Traveling for our family of 7 isn’t cheap, but we try to take one family vacation every year. This summer, we came to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH, near Cincinnati, for the 4th of July weekend.
Great Wolf Lodge has always been a doable and affordable option for us because it’s more than just an indoor waterpark. It’s essentially a mini resort! They’ve got arcade games, seasonal activities for the kids to enjoy, a Build-A-Bear shop, and restaurants on site.
And with 5 kids, I particularly love that this location isn’t too far from where we live in Columbus, OH. Our car ride is about an hour and a half max!
This was not our first time staying at Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, OH, but it had been a while, and the kids were ecstatic!
What We Packed
Room Snacks. You cannot bring outside food and drinks into the waterpark, but you can, however, bring whatever you’d like into your room. We packed a cooler bag with chips, Gatorade, fruit snacks, fresh fruit, Lunchables, and premade sandwiches to enjoy once our room was ready.
Sunscreen. I brought my favorite water-resistant SPF just in case we wanted to enjoy the outdoor swimming area, and I’m so glad I did. There was plenty of poolside seating, a bar for ordering drinks, and you could even see some of the roller coasters next door, at Kings Island Amusement Park.
Swim Gear. Great Wolf Lodge provides towels and life jackets for kids and infants, but we brought goggles, swim diapers, and my go-to swimmer’s shampoo for chlorine removal.
First-Aid Kit. As a mom, I make sure I always have this kit with Band-Aids and Neosporin on standby. The boys did get some minor cuts and scrapes while swimming, but it was good to know that the Towel Station at Great Wolf Lodge has bandages too.
Travel Cleaning Kit. Ever since COVID, I just do not trust the cleanliness of hotels anymore, so I like to bring supplies to disinfect our room myself.
Waterproof Phone Pouch. This is a must-have and one of my favorite Amazon summer finds. It’ll keep your phone dry while you swim so there’s nothing stopping you from capturing memories!
What Room We Chose
And speaking of our room, this is the perfect place to tell you all about the room we booked for our family of 7!
We stayed in the KidCabin Suite, which includes 1 Queen Bed, 1 Twin Bunk Bed, 1 Twin Bed, and 1 Sofa Bed. It had a gas fireplace that actually worked, a balcony, and it was so spacious.
The KidCabin Suite can easily accommodate 6-7 people comfortably. We arrived at Great Wolf Lodge at 1 PM, but our room wasn’t ready until a little after 3:30 PM.
When you book your stay at Great Wolf Lodge, it includes waterpark passes that you can use on the day you arrive AND on the day you check out. So when we planned this trip, we knew we wanted to arrive a few hours before the 4 PM check-in time so we could get our wristbands and go straight to the waterpark, which is open daily from 10 AM to 8 PM!
What We Ate
We swam until the waterpark closed, so by the time everyone was showered and dressed, it was 10 PM, and our dinner options were very limited. Luckily, their on-site Hungry As A Wolfe pizza restaurant stays open late.
We were able to place our order for three large pizzas through the Great Wolf Lodge app, and it was delivered straight to our room!
The next morning, we woke up at 8 AM and headed downstairs to the Loose Moose Cottage restaurant, which served an All-You-Can-Eat breakfast buffet.
The breakfast buffet at Great Wolf Lodge includes hot pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt, hot & cold cereal, breakfast potatoes, mini muffins, danishes, and other sweet treats. But my favorite item on the menu was the Breakfast Quesadilla and Flank Steak.
Related: The BEST Saturday Morning Pancakes
What We Spent
Now, let’s talk about how much we spent going to Great Wolf Lodge on a budget with 5 kids. Our room total for one night was $495.77. Our water park passes for six were included, but my daughter, who is under the age of 2, was free.
My kids really wanted to swim again after breakfast, so we gave in and paid an extra $59.99 for late check-out. So instead of leaving our KidCabin Suite at 11 AM, we got to stay until 2 PM, which was perfect!
Our pizza order from Hungry As A Wolf came to $90, which is insane, but still cheaper than all of us dining at a restaurant. We ordered 2 large pepperoni pizzas, 1 specialty pizza, and 1 2L of Pepsi.
For the breakfast buffet, we spent $117, including drinks + left a $20 tip. The cost is free for kids aged 2 and under, $9.99 for kids aged 3-10, and $19.99 for adults 11+.
Overnight parking here is $19, which was collected upon arrival. We paid another $38 when we left the hotel because my husband scanned his ticket instead of swiping his wristband. 🤦🏾♀️
During your stay, you can use your wristband to exit and enter the parking lot in the event you have to leave, but just remember to use your wristband when you check out, too. We contacted the park to get a refund for the additional $38 parking fee, and the request was approved.
Our total for this trip: $801.76
Lucky for us, the boys just wanted to swim, so we didn’t have to spend any additional money on arcade games. We were also able to save roughly $120 by bringing our own food to eat in our room (once it was ready), instead of ordering lunch at the waterpark.
There is a gift shop at Great Wolf Lodge and a Build-A-Bear, but we didn’t step inside those either. We all got complimentary wolf ears when we arrived, which was the only souvenir we needed!
Pro Tip: If you want to save even more money, check out Great Wolf Lodge rates on Groupon first.
Final Thoughts
We had such a great time at Great Wolf Lodge near Cincinnati. We left tired. Sore, hair wet, suitcases messy, hearts full. I won’t remember everything from this trip, but I’ll remember how it felt. And that’s enough.
Related: What This 4th Of July Weekend Taught Me About Slowing Down and Soaking It In (Literally)
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