There is some good news coming out of Orange County. The Garden Grove city council approved $51 million in bonds which will help finance the construction of the new Great Wolf Lodge in California.
Great Wolf Resorts has not announced dates for groundbreaking or the eventual opening. However, Garden Grove’s City Manager Matt Ferta said the hotel could be completed by 2015.
The Great Wolf Lodge in California will be a 10.3-acre, 600 room resort, with an attached water park located about a mile away from Disneyland. Great Wolf Resorts has said the $300 million project will be the company’s largest indoor-outdoor water park in the United States.
The city is contributing $42 million to construct the hotel and $5 million for a parking structure. The cost of issuing the bonds will add up to $4 million bringing the grand total to $51 million in city financing.
The water park will be a welcome addition for families visiting the area. Knott’s, Wild Rivers, and Raging Waters operate seasonal water parks within a short drive of Disneyland, but Great Wolf Resorts will be the first to offer a water park that is open year-round and within walking distance of the Anaheim Resort hotels.
Below are some photos of the future construction site. There isn’t much to see today, but the location will soon be busy with activity when construction begins.
Update (Sept 2013): I checked in with Great Wolf Lodge and they are still not ready to announce an official groundbreaking date. “Stay tuned” is the official statement at this time. However, Great Wolf Lodge was mentioned in the City of Garden Grove’s August announcement of the area’s new name, the Grove District – Anaheim Resort.
Update (Oct 2013): The City of Garden Grove announced groundbreaking will happen December 9, 2013. The Great Wolf Lodge California water park will open by June 30, 2015.
Update (Feb 2014): At a State of the City luncheon, Garden Grove Mayor Bruce A. Broadwater gave an update on the anticipated groundbreaking for Great Wolf Lodge. The Mayor announced that Great Wolf Lodge is expected to break ground this spring. City officials later specified March 2014 as the target month for the hotel’s start of construction. The city has not provided an update on the anticipated opening date.
Update (May 2014): Great Wolf Resorts announced plans to officially break ground on the project in May 2014.
Update (May 2014): Great Wolf Resorts announced an “early 2016” opening date for the new water park and resort.
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We live just down the street from there. We can’t wait for it to open.
This is going to be great!
It seems like they have been talking about this project forever. I’ll believe it when I see them actually starting construction.
awesome cant wait!!!
With Star Wars Celebration 7 coming back to Anaheim in April 2015, it would be a good idea for Garden Grove to get this thing finished by then.
Nooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait that long
going on almost 4 years and nothing. I’m not holding my breath
You make a fair point. Talk of this development has been ongoing for years. The groundbreaking date has changed multiple times and there have not been any recent updates on the project. It seems like every time they take one step forward with this project, they end up taking two steps back. Fingers crossed that things eventually proceed.