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A Stay At Great Wolf Lodge, Charlotte NC [Review By A 10-Year Old Guest]

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We only stayed at Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte, North Carolina for one night, and we were gutted we couldn’t stay longer.

Even though it was only a one night stay, it was still amazing! There are so many things to do, for all ages!

Because we enjoyed our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge so much, I’ve written this honest review so that our readers who might be considering staying here can get a feel for what it’s like, learn from our experience, and decide whether it might be the right stay for you.

Disclaimer: Our stay was hosted, but all thoughts, ideas, and opinions in this guide are our own.

About Great Wolf Lodge Charlotte NC

We had never heard of this family resort before, but have found out Great Wolf Lodges are all over America. Savannah and I are working to convince Mum and Dad to try them all of them!

It’s the perfect resort for a family getaway because they are all indoor water park resorts, and are both a place to stay and an adventure park.

Some signature suites come with separate themed rooms for kids, and some of them offer bunk beds, which is super fun.

All rooms come with a microwave, coffee maker, flat-screen TV with cable channels, and refrigerator. Some rooms have a balcony or patio.

Great Wolf Lodge guests get unlimited access to the resort amenities.

The Great Wolf Lodge is located at Concord, which is a short drive (about 20 minutes) from Charlotte in North Carolina.

It’s right near the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is the home of NASCAR, and the Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers.

Concord Mills Mall is a five minute drive away and Charlotte Douglas International Airport is 17 miles away.

What We Liked About Great Wolf Lodge

1. Comfortable rooms

The rooms were ok, in all honesty, there wasn’t much special about them. When you walk in, there was towel art on the bed – we had some sort of animal with swimming goggles on it, which was quite cool as we could use the goggles for the indoor water park.

There were a couple fire alarms in the night, but other than that, we had a pretty good sleep!

2. The Lodge Restaurant

There are not a lot of delicious dining options at Great Wolf Lodge (that we know of).

There is mostly just dessert places – parents, watch out! We loved the Candy Store and caught a little wolf trying to steal a lollipop.

We found a pretty good restaurant called The Lodge, which had a few gluten free options too with people with that type of allergy, and there are also quite a lot of options for kids.

Great Wolf Lodge wine down service

Note from the Editor: The food at The Lodge is delicious and not what you’d expect from a family resort. We spent a week in Lake Lure and Charlotte and this was the best meal I had. The chili calamari appetizer and wild mushroom risotto entree were to die for. Pizza lovers will love this place, and those who have a healthy appetite.

Then you definitely want to get the Wine Down (a bottle of wine and chocolates), which will be delivered to your room to enjoy once the kids pass out from a fun and exhausting day. It’s the first time I’ve heard of anything like that and I loved it. Brilliant idea and service – Caz

3. The best activities at the Great Wolf Lodge

The Great Wolf Lodge has a lot of things to do, amazing attractions, complimentary daily events, and activities for the whole family.

You don’t even need to leave the resort to have fun, if you want to, though we do recommend getting out and seeing what Charlotte has to offer.

There are on-site playgrounds, which we’re too old for now, and a kids room where you can do arts and crafts.

Here are some of the activities at the resort that we loved…

The MagiQuest

young girls doing The MAgi Quest at Great Wolf Lodge Charlotte North Carolina

One of mine and Savannah’s favourite things to do at the Great Wolf Lodge was the MagiQuest.

If you’re wondering what the MagiQuest is, it’s basically like Harry Potter come to life. It’s an adventurous quest where you are sent on missions around the lodge with your own magic wand, and you have to solve riddles, answer questions, and solve puzzles to uncover secret treasures.

You’re given a Magi Riddle Book and within it there are about 9 quests and three adventures. Each quest has about 4 riddles, which help you to work out where to go to and what to look for to find the clue.

When you find it, you wave your wand at it, and the wand collects the clues. Once you’ve gathered them all, the last riddle leads you to the rune, which increases your magi powers.

girl waving wand at sun mural

You get to keep your wand too, so choose carefully. Or perhaps the wand will choose you. When you come back to Great Wolf Lodge another time (please Mum), you can use it again.

After you’re done with all the quests, you can do them again, or do an adventure. A cool thing is you also get to defeat a dragon and become a master Magi.

When you get your wands, you can choose your own magi name. I chose Hermione, and Savannah chose Luna. I would definitely recommend Magi Quest if you stay at a Great Wolf Lodge and have kids who love Harry Potter or interactive play.

It’s great for all ages too, even the adults had fun!

The Howler’s Peak Ropes Course

girl on High ropes course

Another one of our fave things was the huge high ropes course. It’s fun for everyone…well, except babies lol.

