What’s happening with Manteca’s Great Wolf water park? Here’s the latest
More than a year ago, we all donned hard hats with fuzzy ears and walked through what we thought would be a soon-to-open Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca.
On that fateful early March day the sun was out, the sky was blue and there wasn’t a mask in sight. Yes, there was more hand sanitizer around than normal. Yes, people joked about not shaking hands. But progress on the massive new water park resort was going so well they’d moved up opening by a whole month from Aug. 1 to July 1.
But, oh, what a difference a year makes. Just a week after the first hard-hat tour of the facility, the COVID-19 outbreak was declared a global pandemic and then — as we all continue to live through it — the world as we knew it basically shut down.
While construction work on the six-story hotel, indoor water park and family entertainment center continued, its opening has been in flux. As the world sheltered in place through the start of the pandemic, Great Wolf Resorts, the parent company for the chain of indoor water parks, has had to push back the date for its debut again and again.
Great Wolf has not announced an official grand opening date for the Manteca location, which looms large just off Highway 120. The company website is taking reservations for rooms from June 15 onward. At the start of the year, the site had been taking reservations starting March 23 — but that date will definitely come and go without an opening.
Indeed Jason Lasecki, Great Wolf Resort’s director of corporate communications, said that is not an official grand opening date yet and the company is still awaiting more guidance from the state on when it can safely open.
Construction has been completed since last summer, so now the 500-room hotel, 95,000-square-foot indoor water park and 45,000-square-foot family entertainment center just await guests, and employees, to fill its walls.
Lasecki said they still expected to ultimately hire around 600 staff members once the water park resort is up to full capacity. But expect that number to be smaller at the outset, as the park is likely to open with some restrictions to attendance. Hiring had started last summer, but spikes in COVID-19 infections forced continued safety shutdowns which kept the park closed.
Unlike amusement parks, which state officials recently announced could reopen by April 1, water parks still have no clear guidance on when they can reopen.
Once the resort opens, it will be first major water attraction to return to the Central Valley since Manteca’s namesake waterslides closed in 2004 after some 30 years of operation.
Lasecki said once they can open, expect enhanced cleaning and hygiene protocols, which they call their Paw Pledge, to focus on disinfection, sanitation, limiting contact, social distancing and more.
“The health and safety of our guests, pack members, and community have always been our top priority at Great Wolf Lodge. Once the state’s COVID-19 mitigation efforts allow businesses like ours to operate, our resort in Manteca is prepared to open safely and responsibly with a comprehensive plan to safeguard our guests and pack members we call our Paw Pledge Program,” he said.
For more on the Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca call 888-966-9653 or visit www.greatwolf.com/northern-california.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What’s happening with Manteca’s Great Wolf water park? Here’s the latest."
