Great Wolf Lodge Concord is located just north of Charlotte, North Carolina.
This wilderness themed hotel features the chain’s usual indoor water park. This water
park is included for all hotel guests, but a collection of day passes are available daily.
In this review, I will discuss this location’s water park, explaining if it’s worth visiting.
This location opened in 2009 as the first Great Wolf Lodge in the southeast.
This one is roughly 30 miles north of Carowinds, 17 miles north of downtown
Charlotte, and just down the road from the famous Charlotte Motor Speedway.
This 475,000 square foot family-friendly resort features a bevy of amenities,
but none more popular than the water park. This indoor water park spans 80,000 square feet,
which is a little bigger than the average Great Wolf Lodge. However, the water park isn’t as
dense and I think the slide lineup isn’t as good as their other properties that I have visited.
Most of the indoor space is occupied by several pools and water play areas.
There is just a single, multi-level slide tower in the corner with 4 different attractions.
Howlin’ Tornado is easily the best slide. This ProSlide Tornado features a steep plunge into a
funnel that can give a faint pop of airtime. Then the funnel sequence is cool, particularly at night
when it’s illuminated by bright, flashing lights. The other 3 slides weren’t too special,
but they all carry a 42” height limit making them accessible to families and younger kids.
Alberta Falls is a fairly slow tube slide with two different sides.
You can experience this one in a single or double tube.
River Canyon Run is an ok family raft slide. It feels like a bigger version of Alberta Falls.
Mountain Edge Raceway is a mat racing slide. It’s shorter than most others out there,
but you do have a fun double down at the end. Kids will love the Fort Mackenzie water play
structure with the smaller body slides and soaking dump bucket. Then the smallest guests
have Whooping Hollow and Cub Paw Pool that’s more relaxing and laid back.
Now let’s talk about the logistics. Once you park in the massive parking lot,
both hotel guests and those with day passes check in at the front desk. Prices seem to
start around $250 for hotel rooms, but they can be double or triple that on weekends.
Day passes start at $50 on weekdays, but they are more costly on weekends and can cost as much as
$115 on holiday weekends. You can also save 20% with a half-day pass valid from 4 pm until close.
This water park is typically open until 8 pm and 4 hours is
more than enough time to experience everything. If you need a locker, those will cost you roughly
$15 if I remember correctly. But don’t worry about packing towels. Those are complimentary.
Great Wolf Lodge only sells a limited number of day passes, so buy them in advance if you
intend to visit. The benefit of this is that it keeps lines to a minimum.
The longest line I encountered was roughly 20 minutes for Howlin’ Tornado and River Canyon Run.
The other slides were no more than a 5 minute wait.
The water park’s entrance is on the lower level, just below the lobby. Once inside,
you’ll notice three things. One, it’s loud. Sound really echos at these indoor water parks.
Two, it’s warm. Like most indoor water parks, it’s kept at a comfortable 84 degrees. Three,
it is a bit dark but the appearance is on par with other indoor water parks. You have a few light
bits of theming and you only see a little bit of the slides since they’re mostly routed outdoors.
So do I recommend the Great Wolf Lodge Concord? It depends. For me, I think it’s a little too
pricey for the slide lineup it offers. Howlin’ Tornado was the only standout slide for me.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this place for thrill seekers. However,
I think this place is a fine option for families if you can get the off-peak pricing or a good deal
on a room. Kids have plenty to do between the activity pools and mostly accessible slides.
While this is the weakest of the Great Wolf Lodges I have visited,
it is the best indoor water park in the Charlotte area and kids seemed to have a blast here.
So those are my thoughts on the indoor water park at the Great Wolf Lodge Concord.
What are your thoughts on this place? Have you been there? Let me know how you think it
compares to other Great Wolf Lodge properties. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it
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coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!