15 Items You Must Pack for Great Wolf Lodge

Great Wolf Lodge Resorts are a family friendly indoor and water park destination in the United States that is so much fun that it will have your family planning the next trip before you leave!  Are you planning a trip to one of the amazing Great Wolf Lodge locations or thinking about visiting a Great Wolf Lodge location but do not know where to start?  If you are feeling overwhelmed by what to pack for a Great Wolf Lodge trip, do not worry - these 15 items you must pack for a Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park resorts trip will have you ready in no time!  

Great Wolf Lodge Ultimate What to Pack List Tips

 Great Wolf Lodge is one of our favorite family friendly destinations and we love that the Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg location is less than 2 hours away.  We always have so much fun during our time at Great Wolf Lodge but we understand that planning and taking a family trip there can get pricey, so I want to share my experience and tips for saving money when planning and arriving at Great Wolf Lodge here as well as you are planning and packing for your trip to Great Wolf Lodge.

This great wolf lodge packing list is going to have your family prepared for your first visit in no time!  Let these simple packing list ideas prepare your family for your first stay with these great wolf lodge tips so you can relax and have so much fun and not stress the entire time!  

15 Items You Must Pack for Great Wolf Lodge Successful Trip

Keep in mind that your family can arrive at the Great Wolf Lodge resort prior to check-in time on arrival time and enjoy the indoor water park to make the most of your time at Great Wolf Lodge with your family.  This is a great way to maximize your fun at the Great Wolf Lodge resort at the time of your visit.  If you are planning to arrive early, have your pool bag packed with items your family will need to have on hand prior to being able to unpack in the hotel room.  

🧳MULTIPLE BATHING SUITS

There is nothing worse than a wet bathing suit. Your children / family will want to visit the water park at Great Wolf Lodge multiple times during your visit.  Families with younger children will often go to the water park in the morning, head back to the room for naps, then go back to the water park later in the afternoon or evening. Your family will not want to put back on wet swimsuits, so pack multiple bathing suits if you have them for Great Wolf Lodge. Bathing suits roll up easily to pack, so these will not take up much space in your suitcase and in my opinion are better to overpack bathing suits than to have to deal with a meltdown over wet suits! Your families water park getaway will be a success with extra bathing suits if you have them!  

🧳BRIGHT SWIM GUARDS / SWIM SHIRTS

No matter what time of year your family goes to Great Wolf Lodge, the water park area is where the bulk of the Great Wolf Lodge guests are going to be and spend SO much time.  The space can feel a little crowded and if you have multiple children who want to disperse throughout the water park then you will want to be able to identify and find them quickly when need be!  Pack bright neon colored swim guards and swimsuits for your children.  I can stand anywhere in the Great Wolf Lodge water park area and scan and locate their neon brightly colored rash guards and it makes me feel so much less stressed as a parent!  You can find neon and brightly colored swim guards and swim shirts at Walmart for great price!

You can find neon and brightly colored swim guards and swim shirts at Walmart for great price!

🧳WATERPROOF CASE FOR PHONE

If you do not already have a water protector case for your phone, you MUST order one ASAP to have. This is a life saver while at Great Wolf Lodge at the indoor waterpark and allows you to keep your phone on you in the water to capture photos and videos and memories to treasure for years to come!  No more missing out on memories because you are worried about your phone being damaged! These waterproof phone cases are worth every penny and work perfectly!  I have this phone case and have used it for years and highly recommend it. (This link is to amazon and as an amazon affiliate I earn commissions at no extra cost to you).

🧳COMFORTABLE CLOTHES

Do not pack any nice clothes for Great Wolf Lodge, there are no dress code requirements for Great Wolf Lodge.  You will see guests at Great Wolf Lodge roaming the hotel in bathing suits and cover ups and very comfortable clothing. I highly recommend athletic clothes, t shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts for your family.  Comfort wins at Great Wolf Lodge! Athleisure wear is perfect for Great Wolf Lodge.  You will definitely want comfortable clothes as you are hanging out and relaxing when your family is enjoying Magiquest or time to rest between indoor water park visits.  Easy outfits to have ready for dry clothes to change into are a good idea.

