This trip surpassed my expectations and was loads of fun for the family.
With the additional benefits of being located in town, do not hesitate to book Great Wolf for an easy and action-packed getaway!
About DadMBA: Through his schooling (he does have a MBA) & more importantly being a Dad, he has provided practical advice to family & friends on finances & other life topics. He loves helping others thus the creation of DadMBA.
