On Christmas morning, my daughter discovered a tiny scroll on the Christmas Tree. It was a note from Santa. The first of 4. He sent my children on a scavenger hunt that led them from the Christmas tree to the mailbox to the front porch and lastly, to the freezer. On the 3rd clue, they each got a present. A t-shirt with a dabbing wolf. On the 4th note, it was revealed that we would be going to GWL in Williamsburg for 2 nights. They were beyond thrilled!
We just finished our third trip to GWL and our second trip to the Williamsburg location. My husband joined us for the first time and I have to say, it was helpful having another adult along! Don’t get me wrong, I love taking my kids to GWL and we always have a super fun and memorable time, but I’m 47 and it is exhausting. But I digress…
We have only been to 2 locations thus far; Williamsburg and Concord. While both locations have their pros and cons, overall, we prefer Williamsburg. The layout seems preferable and my kids liked the attractions in the Waterpark more than Concord.
This was our first time staying for two nights. On our previous trips we only stayed for one. While it is definitely doable to do a one night trip, after doing a two nighter, I’m not sure I could go back to one.
Staying one night is budget friendly. You can find codes online to save money. We have never paid more than $125 (plus taxes and resort fee) per night for a themed suite. However, staying one night is go-go-go all of the time with little down time. Our first two trips we arrived at 1:00PM and got our room. Got situated and ate lunch. Then we hit the waterpark and stayed until close. Ordered pizza and ate in the room. Then we explored the hotel. Went to story time or a dance party. Did mini-Magiquest. Got an ice cream. Then back to the room. Slept. We chose to get a late checkout both times. This allowed us to go to the waterpark in the morning and head back to the room at lunch-time to pack, eat lunch and leave.
Staying for two nights costs a little more but I think it is definitely worth it. When we stayed for 1 night we rushed from here to there to get everything in. With two nights we got to relax a little more. We arrived around 1:30 and got to our room right away. We unpacked and I made lunches for everyone. After lunch, we went to the waterpark and stayed until about 6:30pm. We ordered pizza and took it to our room for dinner. After we ate we explored the hotel, got ice cream and attended both dance parties. We also did the mini-MagiQuest. It was probably about 9:15 when we got back to the room.
On day 2, we took our time waking up and ate breakfast in the room. We decided to attempt to avoid crowds so we did Build-a-Bear and the Arcade before lunch. It worked. We were the only ones at Build-a-Bear and the arcade was decent. Afterwards, we ate lunch in the room and got ready to go to the waterpark. We headed to the park around 1pm and stayed until 5pm. (my kids are good for about 4 hours in the waterpark– then they are done) We chillaxed in the room for a while then decided to go out to dinner. The restaurant is basically in the parking lot of GWL and there were only two other families there, so it was quick and easy. We got back to the hotel around 8pm, just in time for the 1st dance party. Everyone quickly changed into PJ’s and we headed to the lobby. We danced and had a ball and followed it up with some mini-Magiquest. The kids had so much fun at the first dance party that we went back for round 2. After that, it was time to relax in the room.
On day three we spent the morning packing. We had eggs, bacon, fruit and donuts for breakfast (that we brought) and loaded the car. After that, we went to the Buckhorn Exchange and let the kids pick out a T-shirt (we get a T-shirt whenever we go on vacation) and the kids did mini-Magiquest one more time. We were out the door at 11AM.
waterpark
River Canyon Run is my kids favorite attraction. They like the fact that the three of us can do it together. And of course I scream and holler and make funny sounds that get them tickled, so they like that too. Our first time at GWL, they were a little scared, but after they experienced it once, they didn’t want to stop! I think we rode it 3 or 4 times on our first day.
Big Foot Pass is probably the second favorite. My kids love trying to navigate the giant, floating lily pads and cargo nets. My daughter hops across like a frog. My son, on the other hand, struggles but has fun doing it.
Next on the favorite list is probably the wave pool. When they hear the wolf howl they are ready to get there as quickly as possible to enjoy the ocean waves. Of course, so is every other kid in the water park. For a more enjoyable wave pool experience I would do it as soon as the park opens or the last hour before closing.
Alberta Falls was a hit with my kids this time. Since Daddy was with us, we were all able to do it together. Pairing off and racing down. You can ride alone if you are over 42 inches tall or you can double up and ride together.
While my kids enjoy Fort Mckenzie, they spend a good chunk of their time going up the stairs as quickly as possible to get to Totem Towers, so they can race each other down the water slides. This is usually pretty popular and the lines can be rather long.
My kids are still young enough to enjoy the Cub Paw Pool & Whooping Hollow. And truth be told, I enjoy it too. It gives me a chance to sit in shallow water and let them have fun without having to worry.
Crooked Creek, aka, the lazy river, is small but the kids like doing it after River Canyon Run. Although, in our experience, there is nothing lazy about it. Some people use floats, many kids swim and run through as fast as they can, knocking smaller kids around and creating quite a ruckus. It’s probably my least favorite as a mom of 2 small kids.
I was thankful that the Hot Springs (hot tubs) were open again. They were closed when we came in 2020 and 2021. They have an over 21 hot tub and a family hot tub. The biggest difference is that the family tub has no jets and it is usually pretty crowded.
