Great Wolf Lodge Makes a Splash

They’re heeere! The pack has arrived. The Wolf is at the door. The Great Wolf Lodge in Naples has (unofficially) opened for business. The massive resort complex near Collier Blvd. and I-75 will have an official grand opening at a date to be announced later, but never mind – the “soft opening” has already happened. Guests are checking in, the ropes course is swinging, and biggest of all, the water park is wild and wet.  

Great Wolf Lodge is a combination of a resort hotel, a theme park, an amusement arcade, a water park, virtual reality game rooms, a miniature golf course, a bowling alley, and more – they really do “pack” a lot into the site. Just down the road from Marco Island off of Collier Blvd., the $250 million facility is taking shape at City Gate, adjacent to the Paradise Coast Sports Complex.  

Like the adjacent Paradise Coast Sports Park, it has been possible to completely miss the construction of the Great Wolf Lodge, as they both sit out of sight from major roads, even though located at a gateway or crossroads, where I-75, Collier Blvd. and Davis Blvd. all come together – and even though both are massive projects that will have an outsize impact on local tourism, entertainment, infrastructure, revenues and jobs.  

On the first few days that Great Wolf Lodge was open, many of the employees who were swarming the site, and not a few of the inaugural overnight guests, were local residents. Guiding a befuddled older visitor through the virtual reality games, a Lely High School senior named Kierra was all smiles, even as she, along with her fellow workers, was still feeling their way through how to operate the high-tech operations.  

Cara Humbert of Marco Island was one of the first overnight guests at the lodge, wearing her wolf ears along with her friends and delighted with her experience.  

“It’s very cool – there’s nothing like this in the area,” she enthused. They were upgraded to a two-bedroom, two-bath suite, and comped an indoor poolside cabana. Her friend Sam Villani said that what most impressed him was the attitude of the “pack members,” as Great Wolf Lodge calls their employees.  

“The staff is unbelievable. Everyone is super-friendly,” he said.  

General manager Jason Bays strolled through the indoor water park, satisfied to see the culmination of many months of work in getting the resort ready to receive guests. He said he was constrained from commenting at this point but was willing to say on the record, “I’m delighted to be open.” He promised to have more to say as the official grand opening approaches.  

The Great Wolf Lodge in Naples is the 22nd the company has created – another lodge in Texas just opened, freeing up resources to speed completion of the Naples property. The resort comprises at its heart a seven-story, 500-guest room hotel, with a 92,000-sq. ft. water park inside an attached temperature-controlled building, and with more water and recreation facilities outside and in.  

Great Wolf CEO John “Murph” Murphy has promised the Naples property will provide over 600 local jobs, along with an economic impact of $5 billion and tax revenues of $150 million to Collier County over 30 years, five million in tax revenue per year. The lodge is far from a standard resort hotel, with everything inside focused on a theme park vibe, emceed by Wiley the Wolf, the central character and mascot in the Great Wolf experience. The resort is all about kids and families, determinedly family-friendly and all-inclusive. 

Some of the elements are new even to Great Wolf Lodge, as the Naples location will debut a number of innovations not present in any of the current lodges. The “Howlers Peak Ropes Course” will feature a 150-ft. circular zipline above the indoor game arcade, alongside the Adventure Trail climbing experience. Below, the “Howl in One” miniature golf course offers nine holes, still indoors. 

“Ten Paw Alley” offers duckpin bowling, and the Northern Lights Arcade, open 24 hours, features over 100 interactive video and redemption games that allow guests to redeem points for prizes. The Naples lodge features the latest version of Great Wolf’s MagiQuest, an interactive, non-linear virtual reality roleplaying game that can stretch out over more than one visit to the resort, including the company’s other properties, with the game remembering where you left off six months or three years ago – if you can remember also.  

But the biggest splash at Great Wolf Lodge comes from the water park, which at 92,000 square feet covers over two acres, with 12 massive water slides, three pools including a wave pool with a beach, and towering over the network of pipes for the water slides,  an enormous bucket that dumps massive quantities – roughly 1,000 gallons – of water on bystanders below every ten minutes, and a play area for the kids – all enclosed, under roof, and kept at a steady 84 degrees year ’round.  

In addition to all the attractions, the lobby posts a full schedule of activities, including a Master Magi Ceremony, Tales of the Great Wolf Pak, the Hustle and Howl Dance Party, and regular character appearances throughout the day. 

Some families have made Great Wolf Lodge vacations a theme of their own. Roger and Angela McDuffie of Miami, checking into the resort on a Friday afternoon with their three boys, Ryan, 10, Roger Jr., 12, and Matthew, eight, said this was the fifth Great Wolf Lodge they had visited.  

“We’ve been to Great Wolf Lodges in Texas, Colorado, Virginia, and Pennsylvania,” said Angela. “We’re excited that they’re open, so close by, and we can be some of the first to come and stay here.”  

The location of the Great Wolf Lodge, straight up Collier Blvd., makes it convenient for Marco Islanders, much more so than many locations in Naples. Local families won’t be able to enjoy the Great Wolf amenities immediately, though, unless they book rooms. They will not offer day passes to the resort for “about six months” after opening, said Bays in April, to give them time to finetune their operations, although recent reports say that timeline may be moved up. 

Bring your wallet. If you stay over 30 minutes, parking will set you back $15. “Tiki cocktails” at the poolside bar, including “You Had Me at Aloha,” the “Zig Zag Zombie,” and “Mai Oh Mai Tai,” cost $16, and frozen drinks cost $18, or $25 for the one-quart size. 

Whatever else it is, there is no doubt that Great Wolf Lodge is a major new player in the local tourism and hospitality scene.