I just got back from a weekend getaway to Great Wolf Lodge in Ground Mound, Washington. And to be perfectly honest my expectations were fairly low. At some point in time I decided my kids were too old for Great Wolf Lodge, but it turns out I was completely wrong. Now that they’re older, teens and tweens, we had more fun than ever before. I was taken by total surprise by what a fantastic time my family had.
They have done a good job over the years creating an all-inclusive experience where everything you need is under one roof: activities, food, lodging, and of course the water park.
Table of Contents
14 Things to do at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound
1. Indoor Water Park
Let’s face it, you came to enjoy the water park and all the other activities they offer are a bonus! Your kids are going to want to spend the majority of their time in the water park and who can blame them. There’s a lot to do just in the water park.
- 7 water slides, including the very thrilling tube rides: Howlin’ Tornado and River Canyon Run.
- Wave pool
- Fort Mckenzie water playground
- Hot Tub
- Cabanas: for those that don’t mind spending more money they now have cabanas with a TV, mini fridge stocked with non-alcoholic beverages, and wait staff. You can accommodate up to 11 people in the cabana. These cost $129 – $189 depending on the day and the season.
Here’s a video tour through the water park
2. Ropes Course with Zip Lining
Main course: This location has a 4 story zip line course that is self guided tour and has a ton of fun zip lines. This is one of the largest courses in the brand. It costs $14.99 for a single climb or $19.99 for unlimited climbs. You have to be a minimum of 48″ high to participate.
Little tykes course: For those under 48″ tall they even have a little tykes ropes course for kids too little or short to participate in the larger ropes course.
You need to wear closed-toe shoes with rubber soles. Athletic shoes are ideal. No flip-flops are permitted.
3. Glow Golf 
4. Northern Lights Arcade
The Northern Lights Arcade makes sure they have 10 of the best newest games. Right now one of their newest games is the Rayman Rabbits virtual reality game. My kids love this game. (This was the same virtual reality game they loved on the Norwegian Bliss cruise.)
5. Creation Station
At the Creation Station your kids can make a custom stuffed animal. They can take their pick of outfits, colorful costumes and accessories. Prices start at $34.99. Once your kids have their stuffed animal you can take them on an adventure called the Clubhouse Crew.
6. MagiQuest
Magiquest with the magic wand: has different levels for different ages.Each quest takes 15-30 minutes to complete. Players can play as many quests as they like during their stay. The game costs $14.99.
For kids too little to participate there are still all kinds of fun things they can open and do with out doing the entire quest.
It starts with your kids picking out their own special magic wand that they can top it with extra powers. Wand prices range from $15.99 to $22.99, depending on the style. Kids get to keep the wand and can bring it back every time they stay at Great Wolf Lodge.
Once they have their wand they can set off on a quest through out the entire building. They participate in Vellara, a realm of enchantment, as you befriend the Treetop Pixies, battle Charlock, the evil dragon and fight to defeat the Goblin King.
7. Oliver’s Mining Company
Grand Mound is currently the only location that offers Oliver’s Mining Company. This is Great Wolf Lodge’s newest attraction and it kicks of with a walk through the mine which is a mirror maze. Once you come out of the mirror maze you are given a bag of dirt. You sift the dirt in the water to discover moon stones. They give you a chart to help kids identify the moon stones you get.
8. Meet Characters
There are four characters that make appearances around the lodge at various times. Wiley, Violet, Sammy, and another one that I cannot remember the name of.
9. Yoga
Every morning they offer yoga for kids and parents in the lobby. They provide the mats.
10. Dance Party
Often times the dance party is a pajama party but while we were there is was a costume party because it was Halloween season.
11. Spa
Elements Spa: They have a spa for adults offering mani, pedi, facials, and massage. They also have mommy and me treatments.
Scoops: Scoops is a kid’s spa just for kids where they can get a mani or pedi.