The only two waterpark attractions that we didn’t do were the Howling Tornado, or toilet bowl slide as we call it and the boogie board one. I’d say they are both geared more to teens.
attractions
MagiQuest: I have to be honest. It seems super complicated to me. When we bought two wands on our last visit, they gave us a booklet. I looked through it and it was just too much. My kids are 5 and 8 now and I still got away with them doing the mini-MagiQuest; it’s free and they get to activate the pictures, treasure chests and other items. That makes them happy and for now, is enough to keep them satisfied. So unless you are into MagiQuest (some adults are!) I suggest just doing the mini (free) version.
Arcade: This was the first trip that I let my kids play games in the arcade. I set a limit for $10 each. It would be SUPER EASY to blow $100 playing games. So we set expectations beforehand. Truth be told, I know it is fun but I find it such a waste of money. I had my kids give me the $10 to pay for the games.
Build-a-Bear: This was also the first time that I let my kids do this activity. There are 3 price points for the animals- $29.99, $32.99 and $36.99. With the Animal plus outfit, it was roughly $45 each. This is a one time thing for my kids; they only need to build an animal once.
Gem Mining: They have a small mining area set up outside the waterpark. You go to the Buckhorn Exchange to buy the bag of gems; $11.99 for an individual bag and $29.99 for a family bag. Take them to the mining area; which is basically screens and water to sift through your bag. We opted not to do this one. Not this time anyway.
Laser Tag: This is a popular activity. You can play as a family or let the kids go it alone. We have not done this one either and I don’t have many details.
Bowling: This is another one that we haven’t tried yet. The bowling alley is small with only a few lanes. And they are short; built for kids. There may be room for a couple of families but that’s about all. My kids have not asked to bowl yet but it is something we might try on our next trip.
fun activities
Storytime: On our previous visits, we did storytime. They were not doing normal dance parties due to Covid. The younger kids really enjoy this. A character is normally present and the kids can get a picture with them (kind of…social distancing). We accidently made it to storytime on Day 2 of this trip. We were leaving for dinner and it was happening in the lobby. My kids enjoyed it and got a photo.
Dance Party: This trip was our first experience with a full on dance party. (In 2021 when we went to Concord they did a story time/dance combo. Kids had to dance sitting down. Ridiculous) The lobby was packed with parents and kids. All of the kids were dancing and having a blast and many of the parents were as well. So much fun!
Bingo: This is another activity that we stumbled upon by accident as we were heading back to the room after the waterpark. We stopped and played. It was fun. Short and sweet. I think it lasted less than 10 minutes.
Crafts: On our previous visits we did crafts. This trip, we missed craft time. In 2020 and 2021, the GWL App listed activities and you could set reminders. It was super helpful. They have changed the app and now it just lists the hours for the attractions. No activities/events are included. I’m not sure how you are supposed to know what time different things are happening. It’s not like they give you an itinerary at check-in. I suppose you have to ask the front desk. (I’m sure they wish the app still included events…)
ways to save money
I am in a couple of GWL groups on Facebook and I am SHOCKED at what people are willing to pay. It’s one thing to pay $2000+ for a trip to Disney World; but it’s totally NOT worth it to pay that at GWL.
Here are ways that we save money.
- ALWAYS book with a code. NEVER pay the regular price. Search codes online or join one of the Facebook groups.
- Go during the week if possible. The nightly rates are cheaper. We always go when the kids are on break from school so we can go during the week. All 3 of our trips have been in December or January during Snowland.
- Pack drinks, snacks, and easy foods for breakfast and lunch. I always bring way too much food. Lol. I boil eggs and buy pre-cooked bacon for breakfast. I bring bread and meat for sandwiches and PBJ for my son and microwave mac & Cheese. Snack bags. Water, soft drinks. Juices. The mini fridge isn’t terribly cold though and you can’t control the temp, so we use our cooler with ice from the hotel machine to keep our drinks cold. We usually splurge and get hotel food or go out to dinner.
- Set limits and expectations. As I said earlier about the arcade, we told our kids how much they could spend and that was that. You can easily blow through a TON of money. We also limit lodge activities. This time we did the arcade and Build-a-Bear. Maybe next time we will do bowling and the arcade. The way I see it, you don’t have to do everything in one trip (unless you plan on never returning).
- Be careful with the “passes”. Many people recommend getting one of the “money saving passes”. It will only save you money if your kids are interested in all of the items that you get. I looked into getting the Pup Pass for my kids but when I looked at what was included, I determined it was cheaper for us to skip the pass and just pay for the Build-a-Bear and ice cream since none of the other items were useful for us. For some families it may be a great deal, but not for us.
- Skip the Cabana. They usually charge $100-$300 for a Cabana and it is not worth it in my opinion. In fact, on this trip, they were all empty. We have never had trouble finding a place to sit. And if we need a break, we go back to our room (that we already paid for…)
- If your kids are young enough (maybe 8 and younger) you can probably get away with the free mini-Magiquest. All my kids care about is running through and activating the items.
Keep in mind that all of the lodges are different. This was our experience at the Williamsburg location. The prices vary from place to place. The attractions vary. Everything is a little bit different.
This is a wonderful place for families with kids 2-12. While I saw plenty of teenagers, they were vastly outnumbered by younger children. My kids love GWL and now they ask Santa for a trip every year. And as long as we can stick to a budget and keep it affordable, Santa will continue to surprise them with a GWL Scavenger hunt for years to come.
