Great Wolf Lodge has an indoor water park, exclusive to their hotel guests only. The best thing about it being indoors, is that no matter what time of year it is, it’s kept at a comfortable temperature of 84 degrees so hotel guests don’t freeze when they come inside from the outdoors, and warm enough to enjoy in the winter months. All of the water slides actually go through a hole in the wall, taking you outside of the water park because the majority of all the slides are located outside, leaving more room inside for pools and play areas. The tubes can be some-what hot during the day in the summer, but the splash at the end is quite refreshing. Because the water park is indoors, when you walk inside for the first time, you’re just waiting for the awful smell of the chlorine to reach your nostrils, but because of the filtration and air systems, the smell is rather fresh and pleasant.
After visiting the inside of the water park, we ventured outside with our tour guide for a “behind the scenes” look at Great Wolf Lodge. Seeing the slides from the inside of the water park doesn’t make you wonder about the slides, but when you’re looking at them from the outside, it’s a completely different story. Great Wolf Lodge really did a wonderful job to conserve space by bringing all their slides outside through a hole in the wall, only big enough for the slide to be fitted into.
We were able to walk behind the scenes with the director of aquatics, Peter McKenzie, at Great Wolf Lodge and shoot some video in the pump room, as well as outside of the water park around the slides. Please excuse the angles of the camera as it is intended to be an interview with some small shots of the water park, the slides, and behind the scenes in the pump room, behind the slides, and in the lobby.
We ventured even further into the guts of the water park, where we were introduced to the mechanism that makes the wave pool work and the filters that keep all the water clean and at the right chemical levels.
Great Wolf Lodge recycles about 90-95% of the water in the water park. During the winter months when it’s too cold to swim outside, they will close the outside pool area to do cleaning and work on the pool. During this time, they will drain the pool and move what they can inside so they don’t loose the water. While it’s impossible to save all of it, they try to save as much as they possibly can.
Magi Quest is popular at Great Wolf Lodge as you can find kids roaming the halls and packing the elevators like crazy during Magi Quest hours. While this location is quite small compared to other Great Wolf locations, you can take your wand to any Magi Quest location and play there too. The beauty of it is you don’t have to be a hotel guest to participate in the game and it can keep the kids going for hours. It’s great for a quiet day for Mom and Dad, where they can enjoy walking along with their little ones, play the game themselves, or just relax on a bench.
The hotel is a family destination. With a water park, Magiquest, and a live action animatronic show four times a day, there’s so much to do, kids won’t want to leave. Sure, there’s a ton to do in the area, like visit Carowinds, but a three day stay would keep kids pretty busy with Magiquest and the water park alone.
The hotel also transforms into a winter wonderland around Christmas, where snow falls in the lobby. It’s a completely different experience.
Big thanks to Great Wolf Lodge for allowing us to visit the water park and take a tour behind the scenes. All video was filmed with permission of Great Wolf Lodge.
