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Great Wolf Excels with Watery Format

Family-Oriented Great Wolf Comes to the Poconos

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

June 10, 2006
Even on moonless nights, the wolves are howling in the Poconos. The banter began last October, when an enormous indoor waterpark called Great Wolf Lodge became the area's first new resort in more than 26 years.

Regis Philbin opened the Poconos Great Wolf main valve.

Perched in the hills of Eastern Pennsylvania just west of the Delaware Water Gap, Great Wolf has carried its name to the extreme:
• Unseen wolves howl to warn bathers in the wave pool when the waves will start
• Wolves and moose mingle with evergreens on hallway carpeting
• A wolf and bear mascot covers with guests at evening storytime
• Little in-room placards advise guests to maintain late-night quiet because 11 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. is "hibernation time."

With the fortunate exception of restaurant menus, wolves are everywhere - from the animated clock in the lobby to the logos on employee uniforms (though the animal depicted looks a lot like somebody's pet Siberian Husky).

The formula seems to be working, drawing more kids per capita than any resort not named Disney and providing great escapes for family members of all ages.

There are options to please everyone: a 100-game video arcade, a myriad of restaurants, multiple TV channels to for sports-crazed fathers, proximity to an outlets center called Crossings, and even a spa where women can escape into a much-needed "serenity room" far from the maddening fray.

The din of the water park is as constant as the humidity. But it's happy noise, with kids of all ages screaming with delight as they discover new diversions.

The 90-foot-tall waterpark embraces 78,000 square feet and includes 11 waterslides, six pools, and a 12-level treehouse waterfort with interconnecting walkways and bridges. There are also more than 60 guest-operated water hazards that kids can aim at each other or unsuspecting innocents below. Groups even gather under a 1,000-gallon bucket that dumps its load on a regular schedule.

Bad weather doesn't matter to denizens of Great Wolf Lodge. Nobody seems to mind getting wet, since the temperature is a constant 84 degrees F. and outdoor conditions matter even less than they do in Las Vegas.

It's the one place a husband can tell his wife she's all wet - and get away with it.

Even on the "lazy river," where guests on plastic tubes ride currents around a curvacious course, water-filled pails and spraying fountains shower riders regularly. Guests even wait on line for the 727-foot Hydro Plunge rollercoaster, which starts with an uphill lift and ends with a 52-foot plunge.

Geared primarily to kids aged 2-14, Great Wolf hasn't forgotten their folks: there's a large Jacuzzi reserved for adults only, plus another - located nearby --for families.

Great Wolf's waterslides include two body slides, three tube slides, four kiddie slides, the water-coaster, and a cannon-bowl tube ride that completes its run with a 40-foot plunge. The three four-story tube slides of Alberta Falls actually twist outside the main building before reentering the waterpark and dropping riders into the pool below. Totem Towers, a pair of fast-paced slides, is only slightly less imposing, risings three stories tall.

There's never a water shortage at Great Wolf. At any one time, the park is filled with 380,000 gallons of heated water, filtered to the tune of a million gallons an hour.

Outdoor water attractions include floor geysers, spray features, a pool that runs from zero to four feet in depth, and a patio complete with bar & grill.

The whole concept staggers the imagination, but the formula obviously works: Great Wolf opened its first park in 1997 (in Wisconsin Dells) and has been growing strong ever since. In fact, it has encouraged spinoffs, though imitations are seldom as good as the original.

According to a recent study by Hotel Water Park Resort Research & Consulting, there are 80 indoor waterparks across the country and an equal number in the planning stages. Wisconsin Dells alone has 18 of them.

Great Wolf is the leader of the pack.

One of its biggest benefits is that kids of all ages can exert their independence without the usual parental anxiety. The resort has a roster of 100 lifeguards certified by Ellis & Associates, a top aquatic safety training company.

Slides of all descriptions serve guests of all sizes. Some are for toddlers, some are for teenagers, and others are for adults who think like teenagers.