12. Arts & Crafts
They have done away with the cub club and now offer a variety of activities in the lobby like crafts, balloon twisting, and drawing classes. All of these are included. I love this change because I was always too cheap to pay extra for my kids to make a craft in the cub club. They also offer face painting.
13. Shopping
Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound has several retail outlets on site. There is a kid’s store where you can create your own character, a gift shop, a wand shop, a candy store, and a bathing suit shop. I recommend buying the candy that looks like food. The kids will think it is fantastic.
14. Eat
Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound Restaurants
If you are like me, food is probably the last thing on your mind. It’s a hotel with a water park, which in my mind qualifies the food as the last thought. However, Great Wolf Lodge certainly does not feel this way about their food. They’ve put a great deal of thought and planning into the food at all of their restaurants. At the five restaurants, they make all food in-house. Plus, they do not serve peanut or tree nut products. On every Great Wolf Lodge website there is a direct email address available where you can email the chef directly about accommodating dietary needs.
Lodge Wood Fired Grill 
Our favorite place to eat here is the Lodge Wood Fired Grill. I thought the food was fantastic, plus they have a killer cocktail list. They have excellent Moscow Mules and amazing Bees knees.
The Loose Moose Cottage
The Loose Moose Cottage is an all day buffet. You can eat here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. To be honest, I felt like the buffet was just okay, but my kids loved it. And the way they make individual salads is super adorable. The breakfast buffet is $14.99 for adults and $9.99 for kids and the dinner buffet costs $19.99 for adults and $12.99 for kids. The Saturday night buffet features a seafood buffet with king crab legs. It costs $29.99 for adults and $14.99 for kids.
Coming soon in November is a new kids menu created by their Jr chef counsel. This includes Junior master chef winners and Cat Cora’s boys. The new menu will offer things like waffle grilled cheese and mac and cheese pancakes.
Activity Passes
Another thing they’ve added since our last visit are activity passes. We ended up doing the Paw Pass.
A great way to make sure you save money and have a ton of family fun is to get a pass. We did the Paw Pass that included almost every activity they had to offer. This saved us $160! The only negative thing I have to say about that particular pass is that my kids blew through the arcade credit in less than five minutes.
Here’s a look at all the fun we had while we were there!
Special Events at Great Wolf Lodge
Howloween
From the last weekend in September and all through October Great Wolf Lodge offers a variety of activities for the Halloween season including an interactive trick or treat trail, monster mash dance party, and crafts and activities throughout the day.
While we were there this was just kicking off. There were Halloween decorations through out the entire facility including a massive spider in the lobby made of balloons. It took them two weeks to make the ballon spider!
Private Events
Also, since were there for a blogger weekend we got to attend a couple of private events. I must say I never really thought about Great Wolf Lodge as a place to host a private event, but it was so well done that I absolutely see why you would have one there. Here we are at a private party one night that was catered beautifully. They offer all kinds of events including military events, family reunions, plated dinners, and conferences in their 30,000 sqft banquet center.
Great Wolf Lodge Rooms
Great Wolf Grand Mound has 398 rooms with 12 suite types. Most suites are one of three types: Family suites accommodating 4-6 guests, Themed suites with bunk beds, and Premium suites for larger families that accommodate lots of guests.
We stayed in a large family suite with a balcony. Here is a video of our two-bedroom suite.
Booking Tips:
Try to book at least 3 months out during the busy season.
Discounts are better 60-days out.
You can sign up for the email list to have specials sent to you.
You should also check Groupon for any deals. I often book through Groupon.
All in all, celebrating at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound is so much fun for the whole family. From their indoor water park to their amazing miniature golf and snack bar entertainment, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Whether it be kids, tweens, or teens alike, a day spent at Great Wolf Lodge will undoubtedly put smiles on each and every one of your family members’ faces. Now that you know about all the exciting activities offered at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound, it’s time for you to plan your trip! After a long day of splashing around in the wave pool and exploring the adventure park together, you’ll want to come back and visit again soon. So let us know – what is your favorite thing to do while vacationing at Great Wolf Lodge?