🧳TENNIS SHOES

Your family is going to clock a LOT of steps at Great Wolf Lodge especially if you are doing Magiquest with your child. You need really comfortable tennis shoes for your family so you aren't miserable during those steps to become a Magi Master. Closed-toe shoes are definitely recommended to avoid blisters.

🧳WATER SHOES

The water park at Great Wolf Lodge can get really slippery, especially around the bathrooms. Grab some comfortable water shoes that your child can wear to and from the water park to your room and around the resort. Water shoes are also great when walking around the water park and waiting in line for slides too!

🧳SNACKS FOR THE ROOM

Great Wolf Lodge has an on-site restaurant and dining options that are family and kid friendly easy meals at the water park and on site like chicken tenders, pizza and hot dogs, as well as Dunkin donuts! But I would recommend packing snacks and your own food for the room to save money. Each Great Wolf Lodge room has a mini fridge We pack fruit for breakfast, prepacked snacks to have to refuel after a long day at the Great Wolf Lodge water park and running around for Great Wolf Lodge Magiquest.   

 Ideas for snacking for the hotel room:

  • Granola Bars

  • Pretzels

  • Goldfish

  • Fruit 

  • Crackers

  • Gatorade

🧳GOGGLES

If your child wants to hang in the wave pool area or shoot some basketball but does not like to get water in their eyes, pack some goggles to avoid having to buy in the Great Wolf Lodge water park gift shop.  This gift shop has lots of items if you do forget something like bathing suit or goggles, but pack from home to save money! Goggles are easy to pack and worth having just incase they want to use!

🧳POOL BAG

It would be a huge pain to not have a pool bag for the trek to and from the Great Wolf Lodge water park while staying on property. A brightly colored pool bag is a great way to mark your family’s spot at the Great Wolf Lodge water park at a table or lounge chairs and is a great way to secure a meet up spot. Having a beach bag to toss goggles, swim diapers, snacks, water bottles and other kid items will help you when you have tired kids leaving the Great Wolf Lodge water park. I love having a wet bag / plastic bags to toss wet clothes and bathing suits for our drive home too so the rest of our suitcase and clothes do not get wet. 

🧳SWIM DIAPERS

Just like bathing suits, if you have a little one who is still wearing swim diapers in the pool, pack extras since you may be leaving the Great Wolf Lodge water park and going back in multiple times a day or during your Great Wolf Lodge stay.

🧳SWIMMER EAR DROPS

My boys stayed in the Great Wolf Lodge water park for 7 hours straight one of the days of our visit and having swimmer ear drops on hand was a life saver! You may not need them but if your children are water babies like mine and will be in the Great Wolf Lodge water park for long periods of time, make sure you pack these so you don’t have a kid in pain during your trip to Great Wolf Lodge.

🧳MAGIQUEST WAND

Don’t know what Magiquest is yet? Dont worry, I will give you all of the MagiQuest info and tips here so you can be ready to conquer the quests and be a Magi Master before you leave Great Wolf Lodge.  If you have visited Great Wolf Lodge before, be sure that you pack your Magiquest wand so your child can pick up where they left off with their Magiquest progress during your last visit. If you are new to Magiquest and this is your first time - do not worry - I have all the tips in this post and the staff in the Magiquest store at Great Wolf Lodge will help you get set up with the game.  Magiquest is my 9-year old’s favorite part of Great Wolf Lodge and I enjoy doing it with him!  

🧳SMALL BOOKBAG / CROSS BODY

Traveling with children anywhere means having to hold on to their items that they promise to carry, am I right or am I right?  Having a crossbody purse / separate bag during our visits to Great Wolf Lodge allowed me to keep track of arcade cards and pup passes for Great Wolf Lodge and still have my hands free.  This was a life saver with my younger kids so I could help hold things around the Great Wolf Lodge resort!

