Great Wolf Lodge – Ways to Find Discounts on Lodging Rates
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One of the questions we get asked most frequently is how to save on a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf Lodge is such a fun place to go for families, but it really can be very pricey for many families. So, we wanted to share a few tips we have for ways to save on lodging rates for Great Wolf Lodge, as the price of the hotel is definitely the most expensive part of your visit! We will post any current Great Wolf Lodge Promo Codes in this post here as well as other discounted Great Wolf Lodge deals (from daily deal sites, etc) , but we also have many other tips for you to save!
Make sure to also check out ideas on ways to save the most during your stay at Great Wolf Lodge! Sia shared her favorite ways to save on dining, entertainment and more while you’re staying at the lodge.
Book your stay during the week rather than weekends:
Not only will you get a lower rate by staying during the week, but the resort will be much less crowded, which means a lot more time on the slides since you won’t have to wait in longer lines to ride each slide. For your older kids, this can really add up to great value as they will be able to fully experience the water park and spend as much time as possible trying out all the rides. During the times of special activities at the lodge, it will be much less crowded during the week than on the weekend. However, make sure to call ahead & ask about their schedule for special events, to see if they will still have the same events going on during the week if that’s important for you to experience.
Be flexible with your dates and open to booking at less popular times of year
When they have the big events going on like Howl-o-Ween & the Holiday / Christmas events as well as wintertime, the rates are going to be higher during the week & weekend. If you can be flexible with your dates, both during the week and during the time of year, you can definitely save more and enjoy your time even more with less crowds. Call ahead to ask the resort to ask about the rates for different dates to see when the best deal will be for your family. Of course, you also have to consider that you are getting extra entertainment for your kids by going during those times of year. So you just have to balance out whether you really need to save the most or if you’re looking for all of those fun experiences as well.
Book during a quarterly sale for discounted rates
Make sure to sign up for the Wolf Pack E-Mail Newsletter for Great Wolf Lodge. Once you have visited Great Wolf Lodge, you should be automatically signed up for this and you will receive 1 day advance notice of their 48 hour quarterly sales, with a special coupon code to use just for return visitors to book earlier at the reduced rates. However, if you have never been to Great Wolf Lodge, you’ll still want to make sure to sign up for the E-Pack Newsletter and they will send you emails regarding their 48 hour quarterly sales as well as any other special discounts and promotions going on at your local Great Wolf Lodge location. Their quarterly sales are definitely some of the best discounts you’ll find if you’re unable to take advantage of any of the special discounts I list below, so make sure to sign up if you are planning on trip soon to Great Wolf.
Discounts for Homeschool families
If you are a homeschool parent and belong to a co-op or other homeschool group, get together a group of you to go and you can get significant discounts on the room rates. Depending on the day / time of year you are booking for, you could find rooms as low as $99/night including water park passes.
Discounts for Military or Emergency Responders (Law Enforcement, EMS & Firefighters)
Use the coupon code: HEROES when making your reservation online to see the lower rate or call the resort to find out the price, as it varies depending on the date. However, you can save at least $40 off the price with this discount. ID will be required at check-in in order for you to get this rate.
Discounts for PTSA Members:
This is a tip from TNWM reader Cicely – check with your local school PTSA group for discounts for Great Wolf Lodge. If you are a member of your school PTSA, they may have a promo code for Great Wolf Lodge. Cicely contacted her PTSA at her kids’ school and they gave her a promo code for 20% off at Great Wolf Lodge and she was able to book her room using that discount code. You can use the rate calendar on the Great Wolf Lodge website to see available dates using a promo code (only so many rooms will be held at this discounted rate).
Discounts for Conference Attendees
If you attend a conference at Great Wolf Lodge, these are often the lowest prices you can find on room rates. Depending on the time/date of your conference, you could get prices as low as $89/night (including water park passes). If your employer or work is thinking of where to hold their next conference, Great Wolf Lodge has an excellent conference facility & the attendees will get the low conference rate. So, make sure to bring that up as an option if you have the opportunity!
Group of Santas getting ready to be dumped on!
My husband had a conference at Great Wolf Lodge several years ago in early November and we received the discounted rate of $89/night for that particular conference & timeframe. It turned out to be the weekend that they were having a Santa convention (1st or 2nd weekend in November every year at the Grand Mound location), so not only did we have a great time at the Lodge, we also had extra entertainment with having over 40 Santas walking around & chatting with all the kids. {In case you’re wondering, the Santas told all the kids that they were all Santa’s helpers, but the real Santa was there, so they had to be on their best behavior & try to figure out who was the real Santa!} We were there when a number of the Santas volunteered to be dumped by the bucket and my older daughter and I even had the opportunity to go down the waterslide with a sweet Santa. Now that was a ride to remember – my daughter thought that was the coolest thing ever! Wish I had a picture of that!
Watch the Daily Deal Sites
Frequently, Great Wolf Lodge is featured on daily deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social. Make sure you are following the top daily deal sites so you can receive emails when there is a new deal for that location (for those of you in the NW, you’ll want to make sure to follow the daily deal sites for Seattle and Portland areas to watch for a deal to go live for the Grand Mound, Great Wolf Lodge location.) We do post the most updated daily deal Great Wolf Lodge deals as well.
Here are a few possibilities of deal sites which might offer discounted lodging through Great Wolf Lodge::
- Groupon – they have now featured a Great Wolf Lodge deal several times in the past year
- Living Social – Living Social also has featured several deals for Great Wolf Lodge
We just went there this last weekend and paid a ton for our room but we had a specific date…we wanted to be there for my son’s birthday. But, we did book it on a quarterly 20% off special. The way we save money is to bring all our own food. I made homemade refried beans at home in the crock pot and brought our griddle and made cheese quesadillas. For breakfast we had oatmeal I made at home and heated up in the microwave, and for lunch I made sandwiches and cut up fruit. It was super cheep and much healthier than the junk they have there at the lodge and my kids didn’t complain a bit!