Great Wolf Lodge is a fantastic family experience and they do the holiday seasons big! Check out our tips for attending Howl-O-Ween at Great Wolf Lodge and get the scoop on their Snowland Celebrations happening now!
Disclosure: We are partnering with Great Wolf Lodge. All opinions are my own.
Great Wolf Lodge Family Fun
A few weeks back, my family and I set off on a fun weekend away to Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We had been to Great Wolf Lodge the year before but just missed some of the early holiday festivities, so we made sure we were able to visit during their awesome Howl-O-Ween celebrations.
We arrived on a Friday night, checked in and put on our wristbands. These bands are awesome. For the parents they allow you to charge things to your room, they are your keys into your room and your access to the pool. There are different colors of bands depending on how many times you have visited the park and you keep them on the entire time you are on property.
Once we checked in, we threw on those swimsuits and headed to the waterpark. Our daughter was super excited because she was finally tall enough to ride some of the big slides and we were just happy to spend a cold Colorado weekend, indoors, having a blast as a family.
We played for several hours in the waterpark and were able to ride on the big slides so many times that my legs were aching from climbing those stairs, but we all agreed that it was the perfect way to start our family fun weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. However, we were not just there to swim and the next day would be full of Howl-O-Ween fun!
Howl-O-Ween at Great Wolf Lodge
Last year when we visited, we came the weekend before the Howl-O-Ween activities started and the kids were a bit bummed. The lodge was just getting geared up and some of the decor was up, but other then a few photo opps, we missed out on really experiencing Howl-O-Ween. This year, we made sure to get there for all the fun!
The Howl-O-Ween decor at Great Wolf Lodge is top notch. Of course the giant balloon spider made its return, but they carried that incredible decor throughout and dressed up their incredible fireplace. The spiderwebs, massive spiders and so much more really brought Howl-O-Ween to life and we were so ready for it!
Great Wolf Lodge provides everyone with their signature ears, but the Howl-O-Ween ears are special and you have to visit during the season to snag a pair. We tried to get some at check in and unfortunately ours ran out. Well, surprise! if you go to the ear decorating event, they have some stashed orange ears and we were all about that life!
There is a ton to do during Howl-O-Ween. From dance parties, to many make and take spooky crafts, a witches lair, storytime and this awesome trick-or-treat trail! The trick-or-treat trail was fantastic and super fun to navigate. Each kid is given a bag and a card and you wander through the park and stop at stations and do games and activities and earn various candy and non-candy treats! We had the best time!
Tips for Attending Howl-O-Ween at Great Wolf Lodge
I wish I would have done a bit more research when we were planning our weekend at Great Wolf Lodge when it came to Howl-O-Ween. Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful time and there is always SO much to do when you are at the lodge, but I do have a few tips for attending Howl-O-Ween at Great Wolf Lodge.
Howl-O-Ween Tips
- Bring a Costume: We didn’t even have our costumes and man my kids were bummed. The wolf ears were helpful, but they would have loved to wear their actual costumes for the trick-or-treat street.
- Do the Ear Decorating: I am not entirely sure if those orange ears go quick everywhere, but you can be sure that they will have them during ear decorating.
- Dress them in their PJ’s: The Monster Bash Dance Party and storytime was super fun, but my kids were tired and fell asleep pretty much right after the events and one night even did so in their clothes. We wished we would have had them in their PJ’s!
- Be Prepared with a backpack: There is ALWAYS something going on in the Adventure Park and throughout the entire lodge. We would start playing MagiQuest and then Howl-O-Ween craft time would start or Critter Cartoons and our kids would switch gears and we needed to stash wands or lovies or towels quickly. Bring a bag to put things in when your kids want to jump in on the Howl-O-Ween fun!
Howl-O-Ween was a great experience and one we are so glad that we decided to come back for. The kids are now asking to head back to Great Wolf Lodge for the holidays and they just shared all their Snowland fun, that is really making us consider booking a Christmas getaway.
Snowland Is Happening Now!
Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs puts on an awesome Snowland celebration. It runs from November 29, 2019 – January 5, 2020 and this year they are adding on a great way for families to have fun and give back at the same time. Guest can dine in the life-sized gingerbread house with a small donation to Make-A-Wish and they can also purchase festive Santa Hat Wolf Ears and donate a portion of those proceeds to Make-A-Wish! In addition to the awesome givebacks they are doing, all guest can enjoy:
- Hot Cocoa Bar
- Frosty Fest Family Dance Party
- Polar Bear Plunge
- Holiday-inspired Yoga Tails called ’Twas the Morning Before Snowland.
- Snow falling in the Grand Lobby
- Life-size gingerbread house
- Special holiday-themed wolf ears
- Visit with Santa
