Our Weekend at the Woodloch Resort

If you follow along on Instastories (you should!), maybe you know that our little fam spent last weekend on a sort of “Gwynn Family Getaway” at the Pocono Mountain’s Woodloch Resort – specifically, at Woodloch Pines. I had been especially stoked for it for a few weeks since the Poconos were bound to bring on the fall foliage, and man, they did not disappoint.

I wanted to whip up a sort of trip recap + resort review ASAP while everything is so fresh in my brain, for any of you looking to get a safe trip on the calendar STAT. I say “safe” because the Woodloch Resort truly did EVERYTHING possible to keep everyone safe during these times; masks are required at all times, but they also do things like distance tables in the dining room, host hand sanitizer pumps everywhere – even things like *only* allowing guests to use sanitized pens at the front desk. 

First: What IS the Woodloch Resort?

I’m glad you asked. 😉 The Woodloch Resort is an all-inclusive family-friendly resort up in the Poconos (about two hours from Philly). They’re open all year long, have activities, shows, and events that vary with the seasons, host groups for retreats – they do it all. FUN FACT: Woodloch Resort was actually voted the BEST family resort in the COUNTRY by USA Today! AND they’re in the top 1% on TripAdvisor. So…the place is legit.

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

Re: pandemic safety, the Woodloch Resort is really on top of things. They have a pretty comprehensive app that’s updated daily that allows for all activity + meal schedules to be viewed paperless, AND you can schedule your activity times with your family so that social distancing and room capacities are observed at all times. You can also see in my snapshot above that they hold off on room servicing unless absolutely necessary, and contaminable surfaces of movable devices are eliminated entirely for safety (decorative pillows, a coffee maker, etc). You can opt for mobile checkout, too, to lessen interactions. 

   

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

Our Woodloch Resort 3-day itinerary:

Day 1:

  • Upon arrival we checked in + checked out our lakeview suite. The Woodloch Resort actually has accommodations to suit any style/preference; there are rooms that are both motel-like and hotel-like, as well as suites (like ours), all the way up to individual guest houses for rent. Truly something for everyone (+ every budget!).
  • Grabbed a bite at GiGi’s Coffee House on campus. Apple pie lattes, a pumpkin parfait, and a Harvest cobb salad, which may very well have been the best cobb salad of my 26 years so far. We ended up frequenting Gigi’s twice a day – ha!
  • Swings + slides of the recently remodeled outdoor playground! Y’all, what an EPIC playground. Liv is quite the playground connoisseur and has never met a swing she didn’t lovelovelove. But this thing has, like, SEVEN slides for kids from toddlers to “big kids” and some of the coolest climbing contraptions I’ve seen in my day. I kid you not, Liv insisted on hitting the swings on our last morning there – it was a solid 44 degrees outside and this girl was the ONLY kiddo on the playground, but she bundled up and had a blast. There’s also a mini gold course right next to the playground!

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

  • Dinner in the Main Dining Room – On night one, I got a “BLT pasta” dish; admittedly I was skeptical at first, because in what world are mass-produced dinners at all-inclusive resorts that good? Welp, in Woodloch world. One of the most impresive things to me about our stay at Woodloch Resort was how intentional each dish still felt, and how well made! You can choose a dining plan to be a part of your stay package – no meals, two meals, or three meals a day (we had 3/day!). So, back to the BLT pasta… 

It was SO GOOD. They serve fresh veggies each night too (yay!), and I treated myself to a pineapple martini that gets an A in my book.

  • A circus show! – One of my personal favorites parts of ANY all-inclusive resort is the nightlife. Now, I’m no resort expert (a girl can dream 😉 ), but from my limited experience at all-inclusives, they typically have live entertainment around the same time every night as a way to end your day. Sure enough, the Woodloch Resort has a “nightclub” space on campus that hosts all sorts of evening entertainment. Night one was a circus show featuring two extremely flexible traveling entertainers…let’s just say I SWEAR one was missing her backbone.

