Manteca’s Great Wolf Lodge water park sets opening date after yearlong pandemic delay
After almost a year of delays due to the pandemic, Manteca’s new water park resort Great Wolf Lodge has announced its opening date.
The massive water park, hotel and family entertainment center off Highway 120 in Manteca will open June 29. Construction on the complex was completed last summer, but Great Wolf Resorts, the parent company of the national chain of indoor water resorts, had not set an opening date because of uncertainties with COVID-19 outbreak and accompanying safety restrictions in the state.
Great Wolf had repeatedly pushed back reservation dates for the center. The company initially set August 2020 as its opening. But then work on the site was moving so smoothly the date was moved up to July 2020. But, after a hard-hat tour of the facility for dignitaries and media in early March, the pandemic upended its work and opening plans.
Now, as California moves toward Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announced statewide reopening date of June 15, Great Wolf is ready to open its doors to the public.
“The year-long delay of our grand opening due to the pandemic has further raised anticipation levels for our new Northern California resort and we can’t wait to welcome our first guests next month,” Murray Hennessy, chief executive officer for Great Wolf Resorts, said in a statement about the official opening. “This resort brings a whole new level of immersive family entertainment to the region, and we’re excited to get families back to having fun.”
The Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca includes a 500-room, six-story hotel, 95,000-square-foot indoor water park and 45,000-square-foot family entertainment center. The resort will also have a number of dining options from full-service sit-down restaurants to an ice cream shop and many more. The new tourist attraction is expected to draw visitors from across the Central Valley, Bay Area, Northern California and beyond.
Before opening, the resort plans to recruit, hire and train some 500 employees to staff the center. The company began its general hiring last summer, but now they are restarting those efforts. Jason Lasecki, Great Wolf Resort’s director of corporate communications, said more details about hiring will be released soon. But the resort was able to retain those hired for managerial roles during the opening postponement.
The resort will be open for a sneak preview from June 15 to 28 for a limited number of guests to help in staff training and preparations for the larger general public.
To encourage visitors to check out the new water park resort, Great Wolf Lodge is offering 30% off regular room rates for new reservations through Dec. 16. Guests must reserve before May 28 to receive the discount using the promotional code “GRAND.”
This is the second Great Wolf Lodge in California, and first in Northern California. The other location in Anaheim will reopen May 22 after being closed during the pandemic.
For more information on the resort visit www.greatwolf.com/northern-california.
This story was originally published May 7, 2021 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Manteca’s Great Wolf Lodge water park sets opening date after yearlong pandemic delay."
