We have just returned from a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Almost everything is open, though you have to wear a mask unless you are eating or actively playing in the water. Restaurants are takeout only, but they seem to have expanded their menus a little bit and allow for more ala carte ordering and now have single slices of pizza instead of just whole pizzas. No cash is allowed, so you pay with card or wristband. It was just me and the kids this time, so I was the only adult.
Something that troubles me about quarantine/closures in general is the lack of public restrooms and the lack of public water fountains. This is a problem that has presented itself multiple times to me over the past year and certainly once again on this trip. And I figure if I have this problem then it must be many times worse for a homeless person. I also believe the kibosh on cash surely presents a problem to many people (homeless or not) as well.
Anyway, back to GWL. No refillable drinks and you couldn't even refill your water bottle because the drinking fountains were turned off. And the cashless issue meant that my kids could not pick up food on their own. This did become a problem on our last morning when Libby was sick to her stomach and I wasn't feeling well either. I did not feel comfortable leaving my room and there was no room service. Mae was hungry for breakfast and I had not brought any food from home, and this was our last day anyway so even if I had I imagine she would have eaten it already. I gave her Pop Tarts from the vending machine that was a few feet away from our room. She barely nibbled on it, but then I guess she wasn't that hungry because she announced that she was headed to the pool. She took herself to the pool for an hour and a half while Libby and I slept. She came back and said she'd played with some other kids and they all went on the water slides together. It was her 4th time at the pool and I'm glad she got to do that.
Libby also played with new friends the night before. They played kind of relay races in the lobby and they posed in front of the Christmas tree to take photos. It was very cute.
It was a fun trip but I hesitate to travel again without another adult to back me up. I don't feel I was 100% prepared for illness or for issues presented by COVID-19 closures even though you'd think I'd be used to both of those things by now as they are a daily presence in our lives. Lessons to be learned, I guess, but I regret not learning them sooner.
I was lucky that GWL allowed my kids to have room keys (wristbands) though I had to make a special request for them. This let the kids be a little more independent, although we still had some issues when the kids wanted to be in 2 different places and there was only one me. Examples: Libby and I were at the pool and Mae went back to the room to take a shower. Then she couldn't figure out how to turn off the shower and she had to leave it running while she went to find me at the pool. Also we could only check out pool towels with my wristband, so when Mae went to the pool on her own I had to send her in with a bath towel. Or when Mae was at the pool and I went to check on Libby who was back in the room, and then Mae left the pool and abandoned the pool towels that I had checked out at $15 each. I suppose the solution would be to insist that we all stay together at all times, but they are of the age where they really value their independence and I certainly support that.
When Mae wasn't swimming, she was playing in the arcade, where over 2 days she won 5 stuffed animals. I can tell you there was no social distancing enforced in the arcade. I also don't believe that GWL is operating at a reduced capacity. It sure didn't look like it to me, not by measuring the number of cars in the parking lot or the number of people in the pool on a Wednesday. It was a lot. Oh and they said they've removed some chairs from the pool area and "strategically" placed the others, but again, no. I didn't see it. Social distancing is kind of enforced in the elevators and in 3 of the smaller stores.
I did see a lot of cleaning going on. In the arcade, pool chairs, banisters, hand rails, carpets, etc. Lots of cleaning.
We paid about half of what we usually pay for such a trip, so it was a good value considering the minor inconveniences.
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