Great Wolf Resorts (formerly known as Great Wolf Lodge) is a chain of

indoor water park An indoor water park is a type of water park that is located inside a building. An indoor water park has the ability to stay open year-round, as it is not affected by weather conditions. History Some of the first indoor water parks are at Duinre ...

s. The company owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. In addition to a water park, each resort features restaurants, arcades,

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

s, and children's activities. Great Wolf Resorts is headquartered in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

History

Great Wolf Lodge began as a small indoor water park resort called Black Wolf Lodge which was founded in 1997 by brothers Jack and Andrew "Turk" Waterman, the original owners of

Noah's Ark Water Park Noah's Ark (officially Noah's Ark Family Park Inc.) is the largest outdoor water park in the United States. It features 51 water slides and dozens of various attractions. The park is located in the village of Lake Delton, Wisconsin. History In ...

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Wisconsin Dells is a city in Wisconsin, straddling four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. A popular Midwestern tourist destination, the city forms an area known as "The Dells" with the nearby village of Lake Delton. The Dells is home ...

. Black Wolf Lodge was purchased by The Great Lakes Companies Inc in 1999. In 2000, president and founder
Craig A. Stark
and the team changed the name to Great Wolf Lodge and the company headquarters were established in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. In 2001, the company built a second location in Sandusky, Ohio, and named it Great Bear Lodge. When a third location opened in 2003, the decision was made to place all future parks under the Great Wolf Lodge banner. The name of the Ohio location was changed to Great Wolf Lodge in 2004. The chain has since added sixteen additional locations and has one under construction. On May 1, 2012, Great Wolf announced they were adding a new amenity or attraction to each of their resorts in time for the summer season. In addition, they spent over $4 million renovating the company's first two locations – Wisconsin Dells and Sandusky. In April 2017, Great Wolf relocated their corporate headquarters to Chicago, Illinois.

Apollo acquisition

On March 13, 2012,

Apollo Global Management Apollo Global Management, Inc. is an American global private-equity firm. It provides investment management and invests in credit, private equity, and real assets. As of March 31, 2022, the company had $512 billion of assets under management, ...

announced an agreement to acquire the company for $703 million. Following the announcement, an investor group filed a complaint in Delaware Chancery Court stating that the deal, in which Apollo would pay $5 a share, undervalued the company. On April 12, 2012,

KSL Capital Partners KSL Capital Partners is a Private-equity firm based in Denver, Colorado specializing in travel and leisure investments. Many of the investments have involved Colorado ski resorts. Since its founding in 2005, the firm has raised more than $13 bill ...

made an unsolicited offer of $6.25 a share, and Apollo followed suit raising its bid to $6.75 a share. KSL then raised its cash offer to $7 a share on April 8, 2012, beginning a rare public bidding war. After Apollo upped its offer again to $7.85 a share on April 20, 2012, KSL Capital Partners later announced it would not be making additional offers. The company's shares traded as low as $2.18 in October 2011, but they climbed above $5 following the announcement in March 2012 and reached a 52-week high of $7.50 during trading in April 2012.

Centerbridge acquisition

On March 24, 2015,

Centerbridge Partners Centerbridge Partners is a multi-strategy private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and distressed securities. The firm manages over $32 billion of assets

reached an agreement with Apollo to acquire the Great Wolf chain for $1.35 billion. The acquisition was finalized on May 12, 2015.

Blackstone and Centerbridge Joint Venture

In September 2019,

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...

made a deal to purchase 65% controlling interest in Great Wolf Resorts from Centerbridge Partners. The two firms agreed to form a $2.9 billion joint-venture to own the company.

Properties

Great Wolf Lodge locations: Previous locations: *

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Sheboygan () is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a populatio ...

(2004–2011; now known as Blue Harbor Resort) Locations under construction: *

Perryville, Maryland Perryville is a town in Cecil County, Maryland, United States. The population was 4,361 at the 2010 census. The town is located near an access for Interstate 95, on the north side of the outlet of the Susquehanna River. History Perryville was fir ...

– Announced in December 2018, ground was broken on July 20, 2021, and the resort is expected to open sometime in 2023. *

Mashantucket, Connecticut Mashantucket is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northeast part of the town of Ledyard, New London County, Connecticut, United States. It consists of land held by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. The Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Resort ...

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

– Estimated to cost $250 million to build, ground was broken on July 14, 2022, and the resort is expected to open in early–mid 2024. *

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

- A proposal to build a Great Wolf Lodge location in Chesterton near

was submitted in 2019. The proposal was accepted by planning inspectors in 2021. Work on remodelling the plot of land acquired for the site began on 30 December 2021, with construction of the location itself scheduled to commence by the end of 2022. The intended completion date for the construction of the Bicester location is scheduled for late 2024. Locations under consideration: * Squamish, British Columbia *

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey Little Egg Harbor Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 20,065, reflecting an increase of 4,120 (+25.8%) from the 15,945 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in tur ...

* Chester, New York *

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York (state), New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Unit ...

Other brands

Great Wolf Lodge also owns

MagiQuest MagiQuest is an interactive attraction in the form of a live action role-playing game where players take the role of magic users. The game takes place in dedicated MagiQuest locations. Players, known as Magi, use an infrared (IR) emitting wand t ...

In other media

Great Wolf's previous CEO Kim Schaefer was featured in the U.S. version of TV's ''Undercover Boss'', which included visits to several lodges where she worked alongside a lifeguard supervisor, front desk clerk, and restaurant waitstaff as well as participated in the children's program. Great Wolf Entertainment and

6 Point Harness Six Point Harness (6PH) is an animation studio based in Los Angeles that develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, commercial, music videos and web-based content. Founded by Brendan Burch in 2003, some of the studio's ...

produced a flash animated film, called ''The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure'', which premiered at Great Wolf Resorts on

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

, September 5, 2022. The film follows the adventure of five newly-redesigned versions of mascot characters Wiley Wolf, Violet Wolf, Oliver Raccoon, Brinley Bear and Sammy Squirrel.The film on IMDb
/ref>

References

External links

*
''The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure'' on YouTubeOfficial trailer
{{CNL attractions Apollo Global Management companies Hotels established in 1997 Companies based in Madison, Wisconsin Hotels in California Hotels in Kansas Hotels in Michigan Hotels in North Carolina Hotels in Ohio Hotels in Pennsylvania Hotels in Texas Hotels in Virginia Hotels in Washington (state) Hotels in Wisconsin Water parks in California Water parks in Canada Water parks in Kansas Water parks in Michigan Water parks in North Carolina Water parks in Ohio Water parks in Pennsylvania Water parks in Texas Water parks in Virginia Water parks in Wisconsin Water parks in Arizona Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls 1997 establishments in Wisconsin