A Quick Getaway to The Great Wolf Lodge
We took a two day, one night trip to The Great Wolf Lodge last week. This was supposed to be a quick getaway but it was more of a preplanned and well thought out overnight stay. We’ve done a lot of super fun trips to Disney World, Cancun and Hawaii but this time I didn’t have it in me to take a flight any where. So, we settled for The Great Wolf Lodge in Gurnee, IL. It was a short drive so we only had to answer the “Are we there yet?’ question a few times. Allergy Travel Tip #1: If you’re not up for it, don’t stress about vacationing somewhere far. Planning a trip with allergies involved is a lot of work. There are plenty of local places to search out or even plan a staycation instead of somewhere far.
Musa had a blast…as did the rest of us! We spent the first couple of hours in the waterpark which had plenty for Musa to do including, a splash pad, smaller slides, a lazy river, and basketball hoops to name a few. After swimming, we checked out some of the activities included in the toddler Paw Pass we purchased. Two items-candy and ice cream- were food related and the staff was great about them. At each place, there was a binder with all the ingredients listed. For the candy, Musa could pick bulk candy from the bins. But because it would have taken forever to go through the binder for each bin, the staff allowed Musa to pick some prepackaged candy. He opted for cotton candy, Spiderman PEZ and a Push Pop. For the ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s also had a binder which the staff insisted I check to be sure of any allergens. I’m glad I did because the lemon sorbet I was going to get for Musa was manufactured on the same equipment as dairy which is a big no for us. Instead, Musa opted for a cup of sprinkles from there and a Better Bites Bakery Little Mo cupcake I had brought along for him. Allergy Travel Tip #2: Always bring along a few extra treats in case of emergencies.
As for food, I brought along Musa’s meals because I didn’t want to risk anything for such a short trip. The plan was to enjoy our time without worrying about allergies (too much). We had breakfast before leaving on Thursday and planned to be back at home by dinner on Friday. So, I took lunch/dinner for 3 times, breakfast for Friday and a ton of snacks for in between. The fridge in the room was bigger than most I’ve seen and super clean. There was a microwave on each floor to heat up the food. The microwaves weren’t the cleanest so heads up on that. I wiped the microwave down super quick prior to using. I also packed a little extra food for the meals than he normally eats since he typically gets super hungry after playing in the water…which was the case! Allergy Travel Tip #3: Bring extra food because more safe food is ALWAYS better than less.
If you do plan on visiting The Great Wolf Lodge and staying for longer, then I would email ahead of time to let them know of your allergies. The staff was super nice and accommodating! I also saw many signs up at the restaurants to inform them about our allergies prior to ordering. I would absolutely trust them…which all you allergy parents know is a big deal! Allergy Travel Tip #4: Email your hotel and let them know about your stay. This is a great way to raise awareness about families traveling with allergies and how much we appreciate and look forward to the accommodations.
We can’t wait to head back there in the near future. There is so much we have yet to explore and so much we want to do again…especially that lazy river!