MANTECA, Calif. — People hoping to have some fun at the newly-built Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca next month are going to have to continue waiting. It should not be a shocker at this point, but the coronavirus pandemic has pushed back the lodge's grand opening back two months.
The 500-room resort, which has a 95,000-square-foot indoor water park, was slated to open July 1, one month ahead of the original August date. However, because of the state's coronavirus reopening roadmap, the Great Wolf Lodge Northern California won't open until Sept. 1.
Hiring for the resort will start soon, however.
Officials said they plan to "recruit, hire and train" 500 workers at the resort beginning late June and into July.
Don Smail, the Manteca Economic Development Manager, told ABC10 in February that the Great Wolf Lodge is going to be "a game changer" for the city economically.
"We're expecting this to really be a regional draw, a regional attraction for families in Manteca and throughout the Northern Valley region here to come either on their way to somewhere else or just to come to Manteca to make that family vacation stop," Smail told ABC10 in a February interview.
To stay at the resort, it'll cost some coins. For a standard family suite for four people, prices start at $199 a night. Any additional guests would be an extra $50 per person, with a max of six in the family suites.
Included in the stay, though, is unlimited access to the water park.
In an effort to help fight coronavirus spread, Great Wolf Lodge officials also announced a company-wide guidelines disinfection and sanitization, physical distancing, personal protection, and minimizing surface interactions, "for all guest areas across the resort."
"Anticipation levels have been high for this resort as it marks not only the return of waterslides to Manteca, but a whole new level of immersive family entertainment for the region," Great Wolf Resorts CEO Murray Hennessy said in a news release.
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- 'This is a game changer' | Economic impacts expected from Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca
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