Great Wolf Lodge - NC

[iheartdisney]

We are planning a two-night stay at Great Wolf Lodge in North Carolina. Looking for any advice to make the most of our stay. What extras are a must-do? Are we limited to resort dining or is it worth it to venture beyond the hotel?

Thanks for any advice you might have!

[Basket Mommy]

You are not limited to the hotel dining, and I would not recommend it. It's expensive. There are several chain restaurants around the hotel, so you should be able to find something good. I highly recommend the Texas Land & Cattle Co steak restaurant just down the road. We eat there every time we go to Great Wolf in Concord. If you like burgers & want a delicious shake, try Cook Out. They have over 30 flavors of shakes. The peanut butter is the bomb. Jim & Nick's BBQ is on the same street, and there is an Olive Garden and a Red Lobster there as well. There's a great outlet mall (Concord Mills) just down the road, so there's shopping. Charlotte also has a great kids' museum - Discover Place, and the US National Whitewater Center. There's really no need to leave Great Wolf to find other activities, though. There's plenty to do there. Dunkin' Donuts is right there inside the hotel for morning java, and there's a kiddie & adult spa on the first floor. Magic Quest is available, but my kids have never done it.

[NJGIRL]

We have only been to the GWL in PA, but we don't leave the property when we go. We feel their food is pretty good. It's no more expense than eating at a Disney buffet and not leaving the building makes the trip easy. The PA location has the restaurant, a Pizza Hut Express, Starbucks, a couple of different snack bars with burgers, fries etc, a bakery & ice cream shop.

We liked not leaving for a couple of reasons. It allowed to kids to eat and then go right back into the water park. We didn't waste time traveling just to eat. We also didn't need to worry about the kids going out into the cold with wet/damp hair.