Virtual reality. Zipline. Translucent tubes. A lot of firsts for Great Wolf Lodge in Fla.
Editor's note: This is the latest in a series on Florida's first Great Wolf Lodge, one of the most significant endeavors in Naples history that's drawing plenty of questions from you. One of Collier County's biggest private workplaces, the 530,000-square-foot retreat and water park is slated as Southwest Florida's third largest employer in tourism, drawing by itself the same number of visitors in a year that all of Collier in its entirety attracts in nearly three months time.
If you thought the $250 million Great Wolf Lodge was just about a 500-room resort and a 92,000-square-foot water park, think again when it comes to its Florida debut slated for September.
For the first time ever, Great Wolf Lodge will be featuring numerous new high-flying and futuristic attractions in its upcoming next generation Florida location that hasn't previously been offered at its 20 other properties.
"We're really excited to be able to debut some of these new attractions, only here in South Florida," said Jason Bays, the local general manager. "It's really built on the experience of our 27 years in the indoor water park space. Every time we build a new lodge, we put new additions. We make some changes. We add new features and attractions, just more ways to bring a bit more joy to families."
In the Know got an early first peek ahead of a Thursday Naples reveal of what's in store for Southwest Florida, and nearly all of it doesn't involve getting wet at the locale off I-75 and Collier Boulevard.
Here's what to know.
What new attraction will be above Great Wolf Lodge's Adventure Park?
The Howlers Peak Ropes Course will feature its first indoor zipline element, stretching 150 feet in length and providing a 180-degree panoramic view of the 60,000-square-foot newly imagined Adventure Park, which is entered from the resort's Grand Lobby by traversing under a canopy of mossy branches and twinkling lights.
The course itself provides families the opportunity to balance on ropes, cross bridges and climb through obstacles, with the safety of a harness.
Where will new Great Wolf 'harness-free climbing expedition' take you?
But also new in Collier will be a harness-free Adventure Trail adjacent to the course that provides a climbing expedition through what Great Wolf Vice-President Jason Lasecki describes as "a whimsical tree-fort."
Building on its animated cast of Great Wolf Pack character assets that it's working to promote more and expand their reach, the company will be offering new experiences by updating its Howl in One Miniature Golf Course and MagiQuest interactive adventure game.
How is Great Wolf capitalizing on exploding virtual reality market?
At the same time, it is rolling out what it calls The Virtual Frontier, capitalizing on the exploding virtual reality market, known as VR, that this month's InsightAce Analytic research shows is projected to grow from about $37 billion currently to $678 billion worldwide by 2031.
The Chicago-based firm plans to set it up as a portal hidden deep in the Adventure Park woods of Great Wolf Lodge that will provide a gateway to a virtual world, where guests can potentially dive deep below the ocean, walk among dinosaurs or even complete simple puzzles if that's more your speed.
What second most popular attraction at Great Wolf Lodge is expanding?
Through new immersive experiences, participants will also be able to visit the mystical world of Vellara, which its existing MagiQuest attraction has been centered on for about 15 years.
"We will have people who come to our resort, literally to just play MagiQuest," Lasecki said of its exclusive "propriety experience and technology. It is the second most popular attraction at Great Wolf Lodge outside of the water park. People really get into the lore and legend of the story around MagiQuest, and they'll come here. You'll see older teenagers and young adults come to our resort just to play MagiQuest."
What is MagiQuest, which draws 'teens and young adults' to the resort?
"What guests do is go to the MagiQuest retail outlet, get a magic wand and they follow clues and go on what we call an interactive scavenger hunt around the resort," Lasecki said. "They will find clues, and they will say, 'Find these five things in order to get this ruin or relic that you need to get to kind of power up your wand.' Because you're going to need to power up your wand because, along the journey, you're going to battle some evil forces that you need to defeat in order to save the mystical world of Velara.
"You go around the resort, you find these things, you wave your wand at it and they activate. They come to life. It could be a crystal that all of a sudden starts to glow or it could be a treasure chest that opens. It's very interactive, and it's got a great storyline. The game itself, from start to finish, will take you about three to four hours, but the great thing about the game is it's non-linear. You can actually just stop, and you can go to dinner or go play in the water park for six hours, come back and your game picks up exactly where you left off."
How is the MagiQuest attraction non-linear, and how does it work?
