Great Wolf Lodge
$$
Most Recent Reviews
Had an amazing gf pizza and salad- they were so helpful and accommodating.
They went out of their way to make sure my son had appropriate food. They made from scratch chicken tenders, pancakes, and more upon order. Everything for him was brought on separate plates and was clearly marked GF. You can see a special GF pizza prep station in the pizza restaurant. Very impressed and appreciative
We got pizza from hungry as a wolf... the good news is i did not have a reaction so that is amazing BUT i feel like i need to give you a heads up on what to expect.. the pizza tasted like a sponge. Bottom of the crust was white and cheese was mostly melted. It's an expensive pizza! And I'm used to that and I've had my share of bad pizza but WOW this was something special. The best part was the toppings. 1st topping is $1.99 and additional toppings are $1.00. I was worried because usually cross contamination is all over the toppings but I'm not sick so good job there. It was such a bummer because it came in a regular size box and then there was this tiny white disk in the middle. I am grateful because they took enough care to keep the glutens away but next time i'll bring snacks or something to warm up in the microwave.
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The first night we ate at the Loose Moose, and the staff can't out and chatted with me about our df, gf restrictions. I had a burger and fries, my daughter had chicken. Because there fryer had dairy CC they baked the fries for us. It was great. The second day we went to the Barnyard and the service was awful, it took them an hour to take our order. People literally sat down, ordered, and ate before they even took our order. We had a group with four hungry kids and it was two hours before we got our to food. Three hrs dedicated to lunch that we should have been off exploring the lodge. Anyways, there was a lot of confusion around our allergies but we managed to eat the bbq brisket and fries without getting sick. On the third day we got burgers and fries from Buckets, and they had to pull over our fries from the Barnyard. It's cool that we can do that and they wrapped everything up and took it very seriously. Unfortunately, I got glutened during that meal and was sick for a few days. Still feeling off a few weeks later.
We stayed here 5 days, currently on day 4. I am celiac and grandson is gf/df, not yet fully diagnosed as he's 4. We've eaten at each location other than the water park areas. They have a gf fryer, so fries (and calamari) are safe! Each restaurant asks about allergies, which is comforting. Honestly, food is subpar and just tastes slightly off. They continuously serve my grandsons gf/df meals with either ranch or butter on the plate, which obviously isn't df. Pizza place was actually the best, separate oven and df cheese. Last night we ate at barnyard and I was bloated within minutes from a guaranteed gf dish. I'm not reactive in general. Grandson has thrown up at least once a day. I've felt better eating off site - there's an in-n-out and chipotle right up the road, and other restaurants pretty close. Bring your own drinks for hotel rooms!! The place is super fun and really tries to accommodate allergies. The ice cream places uses separate scoops for 3 flavors offered.
I have not tried the pizza as I wasn’t sure if they had a gluten free oven but I was very pleased with the large selection and that the staff seemed very knowledgeable.
Everyone else at the hotel was outstanding. However, we ate a late lunch at their hungry as a wolf pizza outlet yesterday that stands out and not in a good way. I emailed with their sous chef, Jeremy Doutt prior to my family's stay and was assured food allergies including gluten were accommodated and taken seriously. I'm only conveying this because my family's health was blatantly disregarded. And while it's commendable they offer opportunities for kids with special needs if they are handling food prep and dealing with the general public, then it’s their responsibility to ensure they have the capabilities or are properly supervised. As soon as we entered we were not greeted by the only staff, a special needs kid in glasses and chefs coat with no identification and were treated as though we were inconveniencing him. I asked him if the gf pizza was one size he answered me and then proceeded to walk away and ignored us for 8 minutes with zero communication as he worked on another order. He finally returned and I gave him our order and told him it was due to allergy. Either he didn't care, didn’t understand, or missed it since he was already walking away. Another member returned by then and I was able to get dressing for our salad since he didn't offer it when we ordered then it turned out the cup he gave us didn't work. Finally, once our order was complete we found out from the 2nd staff member that the first kid had forgotten to ask if we were dining in or out and had decided to make it out when that was never our intention. It has now become apparent that he also cross contaminated our pizza as my 4yo is now experiencing the effects of blatant cross contamination since he likely did not use a clean pizza cutter free of gluten when he cut our pizza, which we'll get to deal with the after effects for at least the next month. This has been by far the worst customer service experience we have ever had in memory. This is in stark contrast to their swim store staff and build a bear staff who all went above and beyond standard expectations and did everything to provide us with the some of the best customer service. I am not sure if we'll return but if we do, we most definitely will never dine in their establishment especially since their food handling was deceptively disregarded which is far worse since they gave me and my family a sense of false security about our meal choices with them.
