Address: | 9494 Federal Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80921, USA |
Phone: | +1 844-553-9653 |
Site: | greatwolf.com |
Rating: | 4.1 |
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Ryan Nathaniel Pendleton
Great company! The atmosphere is great. But working there is unhealthy and unsafe. They treat their employees like pawns. The dont follow OSHA standards in respect to Lifeguard Rotation times and struggle to maintain employees in their aqautics department because of how they operate the aquatics department. Guards should not be on a rotation for more than an hour. But nope, they decide to have them up for 3-5 hours at a time before giving them a ten or 30 minute break. This is not only unhealthy for the guards sake but also the patrons in the aquatic area and through their hotel. The extensive time of being on stand reduces productivity and alertness and makes it hard for the guards to perform their duties properly. In my experience, there have been moments when I was licky to catch a moment to save someone in the state of mind I was in. I was tired, cold and completely unalert to the things going on around me. I was up standing in a zone for 4 1/2 hours. They continued to leave me on after I went in for a save. Another issue I would like to address is the case of "guarding" empty waters in the water park. It makes absolutely no sense to have a guard up in a zone scanning a zone with little to no people. Especially when you have 4 other guards around you scanning the same zone. I get the need for total coverage, but thay should he the case in a time of mid to high capacity qithin the water park. This again brings me to my statement before. If a guard has to scan an empty zone of the pool, this only reduuces lifeguard productivity and alertness. It would also mean that a guards could rotate more efficiently if they werent all up at the same time scanning the same zone. This could allow the guards to take more needed 10 to 15 minute breaks which would bring back alertness, productivity and the sense to do their job right. Every location I have worked at as a lifeguard follows a certain protocol when it comes to rotating their guards. They understand and make sure to keep the alertness, energy, and productivuty high in times for when its needed. It is unsafe and unhealthy for any guard to stand and watch a zone with little to no people for more than an hour at a time. If the pool has a case where they are at max capacity, schedule it to where the pool has max guards, rotating each other out. I know for a fact that the Great Wolf Lodge aquatics team knows what the capacity will be for the water park days in advance, which allows them to plan accordingly. As a guard who has worked here, I say that the Great Wolf Lodge needs to review the OSHA requirements and implement a safer, healthier and more productive way of running there operations. I have nothing against the corporation of Great Wolf lodge itself. I see them as a fun family experience, that does a successful job in reaching their mission statment. I remember going to a Great Wolf Lodge when I was a little kid and see it as a great experience for all ages. But the treatment of employees in the aqautics department is not okay. I see that the rating that I gave in this review was uncalled for, but it was given to grab the attentuon of people who read the reviews on google and to shed light on a problem I see. In reality, I would give the group of Great Wolf lodge a rating of 5 stars (
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Bonnie Cheney
VERY IMPORTANT: Bring your pillows! There are so many wonderful things that I have to say about our experience at Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs this week, but I feel like this pillow situation is pretty dire. All 4 adults and 2 out of our 3 children had a difficult time sleeping on their pillows. They are way too thick (I am a side sleeper). The front desk claimed that it was mostly air and suggested to unzip the case and squeeze the extra air out, but Im afraid this only leaves you with a very dense pillow that is even more uncomfortable. My husband and I had such a horrible first night of "sleep" that he drive to Wal-Mart first thing in the morning and purchased new pillows for everyone. And we are far from the picky-type when it comes to pillows, the $3 pillows worked like a dream! Kids and extra activities: there are lots of very tempting extra activities at GWL and only so much time that can be spent in the actual waterpark (its surprising how exhausting it is despite being indoors!). Mini golf, ropes course, rock climbing wall, gemstone mining experience, arcade, duckpin bowling, and two different scavenger hunt type experiences: MagiQuest (for older kids) and the Clubhouse Crew experience (for younger kids). All of it is extra. There is no free playground or anything so if your stay is longer than one or two nights than youll definitely want to plan to get one of