private industry hospitality predecessor great bear lodge sandusky oh black wolf lodge wisconsin dells wi founded wisconsin dells wisconsin united states may 1997 1997 05 founder jack and andrew waterman headquarters madison wisconsin united states number of locations 13 three under construction and one under consideration area served united states and canada key people spencer hoage ceo services family waterpark resorts parent centerbridge partners website www.greatwolf.com great wolf resorts is the world s largest 1 chain of indoor water parks . the company owns and operates its family resorts under the great wolf lodge brand . 2 the company is headquartered in madison wisconsin . in addition to a water park each resort features specialty restaurants arcades spas fitness rooms and children s activity areas including yoga and bowling . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 apollo acquisition 1.2 centerbridge acquisition 2 properties 3 other brands 4 in pop culture 5 references 6 external links history edit black wolf lodge was founded in 1997 by brothers jack and andrew turk waterman the original owners of noah s ark water park in wisconsin dells wisconsin . 4 black wolf lodge was purchased by the great lakes company in 1999 . later that year founder and chairman bruce neviaser changed the name to great wolf lodge and the company headquarters were established in madison wisconsin . 3 in 2001 the company built a second location in sandusky ohio and named it great bear lodge . when a third location opened in 2003 the decision was made to place all future parks under the great wolf lodge banner . the name of the ohio location was changed to great wolf lodge in 2004 . the chain has since added twelve additional locations and has one in development . 5 6 on may 1 2012 great wolf announced they were adding a new amenity or attraction to each of their resorts in time for the summer season . in addition they spent over 4 million renovating the company s first two locations wisconsin dells and sandusky . 7 apollo acquisition edit on march 13 2012 apollo global management announced an agreement to acquire the company for 703 million . 8 following the announcement an investor group filed a complaint in delaware chancery court stating that the deal in which apollo would pay 5 a share undervalued the company . on april 12 2012 ksl capital partners made an unsolicited offer of 6.25 a share and apollo followed suit raising its bid to 6.75 a share . 9 ksl then raised its cash offer to 7 a share on april 8 2012 beginning a rare public bidding war . 10 after apollo upped its offer again to 7.85 a share on april 20 2012 ksl capital partners later announced it would not be making additional offers . 11 the company s shares traded as low as 2.18 in october 2011 but they climbed above 5 following the announcement in march 2012 and reached a 52 week high of 7.50 during trading in april 2012 . 12 13 centerbridge acquisition edit on march 24 2015 centerbridge partners reached an agreement with apollo to acquire the great wolf chain for 1.35 billion . 14 the acquisition was finalized on may 12 2015 . 15 properties edit great wolf lodge in mason ohio located next to kings island amusement park interior of a great wolf lodge in grand mound washington great wolf lodge locations 3 city year opened wisconsin dells wisconsin 1997 sandusky ohio 2001 traverse city michigan 2003 kansas city kansas 2003 williamsburg virginia 2005 pocono mountains pennsylvania 2005 niagara falls ontario 2006 mason ohio 2006 grapevine texas 2007 grand mound washington 2008 concord north carolina 2009 fitchburg massachusetts 16 2014 garden grove california 2016 previous locations sheboygan wisconsin 2004 2011 ; now known as blue harbor resort 17 locations under construction colorado springs colorado 18 orlando florida 19 lagrange georgia 20 locations under consideration squamish british columbia 21 other brands edit great wolf lodge also manages the following brands 22 magiquest & shadowquest scavenger hunt which electronically captures achievements of its participants with a tracked score cub club craft and activity center with nature themed programming scooops spa for kids with treatments themed to ice cream deserts northern lights arcade family friendly arcade the great wolf kids store store that sells great wolf lodge merchandise creation station guests can create stuffed animals and outfit them with clothes and accessories howl at the moon indoor mini golf that black light special effects howly wood xd theater movie based motion thrill ride ten paw alley bowling alley that features half length lanes and low weight bowling balls 4d world interactive game in which players aim at targets to acquire points and compete for the highest score elements spa salon salon services that include massage therapy body treatments nail therapy and makeup clubhouse crew a family adventure game that uses interactive screens placed at various locations around the lodge in pop culture edit great wolf s ceo kim schaefer was featured in the u.s. version of tv s undercover boss which included visits to several lodges where she worked alongside a lifeguard supervisor front desk clerk and restaurant waitstaff as well as participated in the children s program . 