We went this weekend for the first time with 3 kids, ages 10, 6, and 5. We stayed 2 nights (friday-sunday) NO bed bugs, though after reading all these reviews ahead of time, we sprayed down the room before we brought any of our things in there. The room wasnt fancy,
but it was definitely clean. No smells. No bugs. We loved the water park and the kids had a blast. The place is loud and there tons of kids running amuck. We are breakfast and dinner in the on site restaurant -- it wasn't terrible. The quality of the rooms is just meh. But the overall experience is one that made my kids smile, so it was worth it in every way. My only request for people going there is please watch your kids!! We saw so many unattended children in the wave pool, walking around the hotel, etc. It was rather mind blowing.

Make sure you stop at the Walmart right before you go into the parking lot to stock up on food and drinks. Definitely bring in a bottle of wine. My kids had a BLAST. I thought it was expensive with Holiday Inn quality, but I did not see my kids for 2 days. I read 2 books. It was GREAT.

I like the one in the Pocono's better....

Anonymous wrote:Bedbugs?!?! We're going this weekend!

We went last month. They'll do a very thorough check (we watched them) before you enter the room, if you ask.

I hate the place will never ever go back

Anonymous wrote:We will not go back, as I missed the outside world for those 3 days and 2 nights. But kids loved it. They did it, we are done with it.

O.M.G. - that sounds like hell. We've never gone for more than one night.

Bedbugs?!?! We're going this weekend!

Bring your own food. Or locate restaurants nearby you can eat in. The food on-site is inedible.

Anonymous wrote:I second the recommendation to bring your own food. There is a Wal-Mart literally around the corner and we stock up there for breakfast items, snacks, etc. Also agree with the bring-your-own towels advice. We bring our own bottled water/drinks, too. They have a discount going on right now so we're going for teacher workdays.

Us too! See you there!

We just came back from our first trip to GWL. Our kids are 7 and 9. They loved every minute of it. To me, it was a disgusting, loud, rip off germ-farm. A child threw up in the family hot tub while I was in it (I bolted as if I had been lit on fire), there were just too many people in wet conditions for my comfort. While we did not get bedbugs there, I would read online about that problem first (tripadvisor, etc), and take precautions.

Our room (kidscamp suite) was very very expensive, but again, the kids loved it. We did not give into ANYTHING extra. No arcade, no magicquest, no kids spa, nothing. And, our kids were blissfully unaware. They asked, we said, "let's go on the waterslides!", and off we went, until they were exhausted. We ate one Bfast buffet at the hotel, the rest of the meals we ate at Ihop, or good restaurants we yelped online.

We will not go back, as I missed the outside world for those 3 days and 2 nights. But kids loved it. They did it, we are done with it.

I like 2 things about GWL. One is that my exhausted kid sleeps for hours, and so can I! The other is the smile on his face. Luckily, I love those two things so much that we keep going.

As far as age, we didn't start going until DS was about 7, and last year, when he was 12, it seemed like he was starting to outgrow it. I suspect he would have liked it a lot at 3 or 4 or 5 but it would have been a lot more work for me.

i have been reading reviews on this site, and it is really informative, both positive and negative

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g58313-d528447-Reviews-Great_Wolf_Lodge-Williamsburg_Virginia.html

I am the one who brought it back to the top. Thanks for the responses, i have been searching the site now for a couple hours!!! I think we have a weekend picked out (Thanksgiving weekend). When we go to the beach and stay in the hotel, i am used to taking breakfast (cereal, croissants, fruits, yogurt, etc) with us, and lunch (deli, cheeses, fruit, carrot sticks, yogurt, pb, etc) with us exactly for that reason. Cheaper to eat in than to take the kids to the restaurants and pay all that money. And I had already figured we'd find something outside to eat at, hopefully a buffet of some sort.

Thanks on the recommendations of the towels. Makes sense to me. Hope to make this a memorable trip we can maybe make each year.

I second the recommendation to bring your own food. There is a Wal-Mart literally around the corner and we stock up there for breakfast items, snacks, etc. Also agree with the bring-your-own towels advice. We bring our own bottled water/drinks, too. They have a discount going on right now so we're going for teacher workdays.

We enjoy it but find the food over priced/bad. Bring your own or eat else where in town. One night is enough to enjoy without spending too much on other activities...but my kids loved the Maqicquest which we gave into on one visit. Also, birng your own towels. The pool seems to run out and they are very low quality.