To do it all, and enjoy the outside water attractions that opened for the warm-weather months, requires a stay of two or three days. But that also depends upon the family schedule, since the park stays open until 10 p.m. daily.

The $92 million resort is a four-story, 401-suite structure that resembles a giant log cabin. Built on a 95-acre site, it has 10 different room configurations, including a two-bedroom Grizzly Bear Suite that can sleep eight and accommodate families who wish to import their own breakfast (with refrigerator and microwave).

Child-themed suites include one called the Wolf Den (no surprise there) and a private "room within a room" that both kids and parents will appreciate.

Families will also appreciate the nearby Route 611, which has pizza parlors, ice cream stands, and restaurants with prices far preferable to those offered by Great Wolf restaurants.

For those who don't want to miss a minute of the water-oriented action, however, there's even a walk-up venue inside the water park. Making it especially convenient is the fact that no money is needed; guests simply show the computer-programmed, hospital-style wristband they receive upon check-in.

Great Wolf's eating options also include the Loose Moose Cottage, a gourmet buffet where prices escalate according to the meal selected; Camp Critter Bar & Grille, a family restaurant and bar; Pizza Hut Express; Bear Claw Caf� confectionary and bakery; and even a Starbucks Coffee.

With all that food available, Great Wolf needs its state-of-the-art fitness facility, though guests can work off the pounds through walking, swimming, and trying some of the more arduous rides (some requiring a minimum of two passengers, both of whom must be at least 48 inches tall).

Great Wolf general manager Dale McFarland must be doing something right: his three kids, aged 7, 9, and 11, love the place. They make their own tracks at Bear Track Landing, as the water park is called, and Fort MacKenzie, site of a bucket dump that is more predictable than Old Faithful. And they swim in Chinook Cove, an activity pool with basketball hoops, a volleyball net, and a log-balance walk that suggests a scene from the show Survivor. Those who fall can touch bottom easily: the popular pool is only four-and-a-half feet deep.

The place makes a good first impression and keeps it: the Grand Lobby has 6,600 square feet and a Northwoods flavor designed to feel like home-away-from-home. Antler chandeliers and hand-carved tables front a massive stone fireplace and the animated clock tower, site of three 12-minute shows per day.

Board games, card games, and nightly story-telling give families a chance to talk among themselves and make new friends.

The resort's extremely informal dress code helps: patrons parade around in T-shirts and bathing suits, greatly simplifying the packing process.

At Elements, the Great Wolf spa, the dress code is even easier. There are eight treatment rooms with more than a dozen massage selections. And the whole thing is designed to convey peace and quiet, with soft lighting, earth-tone colors, soft music, aromatherapy candles, and trickling water. The staff of licensed Aveda technicians will even perform a pregnancy massage upon request.

Although its primary market is family business, Great Wolf Lodge also has facilities for conferences, with 6,000 square feet of meeting space. Open year-round, the resort gives guests the chance to partake of such activities as golf in summer or skiing in winter. It also gives guests a chance to breathe, since the entire facility is smokefree.

Great Wolf Lodge is located on U.S. Route 611 north, off the Scotrun exit on I-80. It is less than two hours from both New York and Philadelphia.

Other Great Wolf Lodges are located in Kansas City, KS; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Sandusky, OH; Traverse City, MI; and Williamsburg, VA, with pending openings in Mason, OH (late 2006) and Chehalis, WA and Grapevine, TX (both 2007). The parent company, Great Wolf Resorts, also owns and operates the Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center in Sheboygan, WI.

The Wisconsin-based company has another dozen sites under consideration for the future.

For further information, contact Great Wolf Lodge, 1 Great Wolf Drive, Scotrun, PA 18355 (Tel. 570-688-9899 x703, Fax 570-688-9896, www.greatwolflodge.com). Reservations may be made by calling 800-608-WOLF.

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