The high ropes course takes you 50 feet into the air, so if you are afraid of heights, this isn’t for you.

It was Savannah’s first time doing this kinda thing, and she was awesome! She did a few obstacles that I was a bit scared to do.

Of course Mum and Dad were there to help us, and some workers that came up there with us.

Great Wolf Lodge Charlotte high ropes course

Also, in the middle there is a small zipline. You don’t have to follow one exact track, you can go on whichever path you like. If you want to stay on the bottom rope course, you can stay there!

Mini golf and bowling

girl playing Mini golf at Great Wolf Lodge Charlotte

Right next to the rope course is a pool and mini golf. We got to try the mini golf, but we had to do it fast because we had a tight schedule! It’s only 12 holes, but it’s still fun. Dad won, of course. Dad wins at everything!

You can also go bowling. It was so fun, Dad won, again, but I think I came second.

Whenever we go bowling, Mum and I laugh about how bad mum is at bowling and she needs the bumpers up – and usually they only put the bumpers up for children!

I’m glad Dad won, because he got over a hundred points, and for that he somehow won us a free night at Great Wolf Lodge! Thanks Dad!

4. The Massive Indoor Water Park

Great Wolf Lodge waterpark drop slide

Time for some fun! OMG, this was the best indoor water park!!! It was a child’s paradise; MY paradise! The whole park is about 80,000-square-foot, so it’s huge! It’s also heated to 84-degrees year-round so you can come here whatever the weather.

You can even hire a private cabana so the parents can relax while the kid’s are having the time of their lives, or leave their stuff there and join them! Haha.

Savannah was allowed to do all the rides, except the Tornado, the scariest waterslide! If you are around Savannah’s age (7), you would probably be the same. It all depends on height, really.

The Tornado was definitely my favourite. You are just relaxing in a round shaped tube, then suddenly, you fall down a really STEEP drop. And you are inside this massive bowl type of thing and you go up and down the walls!

Of course, mum and dad always went backwards!! So if you like roller coasters, you will like this one!

Savannah’s favourite thing there was the wave pool, because she was too scared to do any water slides. In the wave pool, the waves can get really big! It’s so fun!

For toddlers, there are life jackets you can use for free and shallow pools, and you can take them on the water slides too.

Another fun waterslide was the red and blue one. You lie down on mats and race people.

If you are around Savannah’s age, or even a little bit younger, you could go on it by yourself. I never really beat Mum or Dad because it takes a while for me to start off some times – my legs aren’t as long as theirs! ha.

Another fun thing is the small obstacle course at the inside pool. You hold ropes and jump across logs. Anyone can do it really.

The indoor pool also has balls and nets so you can play basketball in the water, which we saw lots of teens and older children doing.

So, this waterpark is for all ages! Make sure you enjoy the giant tipping water bucket too.

5. The Eclipse Party

Yes, we were there during the Solar Eclipse, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a full Eclipse so it didn’t get too dark. ☹

The lodge set up an Eclipse party around the outside pool. Everyone got special glasses so you can look directly at the sun without hurting your eyes.

Most of the time, I swam in the pool with Savanna, but when the eclipse actually started we got out and had a look at it. It was really cool! You could see just a little line of the sun with the moon blocking most of it.

At the party, they did hula hoop competitions and Savannah told me she did it…did she???? Ha. Mum shared all of that on our Instagram stories. 

6. It’s pet friendly

We don’t have any pets, but we saw loads of people with their pups. You can purchase a Paw Pass, which allows you to bring your pup with you.

You need to book this at the same time as your reservation.

What’s also really cool is that your pup can join in with the activities too. Pups can get a Wolf Pass to join in the MagiQuest activity.

7. Fun for adults too

Mum and dad enjoyed taking time out to go to the on-site fitness center, which was well equipped with a lot of equipment. They also liked the hot tub.

There’s also a business center where they could work once we had gone to bed.

Final Thoughts

girls posing at Great wolf Lodge Charlotte North Carolina

It was so fun staying at Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte NC, even if it was only for one night! Because of the fire alarms through the night, the manager gave everyone staying at the Lodge a free night stay to make up for it, plus, Dad won us a free night stay too!

So two more nights free! Of course, we are definitely banking those in. We will definitely be coming back soon, if not to Charlotte, then somewhere else in the USA!

And that was our experience at the Great Wolf Lodge, we hope you find this review helpful and gave you some insights into what it’s like to stay there.

Check out these tips before visiting your next Great Wolf Lodge. 

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girls sitting on a bench

Have you stayed at a Great Wolf Lodge before? What do you think now you’ve read our review? And what’s your Magi name (or what would it be)? Let us know in the comments.

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