HUGE shoutout to The Children’s Place for dressing Liv for the weekend – her jammies are coming up roses! 😉 But really, they’re SO CUTE + come in mommy-and-me options (so I have a matching set myself, obviously).

ALSO HAD TO MENTION this cute little portable sound machine! I had gotten it via PR a few weeks before our trip and knew I wanted to bring it with us because we’ve been sleeping with white noise for probably a year+ now. It’s the perfect size, works GREAT, has maybe ten different white noise sounds to choose from, and is on Amazon! Fun stocking stuffer for the traveler, too!

 

Day 2:

  • Breakfast in the Main Dining Room – Woodloch Resort is KNOWN for their crumb cake. Actually, they bake *all* of their baked goods + breads on property! But let me tell you…get the crumb cake. And get one from the Country Store to take home when your trip is done, too. We had this every single morning with breakfast (warm! moist!  YUM!!!).

THE WOODLOCH RESORT crumb cake - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

  • Woodloch Forest indoor climbing gym – AKA, Chuckie Cheese on campus. Great little climbing area for kids, with a very padded section adjacent to it for toddlers. Liv was there for both. 😉
  • Indoor basketball court – This is in the same building as the Woodloch Forest gym! Allows for pick up games whenever.
  • Gigi’s again for lattes + snacks! Back at it again at GiGi’s – great for on the go pickmeups!
  • Takeout lunch while Liv napped – OK GET THIS – if you don’t want to (or can’t) make an in-person meal, you can simply call in your orders and pick them up to go! We were STOKED about this since Liv’s nap coincided RIGHT with lunch on Day two. We were able to call everything in and it was ready in 15 minutes – and they got everything down PAT. They even packed in extra smiley fries! 😉

  • Scenic boat tour around Lake Teedyuskung – These are cute little 10 minute tours around the lake to take in the scenery! My biggest advice here is to just sign up first thing in the morning because spots are limited right now and they fill up fast!

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

  • Pumpkin picking + painting – A cute little kids’ activity! Liv got to “pick” her own little pumpkin from a laid-out patch and then paint it to take home.
  • Go Karts – The Woodloch Resort has an entire area of what are just “adventure” activities in my book! Go Karts, batting cages, zipline, archery – heck, even an entire ice skating rink! 
  • Dinner in the Main Dining Room – Out waitress’ friend gets the beef tenderloin every weekend, so I got the beef tenderloin this weekend! Woodloch Tiddlywink drink (raspberry Absolut, Malibu, cranberry juice + lemonade… ’twas DELISH!), Liv POUNDED shrimp cocktail, and mama pounded the smoked gouda whipped potatotes. 😉

Mixed Drink at the Woodloch Resort  

  • Rock band show! Rock through the decades, with about a 10-minute set of song clips from each decade from the 60’s onward. ICYMI on Stories, Liv helped herself to the FRONT OF THE STAGE to dance to Blinding Lights hahaha. My girl.

 

Day 3:

  • Breakfast in the Main Dining Room – Avocado toast, Belgian waffles, and of course, more crumb cake!
  • Petting zoo + pony rides! Liv went on her first pony ride!!!! Not only that, she went on TWO pony rides because she loveloveloved it that much. They brought in a few goats, bunnies, and a baby cow for the kids to pet. ‘Twas adorable!

The Childrens Place coat - on Coming Up Roses

The Childrens Place coat - on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses 

 

The Childrens Place coat - on Coming Up Roses

P.S. Quite a few of you wanted the link to these boots that I wore all weekend long – they’re actually NOT EVEN $30. Wouldja believe it?! Definitely recommend snagging a pair – they come in a pretty tan, too!

FUR HIKING BOOTS - on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

THE WOODLOCH RESORT - Resort Review + Trip Recap on Coming Up Roses

Have you ever been to the Woodloch Resort?

If not, are you adding to your travel bucket list now?? We’ll definitely be back!

For more travel inspo, check out all travel content on CUR here!