Our Winter Getaway at Woodloch Resort

For years and years I have heard my aunt talk about her wonderful family vacations to Woodloch Resorts. Woodloch is a family vacation destination in Hawley, PA that is an easy drive from Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.  So many times my aunt tried to gather everyone up and make a big family trip to Woodloch but it just never worked out because some of us were in college, some in elementary school, some having babies and others just couldn’t get the times away.  Years later, while trying to find a fun getaway for my own family I found myself wondering about Woodloch. My aunt is known to be particular about where she goes and stays, so for her to find a place that she would return to over and over again, I knew it had to be a first rate resort.  When Rob and I packed up the kids and headed to Woodloch I was very excited, yet a little unsure about what to expect since the snow this winter has been minimal.

Upon arrival Hayley and Derek both were so excited to see the lake.  The views and grounds  are just beautiful and our room had a spectacular view of the lake. The kids and I loved to go out on our 1st floor balcony to just look at the water. We stayed in a one bedroom suite with two comfy queen beds, two full bathrooms, a living room with two beautiful leather couches (one was a pull-out bed), a table with chairs, a small walk in closet area where you can keep all your outdoor gear neatly so that it’s not thrown all over your living space and wall-mounted televisions in both the bedroom and living room. The suite was immaculate, spacious (so the kids weren’t all over one another arguing) and so cozy.

From our room everything we wanted to do was walkable. The layout of Woodloch is fantastic for families traveling with little ones. There are outdoor paths and ways to walk from building to building with minimal outdoors time if it’s too cold. We all really loved that everything was in walking distance, living in a s where you need to drive every day, it is nice to park the car, walk to where you need to go and not think about driving till it’s time to go home.

Woodloch is an all-inclusive resort so all your meals can be included in your room rate if you choose so.  We loved that we could just go to the dining room at meal-time and sit at the same assigned table during the whole visit.  It really made it so much more homie and relatable for the kids.  Sometimes having some sort of routine and familiarity, even on vacation, can really help the kids stay calmer and more comfortable. Although, since Woodloch is filled with families, when my kids did have meltdowns in public it was pretty easy to deal since the environment is so family oriented.

The food at Woodloch was really delicious.  I loved how accomidating they are to the picky pallets of little ones.  French fries, pizza, chicken fingers and basically anything my kids eat, they had it!!  I was told to be on the lookout for the crumb cake at breakfast but I didn’t realize that eating the crumb cake at Woodloch would mean that I could never, ever, ever eat any other crumb cake again without thinking, “this is not as good as the crumb cake at Woodloch” I promise that my husband has already said this!!!  Our daughter Hayley was so obsessed with the crumb cake that our awesome waitress Carole even found her some for lunch!! Hayley consumed so much crumb cake and hot chocolate during our 3 days at Woodloch!!

The activities at Woodloch are endless.  Every morning at breakfast you get a schedule for the day.  There are multiple activities going on at all times so everyone has options.  Many activities have different age ranges associated with them and all are parent friendly.

I seriously felt like I was a kid again.  I drove go-karts, I went on the bumper cars and I even made a picture frame out of popsicle sticks in the arts and crafts room!!

Rob and Derek braved the cold to snow tub.  To be honest, Hayley and I were going to go too but we both wimped out and decided to make snowballs instead.  It was beautiful to sit in the snow and look out on the lake.

While at Woodloch we also participated in the Gingerbread Wars.  When we arrived we were paired up with other families to form teams of 10.  Each time was given the building tools of gingerbread, rice krispie sheets, a board, a certain amount of tickets to buy supplies and some other items that must be incorporated into your house.  Since we were visiting over Super Bowl Weekend our theme was something super bowl related.  The 30 minutes allotted to build our masterpiece flew by and well, let’s just say it’s all about having fun because our house just paled in comparison to some others.  I swear I think these families practice at home to go back the next year even better!!  My kids have already been strategizing for our next visit!

Another super fun event at Woodloch was horse racing.  We had no idea what to expect from indoor horse racing so when we arrived we found seats, started eating popcorn, ordered drinks from the bar and placed our bets.  There were 6 wooden horse heads on the stage and they had multiple races where we all bet on the horses and then cheered our horses on.  The kids were so into it.  They were screaming for their horse and after each race they would ask for a dollar to place their bets.  It was a high energy and super fun time!!!

I really felt like Woodloch gave us a forced relaxation with from the hustle and bustle of every day life. We walked, we talked, sang songs, played together, laughed and just were able to be fully present in the moments with our kids.

When it was time to leave everyone felt a bit sad.  We were really enjoying ourselves so much that we just didn’t want to leave.  We have already looked into a return visit over spring break and hopefully this summer too!!.  Looking for something to do in the coming months??  Check out the great package deals that Woodloch has going on at the moment

•         Holy Week Packages
•         Spring Midweek Packages
•         Passover Week Packages

Thank you Woodloch Resorts for the wonderful accommodations and a fabulous family vacation