🧳INSULATED WATER BOTTLE

We always carry along our Great Wolf Lodge refill souvenir cup which is 100% worth buying for free refills. We also take insulated water bottles though to have and keep the kids hydrated. There are water refill stations throughout the resort so it is easy to refill.

🧳SUNSCREEN IF GOING IN SUMMER / WARMER MONTHS

Great Wolf Lodge holds up to all of the hype you have heard. It is a family friendly resort that will truly be full of fun and memories and leave your entire family wanting to return and booking another return trip days after you get home.

Are Life Jackets Provided for Guests at Great Wolf Lodge?

Yes, life jackets are available for guests to use at Great Wolf Lodge.  

Are towels provided for guests at the Great Wolf Lodge?

Yes, towels are provided for guests to use. You do not need to pack your own pool towels.  

Great Wolf Lodge holds up to all of the hype you have heard.  It is a family friendly resort that will truly be full of fun and memories and leave your entire family wanting to return and booking another return trip days after you get home.  

Are You Looking for More Information about Great Wolf Lodge?

Feel free to peruse my Great Wolf Lodge highlight icon on instagram with tons of videos and photos for more in depth review of Great Wolf Lodge as well.

Water Park Review: Great Wolf Lodge VA  Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park.  The Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg Resort has so much to offer families and the indoor water park area is a huge draw for many visitors.  

Ultimate Family Review Great Wolf Lodge  Great Wolf Lodge Williamsburg is a 67,000-square-foot indoor water park that is an amazing attraction for families and kids of all ages.  Your family will spend a TON of time at the Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park, so read my review here to have all of the details before you go.  Another portion of Great Wolf Lodge that my children absolutely loved was 

Great Wolf Lodge Family MagiQuest. MagiQuest helps you fully immerse yourself in Vellara, the realm of imagination, as you help the Guardians to protect the Realm Portals. Along the way, befriend the Treetop Pixies, battle the evil dragon, Charlock, recover stolen jewels from the Goblin King, and earn the title of Master Magi. The MagiQuest game turns the hallways and walkways of the hotel into an interactive experience that will keep your child running, exploring and interacting with every hallway and piece of artwork and fixture on the wall and ceiling.

Are you planning a trip to Great Wolf Lodge and wondering whether you should purchase a Wolf Pass, Paw Pass or Pup Pass for your child? Let me break down why buying a wolf pass at Great Wolf Lodge for your child is a great idea! We have visited Great Wolf Lodge twice as a family and we have purchased the Wolf Pass on our first visit and during our second visit to Great Wolf Lodge we purchased the Paw Pass and highly recommend purchasing these during your visit.

Which Great Wolf Lodge Locations are available to stay in?

  • Bloomington, MN

  • Charlotte / Concord, NC

  • Cincinnati / Mason, OH

  • Colorado Springs, CO

  • Grand Mound, WA

  • Grapevine, TX

  • Gurnee, IL

  • Kansas City, KS

  • LaGrange, GA

  • Great Wolf Lodge New England, Boston, MA

  • Niagara Falls, Canada

  • Pocono Mountains, PA

  • Sandusky, OH

  • Scottsville, Great Wolf Lodge Arizona

  • Southern California / Garden Grove, CA
    Travese City, MI

  • Williamsburg, VA

  • Wisconsin, WI

From check in to check out, Great Wolf Lodge is a great time for both older kids and young kids.  At the end of the day, your children will be exhausted and howling from a great time.  Great Wolf Lodge is a great option for a stop during a road trip or even a staycation!  Come experience what families all over North America are raving about and returning to time and time again!  

Erin Smith

Mom of 3 sharing tips for parenting, DIY and crafts, recipes for kids, and lifestyle tips for families on the go.  

http://www.xoxoerinsmith.com
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