We had delicious meals at Barnyard and the Loose Moose buffet. At the Barnyard my celiac daughter got a grilled cheese and fries (dedicated fryer!). At Loose Moose breakfast buffet, the chef came out and walked her through what he could make her fresh, they also have a dedicated waffle maker.
The only disappointment was a lack of grab-and-go GF sweets. My son got a Dunkin Donut and I couldn't find anything for my daughter. The girl at Ben and Jerry's said they don't have fresh containers to scoop from but she could use a clean scoop, so that wouldn't work. The candy story didn't have anything GF that wasn't a plain old package of candy (like Reese's PB cups). She settled on an Icee. Would have loved a few goodies for her.
Wow!! Knowledgeable staff from hostess to chef and everyone in between! Excellent service and food made for me with no eye rolls or annoyed sighs. My kids actually commented that I was being treated like a Queen!! Absolutely one of the BEST experiences I have had outside of my kitchen. Usually I survive on boring fruits, veggies and simple meals I pre make when we are staying at a hotel. Not here!! Separately prepared bacon, sausage, eggs, GF toast and waffles in a dedicated toaster and waffle iron, amazing pizza--so good and prepared in a completely separate kitchen from the main brick oven pizza. Even Ben & Jerry's eagerly accommodated me by opening a brand new carton and using a clean scooper with washed hands and freshly changed gloves into a cup from a brand new sleeve! I have not had ice cream with my family in years outside of the house!! What a treat to be respected and to not be considered a problem. I want to live at GWL! Thank you!!
GWL does such a great job! I asked for a celiac dessert and they made a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich that wasn’t on the menu! And my son said the GF pizza was the best he’s had!
Many gluten free options. Even a couple of the appetizers that aren't gf can be served with corn chips (goat cheese dip) instead of bread. Street tacos were Delish. Prob should avoid fryers.
Chef came out to talk with us before prepping meal for our son with Celiac. GF buns, GF pizza crust available.
Reviews of this Chain
Second time staying here (once before the celiac diagnosis) so this time was a bit more tricky. There is only <1 option at each eatery/restaurant and not all can do it safely. Hungry As a Wolf Pizza will make a GF rectangle 7” pizza for one but they charge $17.00 for this very small, but amazingly delicious pizza. It is not enough to split so we ordered 2. Which got pricey! :/ We ordered GF subs from Jersey Mikes (across the road outside of Gurnee Mills Mall. ) Rooms have a fridge but no microwave. There was a community microwave in one of the ice machine/ vending areas but we didnt use it. Also in the mall is Rainforest Cafe which has a very small menu for GF but it makes it doable if you don’t mind driving off site. The ice cream stand in the water park is a cross contamination nightmare, but they took a fresh barrel of ice cream from the back and used a new scooper. I had to educate the staff that gluten and dairy are NOT the same thing. :/ There is no GF donut at the Dunkin in the park, so we ordered Do Rite Donuts and had it delivered via Dwell Social (luckily it was on the menu that day so we ordered in advance) So, this trip will require a lot of strategic planning. Pack a cooler! You can make it work but, there was not much to just wing it, so plan ahead!
Loved it and tried two restaurants and had the chef come out both times. Didn’t get sick at all! Super friendly staff and easy experience
Very limited options to begin with and then they were out of their main option the gf pizza. Food manager was no help and ridiculously hard to get ahold of.
My family of 5 just returned from GREAT WOLF LODGE, Niagara Falls, and I have to give them a massive shout out. My son and I are both celiac and the staff were so knowledgeable with our dietary restrictions. There were many GF options and dedicated fryer inside the water park.
The pizza place even went “upstairs”
In the morning to get us two GF buns for our breakfast sandwiches.
The taco bar inside the park was all GF and the Buckets area inside the park had the dedicated fryer.
No stress and we ate well!
Manager came out and discussed options with us. Had the chicken nachos, huge serving. Assured us the chips were GF and said they had a separate area to prepare the food. They very knowledgeable about celiac and cross contamination protocol.
