Where To Go In The Winter With The Kids?

If Disney is just too far or too expensive to go now in this down economy, why not try Great Wolf? There are dozens of Great Wolf Lodges all across the country, but the one that I went to was in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, about two and a half hours away.

I knew it was big but I didn’t realize the magnitude of the place. In addition to a huge indoor water park that was practically as big as Central Park, they have quite a few restaurants, a game room that looked like Dave & Busters, play rooms for the kids, camp for the kids and a Magic Quest, where the kids are given a magic wand and have to find a number of clues in order to get through the game. Magic Quest includes magical paintings, treasure chests and crystals that sparkled when the magic wand waves over them.

Once you are in Great Wolf, you literally don’t have to go outside. You can stay here for three days and never step foot in the light of day.

We came here for the weekend to celebrate my son’s 12th birthday. He didn’t want a party this year and we wanted to do something special for him so we brought him here.

“Mommy/Daddy, this was the best birthday I ever had,” he said to my husband and me. “And it’s not even a special birthday!”

“Twelve is special,” my husband told him. “It’s your last year as a kid so enjoy!” And he did!

(P.S. We did too! )

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• Escape to the Pocono Mountains (telegraph.co.uk)