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Great Wolf Lodge opens in North Carolina

Scott Rutherford Amusement Today

Great Wolf Lodge Concord, the newest property in the Great Wolf Resorts family, opened its doors April 23, just in time for spring break crowds.

Located directly of I-85 between the Concord Mills shopping mall and Lowes Motor Speedway just 30 minutes north of Charlotte, N.C., the new Great Wolf Lodge Concord is a 475,000-squarefoot northwoods-themed allinclusive resort that offers something for everyone. The property has over 400 guest suites in nine different family- friendly configurations along with a host of creature comforts and entertainment options.

Great Wolf Lodge Concord General Manager Phil Cunningham gave Amusement Today a personal tour around the expansive property shortly after its grand opening.

Cunningham explained that the resort’s exclusivity begins once guests enter the spacious northwoods lobby, which is dominated by a threestory stone fireplace guarded by vigilant wolves on various ledges.

“This is where our younger guests gather at bedtime for a story and snacks,” he said. “After a long day of enjoying the lodge’s various activities, it’s the perfect way to cap off the night for the little ones.”

Next up was a peek at the resorts various offerings. Great Wolf Lodge features two themed, on-property restaurants – a family restaurant and bar with sweeping views of the waterpark, and an actionstyle buffet, featuring a “Kids Only” food station. Guests can also choose from Pizza Hut Express, a Dunkin Donuts featuring gourmet coffee and “Just Baked” pastries, a confectionary café for other sweet treats, and a snack shop located right inside the waterpark.

There’s also a themed 18-hole miniature golf course; an arcade with more than 100 video games; a children’s activity center called Cub Club that includes programming developed by National Geographic Kids; gr8_space, a teen tech center with computers, karaoke and movies; and Scooops Kid Spa designed for the under 12-years-old crowd. For grown-ups hoping to squeeze in a little downtime during their Great Wolf getaway, there’s a full-service spa featuring Aveda products.

One of resort’s most popular components is the 80,000-square-foot Beartrack Landing indoor/outdoor waterpark, which offers 11 waterslides, including the fourlane mat racer; the Howlin’ Tornado extreme tube ride; a family raft ride; two body slides; two tube slides; and one kiddie slide. Included in the four pools are a giant wave pool, recreation pool, zero-depth entry children’s activity pool, and a zero-depth entry family activity splash pad.

Cunningham pointed out a sense of openess that sets Beartrack Landing apart from other parks of its ilk: “Unlike most indoor waterparks, the majority of Beartrack Landing’s fiberglass slides and their support structures are located outside the public areas,” he said. “This calculated measure gives the interior of the waterpark a spacious, uncluttered feel.

“Family cabanas equipped with a flat screen TV are available for rent, offering families additional privacy.”

As with most high-profile waterpark projects, a renowned roster of manufacturers was assembled to supply the attractions for Beartrack Landing. These include: ProSlide Technology and WhiteWater West Industries for the waterslides; Neuman Pools and Neptune Benson for the pools and water filtration/pumps; Zebec and Woosung for the rafts and tubes; Sportexe for outdoor miniature golf course.

The centerpiece of the waterpark is Fort Mackenzie, a four-story treehouse waterfort supplied by SCS Interactive. As the 11th such attraction supplied for Great Wolf, Fort Mackenzie stands four stories tall, houses a magnificent nearly 1,000 gallon tipping bucket and a suspension bridge. It also features two body slides, and variety of exciting interactive spray pool elements. Visitors to the waterpark will enjoy more than 60 guest activated water features that squirt, spray, and blast.

“The treehouse concept has given Great Wolf Resorts an enormous amount of flexibility to customize the attraction, giving each resort its own unique identity, while creating a distinct and recognizable feature that links each property together,” said Steve Wagner, vice president of marketing and sales, SCS Interactive.

Along with the waterpark and other attractions, the resort features a MagiQuest interactive live action roleplaying game, which is located on three different levels in the lodge. In addition to a dedicated MagiQuest retail location just off the lobby where guests can purchase the game’s signature IR wand and related items, th resort offers a tree-shrouded digital learning center where players are instructed in the ways of the Magi.

Denise Chapman-Weston, director of Imagination and president Creative Kingdoms, LLC, explained the popularity of the company’s newest MagiQuest installation.

“We love bringing more of our magic to the newest Great Wolf Lodge Concord. I am already getting hundreds of very happy e-mails from players at Concord, who share with me their fun family experiences playing together – grandparents to little kids.” Chapman-Weston told Amusement Today. “One of my favorite e-mails was from a 12-year-old girl who had played at our location in Myrtle Beach. She was thrilled that her wand worked at the Concord lodge and ‘it knew who she was the moment she waved the wand’. And then to her delight there is a whole new game for her to play that was different from what she had played in Myrtle Beach!”

Amusement Today asked Cunningham about how early guests are responding to the lodge and waterpark attractions. “Our expectations have been met since our launch in April, he said as he surveyed a line of eager guests pouring into the lobby. “The Southeast has really embraced the Great Wolf Lodge experience. We look forward to serving them throughout the coming years.”


Thrills are found outside of the Great Wolf Lodge with this outdoor waterpark and everyone’s favorite, miniature golf. Most of the support structure for the major indoor waterslides are located outside, giving extra space for play and relaxation at the indoor waterpark. AT PHOTOS / SCOTT RUTHERFORD

PHOTO COURTESY GREAT WOLF RESORTS

As with installations in previous Great Wolf Lodges, the MagiQuest game is a hit with children and parents. Here, two children wave their wands to play the interactive game that is located throughout the entire resort.

BRIEF

Hawaiian Waters sold, renamed Wet 'n' Wild Hawaii

A Florida-based real estate investment firm has bought Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei from its Australian owner in a deal that will allow the seller to continue operating the 10-year-old attraction.

The buyer, CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc., said the acquisition won't affect park operations, though the attraction will be renamed Wet 'n' Wild Hawaii this summer.

CNL bought the park for an undisclosed price, and will lease the 29-acre property back to the seller, a subsidiary of Melbourne, Australiabased Village Roadshow Ltd. Village Roadshow, Australia's largest theme park operator, bought the park a year ago for $27 million.

Village Roadshow in a statement said the arrangement provides the company with financial flexibility to grow its waterpark business.

CNL is a real estate investment trust with a portfolio of 115 properties in the United States and Canada. The company specializes in attractions including golf courses, ski hills, waterparks and marinas.