Indoor Water Fun at Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio

Indoor water parks are springing up all over the Midwest. In Sandusky, Ohio, home of Cedar Point Amusement Park, there are now four indoor water parks to choose from. My family recently spent two fun filled days at the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio.

The Great Wolf Lodge was the first indoor water park and hotel to come to Sandusky, Ohio. The concept is self explanatory: a water park is built inside, surrounded by a hotel.

Our family chose a one night stay, on a Friday night, at a cost, before taxes, of $279.99. This price provided us with a family suite that slept six, arranged in two queen beds and a full sized sleeper sofa bed. The room had a small bathroom, two vanities with separate mirrors, a mini fridge, coffee maker, and complimentary coffee and tea packs. The price of the room included four water park passes. We paid $20 for each person over 4 that we had in the room.

The room we booked was the cheapest available, with the fewest amenities. There are a variety of rooms available, including many that have a balcony. There are also rooms that include amenities such as a child's "den" area; a separate sleeping area with bunk beds and a separate television for the kids. As with most hotels, the more amenities in the room, the higher the price.

As we arrived to check in to the hotel, we were immediately immersed in the lodge theme when we entered the lobby. A huge animatronics display greeted us, complete with an owl, raccoons, squirrels, talking trees, and two people. I personally found the whole thing creepy, but my six and three year old seemed fascinated by the mechanical characters.

For the adults, a huge stone fireplace with attractively arranged lodge furnishings beckoned you to sit and enjoy the fire. Unfortunately, it was late June, and even in northwest Ohio, a fire would have been overkill.

The hotel boasted two restaurants and a bar, as well as a full arcade and outdoor swimming pool, for anyone that could drag their kids away from the water park area.

While all the extras were nice, I was most concerned about how much time we would get in the actual water park. Although check in to the hotel rooms was not until 4:00 P.M., water park access for those checking in was granted at 1:00 P.M., with the water park closing at 10:00 P.M. The hours for play the second day, which was the day we checked out, were 10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. A locker room with showers, accessible from the water park area, provided a place to shower and change even after we checked out of our hotel room.

After checking in and changing into our swimsuits, we headed for the main attraction, the indoor water park. The attractions were broken down into seven basic areas; an infant/toddler area with small, soft slides and shallow water, a hot tub area with two different temperatures, for adults, a basic pool area that included water basketball hoops, a huge water play area known as Fort Mackenzie, a children's slide and pool area, a balancing log walk attraction, and two four story slides that required inner tubes to slide down. These last two slides twisted outside of the building for a portion of the journey. There were not as many slides as I had expected, but as my thighs soon learned, there were just enough to keep us interested and playing.

With a six and three year old, we did not make much use of the infant/toddler area. It was quite shallow, and the slides were very small. It was a nice place to let the kids play when we just wanted to sit on the side and watch, however.

The younger children's area, complete with five slides and a pool area of about two feet of water, was a family favorite. Three of the slides were small enough for the kids to slide down and land with no help at the bottom, and the top of the slides were close enough that the kids did not have to be escorted every time they wanted to go for a ride down. Two slightly larger slides were also available in this area, which required a parent to catch at the bottom for smaller riders. We also walked our son and daughter up each time. These larger slides were approximately two stories high, but were fun enough that we adults enjoyed them as well.

The water play area, dubbed Fort Mackenzie, provided rope climbs, plenty of water guns, and buckets to dump on unsuspecting people below. While none of these things held our kids' interest, the two slides at the top of the fort did provide a lot of fun. Although these slides were about three stories high, both of our children went down on their own. Rather than catch pools, these slides ended in slightly deeper water at the bottom of the slide. My three year old son was able to keep his head out of the water on hitting the bottom of the slide.

The two four story slides were the biggest thrills of the park. On the first day, only the adults and our thirteen year old attempted these slides, but by the second day of water park fun, the six and three year old were riding down on the front of the inner tube howling with delight.

While the many slides were fun, my lasting impression of the water park was of the care the lifeguards took to make sure each kid was safe. Whistle signals between the lifeguards ensured that a parent or other caretaker was ready to catch a child before they were sent down a slide. The lifeguards were flexible, also, allowing one parent to stand in the landing pool for the two biggest slides while the other parent rode down with a kid on the front of the tube. This flexibility, combined with the safety and watchful eye of the lifeguards meant that even our three year old could enjoy all the slides. Life jackets were available for smaller children, but could not be worn when riding a slide.

There were two major disappointments about Great Wolf Lodge. The lazy river seemed to be merely an afterthought. It was small, moved too slowly to not require some self propulsion, and was usually crowded with empty tubes. The other major disappointment was the cost of the food within the park. A small cantina provided fast food style meals and drinks, but at a premium price. More than any of the slides, the cost of the food within the water park reminded you that it was an amusement park.

Despite the two disappointments, the Great Wolf Lodge will definitely see repeat business from my family. The price was fair, being lower than two of it's major competitors, CastAway Bay and Kalahari, and it provided ample time in the water park itself. The attractions were fun and varied enough to keep us interested for two days. And most importantly, the safety of the people in the park was obviously a top priority, without compromising everyone's accessibility to the slides.