"It not only picks up right from where you left off from that visit, but let's say you visited Great Wolf six months ago, and you only got halfway through the game, you can pick up that game right where you left it six months ago when you come back," Lasecki said. "It's a great game. You battle a dragon, you battle goblins. You save fairies. And it's just really kind of a great immersive experience."
With the newest version of the game debuting in Naples, fresh features will include an interactive Source Tree, a new animated show element and even more challenges to complete. While pricing hasn't been set, participating can go for $15 to $35, depending on the type of reusable wand, bundle packages and other elements, according to costs at other parks.
What new roles are Great Wolf characters playing in Florida resort?
"We made a big investment in our characters, developing some more animated content with the characters but also kind of fleshing out some of their back story, creating adventures they went on, etc.," Lasecki said. "We bring that to life in this resort a little bit more."
In Naples, one of the ways will be through the Spirit Water Forest, the fictional home of the characters that includes an interactive mining adventure based off the rock collecting passion of pack member Oliver Racoon, who pals around with the likes of Wiley Wolf, Violet Wolf, Sammy Squirrel and Brinley Bear. Children also can sift through silt and sand at a wooden sluice using specially designed pans to find gemstones to take home.
Where'd Great Wolf Pack originate? What are ways guests notice them?
"We did debut a couple of years ago the Great Wolf Pack movie series," said Bays, the general manager. "So there's a whole story line within our characters that will be found throughout the lodge, whether it's in our main lobby, during our story time or whether our characters are out for dance parties. And then, of course, across even some of our water park attractions where we have some different theming elements that relate to the story so our guests can really immerse themselves into the Great Wolf Pack and the characters."
Where can the Great Wolf Pack movie series be seen?
"We show it in the resorts and whatnot," Lasecki said. "It's like a 60-minute animated film. We did also, along with the 60-minute movie, we did five or six 20-minute episodes, too, which again we show."
Certainly a surprise to In the Know, the high 8.1 grade of "The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure" motion picture in Amazon's IMDb system matches the rating, as of Wednesday, of some of the most popular films, such as "The Wizard of Oz," "The Sound of Music" and "Raging Bull" ― all of which have been reviewed a lot more on the site. You can also find the flick on YouTube, along with other shorts.
What's with the almost see-through water tubes and the hieroglyphics?
It's another movie tie-in and more precedents for Great Wolf: "It's the first time we've used translucent tubing," Lasecki said. "The hieroglyphics are part of like when they're about ready to go on an adventure. In the animated movie, they actually get on what is actually the Great Wolf Geyser and they ride through this cave-grotto area, and the hieroglyphics illuminate as they're sliding through. They're lights, they're illuminated by sunlight. They're a little translucent, but with the blue, it'll give you the sense that they're glowing as you go through."
Where are a couple of spots that the translucent tubes will stand out?
"We have two body slides," Bays said. "That's the Forest Flume and High Paw Holler. And they'll be translucent. They'll actually go through the water park. People will be able to see individuals sliding down those slides."
What are some familiar attractions Great Wolf will have in SW Florida?
A 9-hole miniature golf course that will feature new theming.
Northern Lights Arcade: More than 75 interactive video and redemption games that allow patrons to redeem points for prizes. The arcade is open 24 hours.
Ten Paw Alley: Family-style bowling with pint-sized bowling balls.
Resort: When is Great Wolf Lodge opening in Florida? What to know about new resort
What are some of the seasonal celebrations?
Again, the Great Wolf Pack plays a role with that as well.
"They're tied into one of the really big things that we do at Great Wolf ― seasonal celebrations," Lasecki said. "We've got a Howl-O-Ween celebration. We've got a Snowland. We've got Spring Breakout. We've got Summer Camp-In. The animated (content) connects to those seasonal celebrations."
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What new Great Wolf Lodge special offer debuted Thursday for SWFL?
With the Southwest Florida resort currently slated to unlatch its gates on Sept. 25, the chain has been rolling out offers. Without a special, In the Know found this week that its most standard available accommodation on the Great Wolf web site was selling for as low as $199 nightly on a weeknight and $299 on a weekend. A themed suite could be found for $239 on a weeknight and $399 on a weekend.
Thursday's latest promo code of GWLNEXT: Book before April 25 and save up to 30% on standard suites or up to 40% on themed/premium suites for stays through Dec. 31.
Based at the Naples Daily News, Columnist Phil Fernandez ([email protected]) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. He writes In the Know, one of USA TODAY Network's most read local news columns in the state. Support democracy. Subscribe to a newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Great Wolf Lodge Naples, FL: These brand new features will make debut
