In Episode 79 Wolf Pack, I shared our Christmas morning as the kids opened up their big gift.
The gift was an experience to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. They were so excited that day, but not nearly as awestruck as the actual trip. Upon leaving the resort in January, I promised the staff that I would share our trip over 3 quarterly posts in 2017. My intent was to give the Lodge free publicity for how awesome they were to our family. I mentioned Corey Muldoon in my prior article for how thorough he was during the sales process to hook us up with our room and rate. The service was even better in person. Corey continued to check on us throughout our stay. Even his manager, Melissa Onorato (Director of Sales and Catering), was complimentary and grateful. They really get it there at Great Wolf. People are important. Create an awesome & memorable experience for families and business will never lack. This culture starts with Melissa and funnels down through Corey and the entire staff.
Okay, let’s talk Dadnamics now! This first post-Great Wolf video captures the most notariable piece of the Lodge — The Water Park.
FUN BIT #1 We went with another family, which made the trip SO much more fun. I let the parents go on some water slides while I watched their two younger boys. My goal was to entertain them without moving (I was a little tired). Thus, I sat in the shallow section of wave pool, next to 3 water jets. Then, Dylan helped me name each water jet and we played a silly preschool game where “Bob” was not listening and had to go into “Time-Out”. Basically, he kept shooting me in the face. Dylan was cracking up, having a blast. Their 9-year old Nolan was even laughing at me (or with me, not sure).
FUN BIT #2 There are 7 large water slides in this particular Great Wolf. I had my 2 olders and the other families’ 2 olders for 30 minutes and decided to throw down the Challenge.
“Can we get down all 7 slides in under 30 minutes?!”
I was halfway up the first set of stairs when I figured out their answer. The clock was ticking. It was so much fun and it truly helped that the park was empty in early January. Our families are both home-schooled and self-employed, so it was easier to choose an off-peak time. By the 7th slide, we wondered how close it would be…
My son hit the beeper on his watch as we exited the raft of the final slide. “Dad, 24:58!”
Not only did we beat the 30-minute goal, but we beat 25 minutes!
FUN BIT #3 After our friends left, we stayed one more day on a promotion from (you guessed it) Corey Muldoon. That gave us one more 2-hour shift in the water park. We took full advantage and captured this video at the end. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you might call this “Aquamenti“. If not, it’s just a Great Wolf Splash!
