Great Wolf Resorts facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Hospitality |
| Predecessor | Great Bear Lodge (Sandusky, OH), Black Wolf Lodge (Wisconsin Dells, WI) |
| Founded | Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, United States (May 1997) |
| Founder | Jack and Andrew Waterman |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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19 (one under construction and eight under consideration) |
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Area served
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United States and Canada |
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Key people
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Murray Hennessy (CEO) |
| Services | Family Waterpark Resorts |
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Number of employees
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6,000 |
| Parent | Apollo Global Management, Centerbridge Partners and Blackstone Group |
Great Wolf Resorts is a company that owns and runs a chain of indoor water parks. These family resorts are known as Great Wolf Lodge. Each resort has a large indoor water park, plus other fun things like restaurants, arcades, spas, and special activities for kids. The main office for Great Wolf Resorts is in Chicago, Illinois. The resorts have several friendly mascots, including Wiley the Wolf, Violet the Wolf, and Oliver Raccoon. Other characters are Rachel Raccoon, Brinley Bear, and Sammy the Squirrel.
Contents
History of Great Wolf Lodge
Great Wolf Lodge started as a smaller indoor water park resort. It was called Black Wolf Lodge. Brothers Jack and Andrew "Turk" Waterman founded it in 1997. They were also the first owners of the Noah's Ark water park in Wisconsin.
In 1999, a company called The Great Lakes Companies Inc bought Black Wolf Lodge. The name was changed to Great Wolf Lodge in 2000. The company's main office was set up in Madison, Wisconsin.
In 2001, a second resort was built in Sandusky, Ohio. It was first named Great Bear Lodge. By 2003, when a third location opened, the company decided to call all future parks Great Wolf Lodge. The Ohio location's name was changed in 2004. Since then, the chain has opened many more locations.
In 2012, Great Wolf announced new attractions for their resorts. They also spent over $4 million to update their first two locations. These were the parks in Wisconsin Dells and Sandusky. In April 2017, Great Wolf moved its main office to Chicago, Illinois.
Who Owns Great Wolf?
Sometimes, big companies buy and sell other companies. This happened with Great Wolf Resorts.
In 2012, a company called Apollo Global Management agreed to buy Great Wolf Resorts. Later, in 2015, another company named Centerbridge Partners bought the Great Wolf chain from Apollo.
Then, in 2019, Blackstone Group made a deal with Centerbridge Partners. They decided to own Great Wolf Resorts together. This means two large investment firms now share ownership of the company.
Great Wolf Lodge Locations
Here are some of the places where you can find a Great Wolf Lodge:
| City | Year Opened |
|---|---|
| Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin | 1997 |
| Sandusky, Ohio | 2001 |
| Traverse City, Michigan | 2003 |
| Kansas City, Kansas | 2003 |
| Williamsburg, Virginia | 2005 |
| Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania | 2005 |
| Niagara Falls, Ontario | 2006 |
| Mason, Ohio | 2006 |
| Grapevine, Texas | 2007 |
| Grand Mound, Washington | 2008 |
| Concord, North Carolina | 2009 |
| Fitchburg, Massachusetts | 2014 |
| Garden Grove, California | 2016 |
| Colorado Springs, Colorado | 2016 |
| Bloomington, Minnesota | 2017 |
| LaGrange, Georgia | 2018 |
| Gurnee, Illinois | 2018 |
| Salt River, Arizona | 2019 |
A previous location was in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It operated from 2004 to 2011 and is now called Blue Harbor Resort.
There is also a new Great Wolf Lodge being built in Manteca, California. It is expected to open in 2021. The company is also thinking about building more locations in other places like Squamish, British Columbia and Perryville, Maryland.
Other Fun Brands
Great Wolf Lodge also owns MagiQuest. This is a popular interactive game often found at their resorts.
