School is out for the summer and families may be looking for some summer fun. With gas prices at an all-time high they may not want to travel too far for a family vacation. Great Wolf Lodge turns 25 this year and is celebrating throughout the year with a number of festivities at its lodges across the country. On June 29 the resort in Manteca will be celebrating its one-year anniversary.
“We are a place for families to come and build memories together,” said General Manager Kieth Furnas. “As we like to say, our purpose here is to bring joy to families. We think we have designed a place to come and have fun and do that very thing and serve that purpose. For families to build memories, have a good time together in a safe, fun, friendly environment. We have a little something for everyone.”
Originally the Lodge was set to open in July 2020 but due to the pandemic they were unable to open. They finally opened the doors to the public last year in June with some restrictions. Since then, most of the restrictions have been lifted and the resort is fully operational. This has allowed them to offer guests day passes to enjoy the waterpark, Adventure Park, and other activities offered. The day passes can only be purchased online and start at $50 for the day.
Furnas noted that the waterpark day passes will be monitored each day dependent on the occupancy at the resort so that they can maintain a safe and comfortable waterpark experience for all guests.
This summer through August, Great Wolf Lodge offers a Summer Camp-In where families can participate in yoga, jazzercize, pool party, dance party, arts, crafts and a ‘Trailblazer Challenge’.
“Our summer camp-in program kind of goes back to the nostalgia of summer camp and we will be doing a lot of fun entertainment around that idea,” added Furnas. “We will be doing summer camp themed pool parties, dance parties in the lobby, our trail blazer challenge which is an interactive challenge for families to go through and complete different quests and activities. We will have a lot of other entertaining things around summer camp.”
The water park area is 95,000 square feet and has a variety of waterslides, pools, and a water tree fort with interactive water toys and splash features. Fort Mackenzie is a play structure that also has a bucket that holds about 1000 gallons of water that tips over regularly.
There is also an outdoor pool area that is open through Labor Day.
The Adventure Park brings guests dry fun with an assortment of activities like mini golf, a rope course, bowling alley, Oliver’s Mining, a mirror maze and arcade.
They have an exclusive interactive fantasy adventure game called MagiQuest where guests will have a magic wand and interact with pixies, dragons, and different devices throughout the lodge to complete the quest.
To refuel, the lodge has a variety of food options like Barnwood, Campfire Kitchen, Hungry as a Wolf serving pizza and pasta, Buckets, and Timber Tacos. There is a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Wood’s End Creamery that serves up ice cream.
“We like to say we have something for everyone in the family from two years old to 100 years,” added Furnas. “It is a place where you can come and you don’t have to leave. You don’t have to go out and find a place to eat or look for entertainment. We have something for everybody to enjoy during their entire stay.”
Great Wolf Lodge started in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in 1997 and has grown with 19 locations across North America and growing. The 500-room resort in Manteca has a variety of guest rooms and suites and hosts private events and meetings. The indoor water park and adventure park are open year-round no matter what the weather is like outside.
