One thing I'd like to note about staying at this Great Wolf Lodge is it's location.

You're going to have two views out off of your balcony: the parking lot or the interstate. You want the parking lot, trust me. When you check in, ask for a room NOT facing the interstate. We had a room overlooking the interstate and it was super noisy from all the trucks going by but we called down to the desk as soon as we walked in and the staff was super nice and quickly switched us to a room across the hall. If you're OK with the sound of trucks all night long then you'll be fine, otherwise, be aware.

Other than the complant about the lame location of this lodge, everything else was great and we had a great time. The walk to the waterparks isn't nearly as far as somewhere like the Wilderness (not even close) and our 3 year old found many, many fun things to do. There are slides for little ones that are exciting but not too scary as well as a tube slide that is easy enough for young kids but adults will like as well.

At 8 and 9 in the evenings the clock in the lobby does a little animatronic show (as I'm sure you've read). The message is garbage (we're in tune with nature by...building more waterparks and parking lots?) but the kids love it for some reason and really come away thinking it was a very memorable experience.

Rooms are nice, condos are great. The place does get noisy when it gets full but I guess you come to expect that. The beds are also hard so don't expect the best night of sleep ever.

Still, great time!

We took our two children(ages 21 months and 5 1/2 years old) and thought that it was a very good place. We enjoyed the water park for the most part except there was no family rides(like Victoria Falls, masterblaster or the Rhino at Kalahari) I could not take my daughter on some of the tube rides due to she was scared of the way they looked. Compare to the boat like tubes they have at the Kalahari, they have open bottom tubes which scared her. The kids 'tower' slides had the water level in the splash down area too deep that after my 5 1/2 went down the first time she didn't want to go again. The waterparks seem to be perfect for children a little older all the way up to 20 somethings. Would recommend it over the Kalahari if you have older children but not if your children are preschoolers or younger. We will go back in a couple of years.

2 other things that I didn't like- We ordered room 171 which is on waterpark level with a patio that is directly across from a side entrance to the 'tower' area. But the key door outside our room was locked and we had to use the patio door(and leave it open if we did) on the first day and the second day(a Sunday when it was busy) they closed down the side entrances to use a jacklift to clean the outside of the building. Kinda screwing up our room.
The other was Wileys woods. Most of the 'quest' stations were not working. Me and my daughter did 3 out of 5 quests and couldn't finish any of them because of non-working units. Explained this to the 'workers' there who seemed like I was bothering them. Most(I say most because I had one who seemed wanting to help) of the workers just stood around and did nothing. When I brought up to them the problems they answered me " we know, it's been that way for a while" or "maintainence is too busy" Not good enough answers, especially when this is charged to non-guests and the time of the year when most of the outdoor things are closed in the Dells this needs to be working.

The front desk staff, water park staff, restaurant staff and housecleaning were all A+++.

The breakfast buffet was the best I've ever had(i'm hard to please!)

IN THE END I RECOMMEND THIS RESORT IF YOU KIDS ARE OLDER THEN 8. BEFORE THAT AGE TAKE THEN TO KALAHARI'

We've stayed in every large waterpark hotel in the Dells and the Great Wolf has the best layout, rooms, prices, service, and staff.

The Wilderness and Kalahari are great if you want to spend most of your vacation elbowing your way through crowds to spend alot of money for nothing.

Go to Field's at the Wilderness for a great dinner, but stay at the Great Wolf for a great vacation!

I'm writing this from the hotel (free wi-fi!). I felt obligated to write a review because I booked primarily because of reviews I've read.

We had previously stayed at the Wilderness. After all the reviews I read about the changes at the Wilderness, and based on a confirmation from a friend who recerntly stayed at Great Wold, we decided to try here instead. I am beyond happy we did.

Some thoughts to share. I have a 4 & 7 year-old, so they'll be from that vantage point.
-Lots of kid friendly activities (story time, t-shirts to color and tie-dye, etc.)
-Food was fine. Exactly what I expected. Not gourmet but not garbage. I'm on a diet and have been able to stick with it. Pricing was exactly what I expected. Not cheap, but not outrageous. Lunch and dinner was about the same (or a little more) than if we'd gone to an Applebees.
-The waterparks were perfect. There were a lot of slides and places to play for my kids. There was an area for the real younger crowd and some of the slides that were too big for my kids.
-Staff has been fine. Friendly and no issues.
-Wiley's Woods was OK. Nice diversion. Not as big as the place at Wilderness. (There is a bowling alley and playplace or something like that right behind the hotel if we needed more non-water activities.)
-Size is PERFECT. I can remember an excruciating long walk to the water park or food at Wilderness. The hotel is not nearly as large, but as above, not lacking.
-We spent a little more for the room than we wanted to stay in a kid cabin suite. It was worth it as the kids love it. The room is clean and nice. I love the free wi-fi because (a) it's free and (b) they have it.

We will plan to stay here in the future.