A Sneak Peak At Great Wolf's Plans For Gurnee Water Park Resort

Great Wolf Lodge has released a sneak peak of its plans for a new indoor water park resort -- its first in Illinois -- in the former Key Lime Cove in Gurnee. On Wednesday, Great Wolf shared artist renderings and more details surrounding additions to the revamped indoor water park resort at 1700 Nations Drive. The expansive facility will include:

• An 80,000-square-feet water park, which is double the size of Key Lime's water park. There will be new slides and water attractions.
• KidCabin suites
• Complimentary children's activities as part of the overnight stay, including MagiQuest, a Kid Spa, and Oliver's Mining Co.
• The addition of new restaurants, including Barnwood, a new restaurant concept that will feature small plates and craft cocktails

Key Lime Cove officially closed in April after nine years in Gurnee, the Daily Herald reported. Great Wolf Lodge, which runs waterpark resorts in Wisconsin Dell, Wis., as well as in Ohio, California, Texas and other states, has taken over the property with plans to reopen in mid-2018.

“Our paw print is expanding across the country, and we are excited to bring a Great Wolf Lodge to Illinois,” said Rubén A. Rodríguez, chief executive officer for Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. “Chicago is the third largest market in the U.S. and while we are fortunate to have an established fan-base here, we believe the added convenience of having a resort in closer proximity to the metro-area will allow even more families the opportunity to experience a Great Wolf Lodge getaway.”

As part of a room reservation at the Gurnee Great Wolf, all registered guests will have unlimited access to the resort’s expansive indoor water park. The pool, which is heated to a "comfortable" 84 degrees, will include several new water attractions, "which are currently in development," according to a Wednesday news release from Great Wolf.

The resort will include features already in place at other Great Wolf properties, including: Fort Mackenzie, a multi-level interactive water fort treehouse featuring a massive tipping water bucket; Totem Towers body slides; Otter Run, a twisting-turning body slide; Alberta Falls, a tube slide with high banking turns and steep pitches; and Coyote Canyon, a tube slide that funnels guests into a spinning vortex.

In addition, there will be a lazy river and a water activity area and a water play area specifically designed for toddlers, according to the Great Wolf news release.

Other attractions and entertainment planned for the resort includes:

• MagiQuest – Players follow clues and use interactive magic wands to discover relics and runes needed to defeat creatures such as dragons and goblins in this live-action adventure game.
• Scooops Kid Spa – With banana-split themed treatment areas and scents of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry in the air, it’s the perfect place for an ice cream-themed manicure or pedicure.
• Howl in One Mini Golf – Ideal for all ages and skill levels, this 9-hole interactive miniature golf course will feature plenty of fun obstacles, undulations and a northern woods thematic.
• Ten Paw Alley – An entertaining mini-bowling game with pint-sized lanes and half-sized bowling balls so even the youngest of bowlers can participate.
• Oliver’s Mining Co. – Children gather around themed wooden sleuths to pan and sift through sand to uncover keepsake gemstones.
• Northern Lights Arcade - Filled with fun games for kids of all ages, guests will find everything from air hockey and basketball contests to motorcycle and car racing games.

A host of complimentary children’s activities will also be included with an overnight stay at the resort. Some of those options include Yoga Tails, a kid-friendly morning exercise program that blends storytelling with yoga positions and breathing techniques, and Story Time, a Great Wolf Lodge nightly tradition where kids gather in their pajamas for a nighttime tale in front of the Grand Lobby fireplace.

The resort will include 414 guest suites all with an in-room refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker. Some of the suite styles include the kid-focused KidCabin suites, complete with bunk beds and Great Wolf Kids character theming, and larger, two-bedroom suites that will have the ability to accommodate up to eight people.

As for restaurant options, Hungry as a Wolf, a guest favorite offering handmade pizza and pasta, will be included in the Gurnee Great Wolf plans, according to the news release. New to the resort chain will be a multi-restaurant, open-seating area where guests to the Gurnee resort will find "a diverse array of culinary offerings to satisfy every craving."

Under a revenue-sharing agreement approved by the Gurnee Village Board in February, Great Wolf Lodge will allow Great Wolf and the village to collect $550,000 per year in hotel/motel taxes. Once both have hit that mark, Great Wolf will collect 100 percent of that tax revenue, village officials said. The agreement will run through 2029 and allows the resort to collect up to $18 million.

This agreement will take the place of the cost-sharing agreement the village currently has with Key Lime Cove.

Under that agreement, the village was only bringing in, on average, about $400,000 per year from Key Lime Cove since the water park and resort opened in 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Kovarik told the Daily Herald she is grateful Key Lime Cove opened in Gurnee and added that she did not think Great Wolf would have selected the village if the waterpark and resort facility was not already there.

"Key Lime Cove has been a wonderful, wonderful addition to the village and a great community partner on so many things in town," Kovarik said. "And they've done (well) but Great Wolf is the gold standard for water parks and resorts, and I think they are just going to pick it up quite a few notches."

Great Wolf Lodge Illinois is scheduled to open in summer 2018. It will be Great Wolf's 17th resort in North America.

MORE ON PATCH

• Great Wolf Moves Forward With Renovations at KeyLime Property
• Key Lime Cove to Close Wednesday; Great Wolf to Take Over Facility, Expand

Photo credit: Great Wolf Lodge