Early this summer, Great Wolf Lodge debuted the idea of a “Day Pass” and I was invited to check it out. Since my guys have been bugging me about revisiting Great Wolf Lodge since we went last year, it was a fun opportunity to do a road trip with my cousin and her son for the day. Great Wolf Lodge is only an hour and a half drive from Seattle so it’s totally doable as a day trip. I was curious to see what a Day Pass at Great Wolf Lodge included and I liked the idea of not having to stay overnight.
Saving money with The Day Pass at Great Wolf Lodge
It turns out, the Day Pass will probably save you a bit financially but it is not necessarily a huge savings and this depends on how many people are in your group. Great Wolf Lodge in August is quite busy and our passes would be around 80 dollars a person for 5 people-I think we may have been able to get a room for around the same price. If it was only three of us visiting together, the Day Pass would have been a savings because taxes are included in the price of the Day Pass, while there are taxes and a $29.99 resort fee on top of the room rate. For three people, we would have had to get a room rate of less than $200 a night in order to make it cheaper to stay overnight but to get those kind of rates you usually have to plan ahead.
The only “hidden” cost with the Day Pass is that you have to pay for a locker. We chose to get the biggest locker and that was $25 but we had in and out privileges for the whole time the pool area is open from 9am-8pm. I think the Day Pass would be more appealing if it included a locker: I don’t feel comfortable leaving my stuff around the pool so a locker seemed like a necessity.
I think if I was coming to Great Wolf Lodge for the pool again and I didn’t want to stay overnight I would weigh the cost difference between a Day Pass and the most inexpensive room rental and if it wasn’t that much, I would probably book a hotel room just for the ability to have a private shower, a place to comfortably change and put my stuff and because it has a fridge you can keep snacks in. (For disclosure- I worked for a summer camp for 4 years where I used to have to hang out with kids in pools all summer long so the pool is not the biggest selling feature for me at Great Wolf Lodge. My kids on the other hand would probably say it would be worth 80 dollars just to ride the Howlin’ Tornado again.).
I looked up Day Pass rates recently and found many for next month that were 60 dollars a day or 40 dollars for half a day too which are a lot more reasonable than the 80 dollars on the day we went. So if you know you are going on a potentially busy day (ie. school vacations, holidays, etc.) you may want to weigh your options and see if there are deals or special offers for Great Wolf Lodge for when you want to go.
What Does the Day Pass at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound Include?
The Day Pass at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound includes the use of the pool for one day. If you get a half day pass you can start using the pool at 3pm. Make sure you bring towels and plan on paying for a locker. There is a cafe in the pool area that has food for purchase if you want to stay at the pool all day. The hours for the pool are 9am to 8pm.
What is the most reasonable way to do Great Wolf Lodge with kids?
I still think the Wolf Pass is the most economical way to explore Great Wolf Lodge with kids for the day because it has a set price-it’s 59.99 plus tax and it includes a few activities like the Magiquest, mini golf, the outdoor climbing structure and a cup of candy and ice cream. Everything is set up on the pass so if you don’t want to buy anything else, you can just tell your kids that you are only doing the things that are included on the pass.
Grownups don’t need to pay for a Wolf Pass unless they want to participate in the activities and with kids like mine who are 11 who just want to climb and quest by themselves, this is truly a Great Wolf Lodge mini-vacation for parents. There is a Starbucks and many chairs to occupy and when is the last time you read a good book?
The Wolf Pass does not include the pool but this also means no wet swimsuit to bring home. And if you come at 9am you could even leave before lunch and still get all the activities done.
Have you been to Great Wolf Lodge with kids? Do you have any tips for keeping costs down when you go? And would you just want to go for the day or would you prefer to spend the night?
(PS. my family was gifted Day Passes to Great Wolf Lodge for the purpose of this review and as always the opinions on this site are my own.)
(PPS. I didn’t drive electric to Great Wolf Lodge but I checked just in case. Although there are no electric car chargers at Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound, there is are 2 J-1772 stations at the Grand Mound Liquor store nearby and the Centralia Supercharger is about a 10 minute drive away too.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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