Great Wolf Lodge Minneapolis / Bloomington

We got reservations with mixed feelings. We had some friends with good experiences here and other with not so good ones.
Let me tell you, I’m so happy that we decided to go and have the Great Wolf Lodge experience for ourselves!!. Great place, everything about it screamed Family friendly which is exactly what we were looking for. The room was clean, and had bunk beds for my boys, the hotel had restaurants, bowling, arcade, ice cream shop, zipline course, and of course, the waterpark!. It was cool, the kids loved it!
It’s like 4 minutes from Mall of America, so there’s tons to do outside of the hotel.
We had a fabulous family time. We are definitely visiting again.

Having read other reviews about sketchy charges we proceeded to this place with caution and I wanted to share what we learned from using the waterpark.
We got a day pass we purchased online from their site prior to arriving. I believe hotel guests can check in at 1 and unfortunately that’s when we arrived so the wait time was over 30 minutes to get our wristbands to go to the waterpark because it’s the same check in for everyone. Everyone at check in is being sold a million gimmicks so every check in takes 5-15 minutes per person. Despite what the website says everyone is now charged $15 per day parking (16.35 after tax) so if you can park off site that would be cheaper. A charge is placed on your card for incidentals at the waterpark even though you’re not staying at the hotel, what incidentals those would be, I have no idea. Towels are available inside the waterpark with a swipe of your wristband but the $15 fee for “stealing” them kept us from even bothering. I recommend bringing your own towels if you don’t want to worry about erroneously being charged. Next there’s the lockers, locker rental starts at $15 for the day for a locker you can open and close endlessly (thankfully) outside the locker rooms in the pool area. This felt unavoidable since we had car keys at a minimum to lock up and keep dry. We knew food was a extremely overpriced and didn’t partake in food on site. I was pleasantly surprised that water in a jug with cups was available at the towels window. On this day the largest raft water slide was not working, not sure how long it’s been that way or will be that way. Otherwise overall the place is loud and busy as expected, there’s about one tube per 4 people for the wave pool or lazy river. We saw a lifeguard jump in to rescue someone at the wave pool which was reassuring that they take their job seriously. The lazy river is fast but fun, the other slides we tried were good. The bathrooms were constantly being mopped and cleaned which was surprising and awesome so bathrooms weren’t a swamp by the pool. The changing station in the women’s locker room does need replacement, it sags so low your baby slides off but the counter by the sinks could also be used instead. There were some chairs to be found on this weekday so we had a home base for sandals and towels. Weekends I imagine they’re pretty full. Overall we had a pretty good time, not sure if we’ll ever come back. The hotel stay situation would definitely be too gimmicky for us, we’ll try Wisconsin Dells instead. Look for discount codes online and give it a go at your own risk. I checked my credit card and the charges are fine currently, we’ll keep an eye on it for the next few weeks and update if anything wild happens.

Our family of three loved our stay. Two nights felt like a five-day trip—perfect for an adventurous preschooler. The bunk bed rooms? Absolutely worth it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I was blown away.

Our daughter summed it up best: “Just like the commercial.” That’s about the highest praise I can give in this review.

The staff and service were top-notch. The lifeguards are clearly well-trained—I read that their program is award-winning, and it shows. We never saw a single emergency, and everything felt safe and well-managed.

The in-hotel restaurant was an unexpected gem. Excellent wings, a solid steak, and an amazing tomato bisque. Rodrigo, our server, was fantastic. But the MVP of our trip? Junior. He welcomed us at the door when we arrived, and every morning, we’d see him brightening up the Dunkin’ Express in the lobby. Felt like every time we walked through the first floor, he was handling a different job—with a smile.

The team running the kids’ performances and activities was also top-tier. Great Wolf Lodge has officially rocketed to the top of our family vacation list, within driving distance of southeastern Minnesota. And here’s the thing—every single person I mentioned it to who had been here before? Immediate smile, effusive praise.

They’re making magic for families in there. Worth every penny.

Definitely designed for families. We were staying here due to a flight cancellation. Arrived late and left early but the bed was good, shower was great, and the breakfast smelled amazing but didn’t get a chance to partake. Huge water park inside that we didn’t get a chance to use but very close to the airport.

Such a fun place to vacation! We really enjoy the water park and it’s amenities. The lazy river is great, and the wave pool is the kids’ favorite. I like the slides. It’s quite spendy but worth it for all the fun. The kids are as little old for the shows in the lobby. They offer bowling, rope courses and rock wall climbing. They have some wand game as well. I enjoyed
the ease of ordering food online for all of our meals. They have plenty of tables and chairs to put our towels and things. I’m glad I took advantage of the dining deal of $120 to be $150. It was perfect for 3 meals for our family. The staff really take great care of the customers.