Great Wolf Lodge Massachusetts – Hype vs Reality Trip Report

Celebrating the last week of summer vacation, off we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, Ma with great expectations of a fun time at this new water-park resort.  While we don’t often post negative reviews, I feel we need to warn you that Great Wolf Lodge Massachusetts falls short of the Great Wolf reputation in the rest of the country.

Let’s begin at the beginning, the registration lines were wrapped around the entrance and it had to have taken at least hour wait for the check-in process.   We stayed in a Royal Bear Suite ($400 a night), including a $19.99 per day resort fee. The rooms were worn and very sparsely furnished, so much for premium rooms. The air conditioners were loud and never regulated the temperature. For a place that only opened a year ago, they need some serious updating. The television had very poor reception and looked like it was 10 years old. The sound did not work on one of the televisions. I have stayed in Holiday Inns that would be considered 4 stars next to this Great Wolf Lodge.  A poor first impression for the start of our stay.

There was obviously a staffing issue while we there. If we did not choose to eat at the buffet, it took 35-40 minutes to get our food and the order was never correct. The wait staff in the Fire Wood Grille was great, and I give them kudos for handling the errors the kitchen staff made. One morning we went to the buffet for breakfast, half the tables were empty, and we were told there would be a 25-minute wait. Apparently, there are food vouchers available, but every time I asked about a meal plan, I was told there was none.   We felt the meals were pricey for the quality.

The arcade staff was just plain nasty.   If you do not want to work with children, get another job. At least 20% of the arcade games were not working. They have two adventure games, The Clubhouse Crew adventure, which was also not working, and MagiQuest, which was for older children and the wand is not included in the price of the game. I still have no idea what the cost of MagiQuest game was because no one was able to tell me.

The water-park was great for our 4-year old grandson, but it was small.   There were some cute free activates such as bracelet making, story time, balloon animals and face painting. We knew it would be an expensive stay, but that is an understatement, they charge extra for everything!   We stayed 3 nights, and the bill was close to $2,000.00.   I would have gladly paid that amount for an all-inclusive, but between the room conditions, staffing issues and technology issues it was definitely not worth the price.   Overall, our grandson enjoyed himself, but it was a premium price to pay for a mediocre experience.  We will look for another family vacation spot next time…because as their advertising slogan says, “Vacations Are Priceless”, but we found Great Wolf Lodge Massachusetts to be both pricey and disappointing.

I did speak with the Front Desk Manager, Jesse, to ask if Great Wolf would like to add a comment regarding my experience.   He called me several weeks later; however, after returning his call I have still not heard back from anyone.  I understand each of the parks are different and this is only about the one in Fitchburg, MA.