Last Updated on March 27, 2026 by Adrienne
The winter doldrums can really get you down this time of year, and while it’s not always possible to book a trip to the Caribbean, an indoor water park can scratch the itch for some mid-winter summer fun on a budget. The best known chain of indoor water parks in the US is Great Wolf Lodge, which operates more than 20 resorts across North America. We recently spent two days and one night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee, Illinois (suburban Chicago) and had a great time, especially my water-loving 6 year old. Read on for my full review of our experience at this Great Wolf Lodge.
Water Park
The main attraction at a Great Wolf Lodge is, of course, the water park, which has all the standard features and then some, including a wave pool, a lazy river, water basketball, big kid and toddler play areas and lots of tube slides, some of which had pretty steep drops and were surprisingly thrilling even for adults. On the whole the park seemed pretty clean and it was nice to enjoy a water park without having to worry about constantly reapplying sunscreen. Room rates include access to the water park all day on both your arrival and departure day, so you can stay only one night and get two full days in at the water park, which is what we did.
At least at the Gurnee location, they also sell day passes to locals, so it can get really crowded on weekends, especially Saturdays. I was not prepared for now noisy it would be (we actually had to shout to each other to be heard at times) and would definitely recommend packing earplugs if you’re at all sensitive to noise. It was significantly less crowded on Sunday, so planning a trip Sunday-Thursday may help you avoid crowds and noise as well. We also had some issues finding tubes for the slides on Saturday, but again that was much less of an issue on Sunday.
Other Activities
In addition to the water park, Great Wolf Lodge has a bunch of other activities geared at families and kids. Some of them are included in the room rates, including yoga, family dance parties and evening storytimes, but many of them are at an additional cost. The best known one is MagiQuest, a live action role-playing game where you use a special wand to unlock virtual treasure. I think this is best for older kids who can read, although we did see a few toddlers doing it. There’s also a climbing wall, ropes course, mini-golf, an arcade and a Build-A-Bear workshop, all available for an additional cost.
Great Wolf Lodge celebrates various holidays and when we visited on Thanksgiving weekend they were already in their Christmas era (“Snowland”), with lots of decorations, activities and evening visits with Santa, which was fun.
Food
One thing I consistently read in reviews of Great Wolf Lodge is that the food onsite is mediocre and very overpriced, so with only one night there we opted to eat off property (we DoorDash-ed our favorite Chicagoland pizza chain, Lou Malnati’s, for dinner, and had a fantastic breakfast at the local Riverside Cafe). If you want to eat onsite though, there are plenty of options, from familiar chains like Dunkin’ and quick service food in the waterpark to Great Wolf Lodge’s signature restaurants like Campfire Kitchen (breakfast buffet) and Barnwood (sit down dinner).
Rooms
We had the cheapest room category and it was basic but fine. I did feel like they could have done more with theming (I’ve been spoiled by Legoland Hotels, where even the basic rooms have awesome details) but it wasn’t a big deal. You can purchase a late checkout option if you’d like to have access to your room until 2 pm (vs. the standard 11 am checkout time). As mentioned above, you’ll have access to the water park all day on the day you check out no matter what, but especially in winter, it’s really nice to have access to your room to get clean and dry before going home.
Is Great Wolf Lodge Worth It?
If you have kids who will get a lot of value out of the included water park access, yes. I was annoyed by the amount of nickel and dime-ing on an already expensive room rate (like the $15/night parking charge even though the location is very suburban and has an enormous parking lot), but my 6 year old had a fantastic time and would love to go back. I’d try to stay Sunday-Thursday nights for better room rates and a less crowded water park.
Know Before You Go to Great Wolf Lodge
- I recommend downloading the Great Wolf Lodge app, which has useful info such as restaurant hours and menus, the times of events and even the ability to order food to-go from onsite restaurants. I will say that the wi-fi on the property was not great and was especially bad in the water park (which also had poor cell reception), so the app is less useful than it would have otherwise been.
- As noted above, you have access to the water park any time on day of check in and day of check out, so even a one night stay gets you two full days of water park time. I recommend arriving in your swimsuits so you can hit the water park right away, and consider purchasing a late checkout option if you won’t be heading home until the late afternoon or evening.
- Bring earplugs! For both the water park noise and because the room walls are pretty thin.
- Bring bathrobes or thick pool cover ups – while the water park is balmy even in a Chicago winter, the rest of the hotel is not particularly warm, and the towels are meant to stay in the water park area, so if you don’t have a cover-up you’ll have to go up to your room in a wet bathing suit, which isn’t fun.
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