23 24 references edit new attractions announced for new great wolf lodge . business wire . 24 may 2004 . retrieved 20 november 2011 . corporate profile . great wolf resorts . retrieved 20 november 2011 . a b c history . great wolf resorts . 2009 . retrieved 20 november 2011 . for generations andrew watermans run dells hotels . wiscnews.com . 14 december 2010 . retrieved 20 november 2011 . great wolf resorts announces license and management agreement for new great wolf lodge in pittsburgh pa . great wolf resorts . 13 january 2010 . retrieved 20 november 2011 . great wolf resorts announces license and management agreement for new great wolf lodge in garden grove ca . great wolf resorts . 28 june 2010 . retrieved 20 november 2011 . great wolf lodge invests in family fun in 2012 pdf . great wolf resorts inc. may 1 2012 . retrieved 11 june 2012 . ahmed azam march 13 2012 . apollo to acquire water park operator for 703 million . new york times . retrieved 28 march 2012 . state journal staff april 6 2012 . deal to buy great wolf approved by board after apollo increases offer . wisconsin state journal . retrieved 11 april 2012 . de la merced michael april 8 2012 . private equity firms duel over water park operator . new york times dealbook . retrieved 11 april 2012 . harden mark april 23 2012 . ksl capital cries uncle in great wolf bidding war . denver business journal . retrieved 24 april 2012 . lachapelle tara march 23 2012 . leon black s bid gets no respect as great wolf surges real m & a . bloomberg news . retrieved 28 march 2012 . thestreet wire april 11 2012 . great wolf stock hits new 52 week high wolf . the street . retrieved 11 april 2012 . stone mike ; oran olivia ; roumeliotis greg march 24 2015 . exclusive centerbridge in 1.35 billion deal for great wolf resorts sources . reuters . retrieved june 9 2015 . schuyler david may 12 2015 . new owner pledges to grow great wolf lodge chain . milwaukee business journal . retrieved june 9 2015 . luna taryn may 22 2014 . great wolf lodge to open in fitchburg . the boston globe . retrieved may 27 2014 . great wolf resorts announces sale of blue harbor resort in sheboygan wi . reuters . march 24 2011 . retrieved 16 june 2012 . indoor water park coming to colorado springs after wisconsin firm buys shuttered hotel . the gazette . july 25 2015 . retrieved 26 july 2015 . great wolf resorts buys 50 acres near disney world . orlando sentinel . january 26 2016 . retrieved 9 february 2016 . great wolf lodge georgia set to howl in 2018 . great wolf.com . june 30 2016 . retrieved 14 july 2016 . great wolf lodge resort starts talk . squamish chief . december 2 2015 . retrieved 9 february 2016 . proprietary brands . great wolf resorts . retrieved february 29 2016 . undercover boss returns to area . the cincinnati enquirer . 2010 10 03 . retrieved 2010 10 03 . huff richard 4 october 2010 . great wolf resorts ceo kim schaefer works all over the company on undercover boss . new york daily news . retrieved 4 october 2010 . external links edit official website v t e attractions owned by cnl lifestyle properties amusement parks camelot park darien lake elitch gardens theme park frontier city magic springs pacific park water parks crystal falls coco key water resort great wolf resorts sandusky wisconsin dells hawaiian falls garland the colony rapids water park waterworld california wet n wild hawaii palm springs phoenix splashtown white water bay wild waves theme park family entertainment centers funtasticks fun center mountasia family fun center zuma fun center charlotte north houston south houston retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title great wolf resorts & oldid 733607594 categories cnl lifestyle propertiescompanies based in madison wisconsinhotels in californiahotels in kansashotels in michiganhotels in north carolinahotels in ohiohotels in pennsylvaniahotels in texashotels in virginiahotels in washington state hotels in wisconsinwater parks in californiawater parks in canadawater parks in kansaswater parks in michiganwater parks in north carolinawater parks in ohiowater parks in pennsylvaniawater parks in texaswater parks in virginiawater parks in wisconsinvisitor attractions in niagara falls ontario1997 establishments in wisconsin navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 8 august 2016 at 23 16 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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