their kids activity packages. We got the wolf passes for our kids and they were perfect for our 3 night/4 day stay. GWL are experts at getting more money out of you so dont be surprised when your kids have to walk right through all these extra tempting activities all the time or when a scavenger hunt is designed to introduce them to the deepest part of the gift shop or teach you about the ice cream themed kids spa. Their economic strategies are strong here. In the room: If youre planning on bringing any food to help with the cost (dining here is expensive!!) here are some tips: they have a modestly sized mini fridge in the rooms that we found to fit or needs well. But dont bring in anything frozen because there is not even a small freezer section. We brought the following refrigerated items: milk for cereal, cream for coffee, deli meat and cheese for sandwiches, cream cheese for bagels, hot dogs, condiments, jello cups, small cans of soda, and some gluten free baked goods that had to be kept chilled. We had a large cooler on wheels that would have been great for extra storage as well if we needed it, it was pretty easy to refill it with ice when we left from the ice machine. Lockers: just dont plan to use them, at $15-25/day they are just way too expensive. The only days that it makes sense to do this is your arrival or departure days but just be smart and leave your valuables/phone in your locked car. You can charge things to your room with your wristband if you need to. Towels: they have beach towels in the waterpark that you check out and return with your wristband. You will get charged $15 for each unreturned towel. One of ours went missing one day from our table and they were kind not to charge us for it when we explained what had happened, but we learned after that to wait until we are done with swimming before getting our towels.
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Erin R
Vegas for Kids...Just as Expensive Pros: A lot to do! Water park is great. Staff are friendly. Many "watering holes" for adults who would rather watch the swimming. Self-contained, city-like atmosphere allowed us to be comfortable giving the boys a little more freedom to roam. Many amenities are very accessible without getting in the car. Cons: The buffet was horrible and over-priced (paid 125 for dinner for four people). We very much felt nickeled and dimed throughout our entire stay (perhaps we should have anticipated this). Bathroom leeched sewer smell. Elevators were slow - avoid 9pm pool close and 11am checkout. -- We just returned from our two day stay at the Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs. We had not yet had the opportunity to visit a Great Wolf property and were excited to know that one was built within reasonable driving distance from our home! We are a family of four, with two boys - ages 10 and 13. Upon arriving (Thursday afternoon), we found the parking to be ample. We had no trouble finding a spot or a luggage cart to bring our items in. Check-in went smoothly, as well! These were items we were wary of after reading other reviews. Amy at the front desk is enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about the property and offerings. We were upsold the Wolf Pass ($99.99 for each child), as a means for other entertainment throughout our stay. The pass includes all of the additional activities in the park and, while it was a great deal price wise (as opposed to buying each feature individually), we found that the boys did not have time or interest to complete all of the items included. Additionally the pass expires upon your departure, so any unused items are null. The Magi-Quest game is a property wide magic game (think Harry Potter) which our 10 year old loved, but the 13 year old could take or leave. Overall, we found the property to be well maintained, the rooms clean, and the staff friendly. One item we noticed was a strong sewer smell that continued to come from our bathroom. That was constant throughout our stay. The room we selected was ample space for our family of four - with a king bed (separated by a door) from two queen beds for the boys. The room also comes with a refrigerator and microwave. We brought a cooler with drinks, as well as plenty of snacks. To echo other reviewers, the elevator situation is a weak spot of the guest experience. It leaves something to be desired, but honestly, we never waited more than five minutes for an elevator. Worst case, we took two separate cars to our floor. The wristbands that are issued upon check-in act as your room key and were a great asset for the boys who liked a little bit of freedom while on property. The wristband also acts as your pool pass and you can opt for the band to have room-charging privileges. Overall, we enjoyed our stay, but for the price tag I am not sure we would venture there more than once a year. As the boys age, I can also see it becoming less appealing. Many activities are geared for younger guests and parents.