Disclosure: #Sponsored This post is sponsored by GreatWolf, our family was hosted for the Grand Opening to tour the facility. While our family receives special discounts and offers to share our experiences on our blog, all reviews and opinions expressed here are my own.

Our family was invited to explore the NEW Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca, CA for the Grand Opening Day!  Let me say right at the top, your family is going to LOVE this place!  I have so many pictures and a recap video to share, be sure you are following me on Instagram, you can check out the fun we had on the opening day saved in my stories.  For an inside peak into the rooms and water slides, check out our YouTube Channel. 

This family-friendly resort has it all, an indoor water park, bowling alley, activities for all ages, restaurants and more.  The Manteca Great Wolf Lodge is only a short one hour twenty minute drive from Sacramento, CA. 

Two of my boys accompanied me on the tour, ages 14 and 10, they loved all the water slides especially the family sized water slide, where up to five people can slide down on an inflatable tube.  They really do have activities for all ages, even an activity pool area for toddlers.  Another of their favorites was the Big Foot Pass, where you balance and sway your way across on floating lily pads.  Want to get your heart racing, step into the launch pad at Wolf Tail where the floor drops out from under you for a 20-foot free fall. 




We were hosted for lunch and ate at the restaurant named Buckets.  They have seating indoors as well as in the water park area. Buckets serves up hamburgers, chicken tenders and more.  We ordered a Chicken Tender meal and the Bacon Cheeseburger meal which was absolutely delicious.  Each meal came with a generous amount of crinkle style cut fries which in my opinion are the best! They had Freestyle Coke machines, which my boys love adding flavors to their soda.  



As a budget minded mama, I have to say, this is something you will definitely need to budget and plan for.  Keep your eye out for specials and deals, sign up on their website for e-mail specials.  This would make for an excellent group family Christmas present.  I don't know about you, but I would rather gift my kiddos experiences and memories like these than stuff they really don't need.  For our family to go to a local swim park for the day, costs over $200, with the 30% off special they are running right now and if I book far enough out, it is around $240 a night for all six of us.  Rooms are booking up already, many of the dates I looked at were all sold out, so if you want to go, book now!


Waterpark passes are included with an overnight stay, and there are some other included activities like morning yoga, crafts, evening story times, and character meet and greets.  There is additional fees for the ropes course, bowling, Build-a-Bear, etc., you can save money with the bundle Great Wolf Passes. 

Pup Pass ($49.99) includes one Build-A-Bear Character (outfit not included), one Paw Points game card for Northern Lights Arcade ($5), one Great Wolf Lodge Candy Shop candy cup, and one scoop of ice cream from Wood’s End Creamery.

Paw Pass ($49.99) includes one MagiQuest game with choice of classic/color wand, standard topper or Magi belt, one Great Wolf Lodge Candy Shop candy cup, one Paw Points game card for Northern Lights Arcade ($5), and one single scoop of ice cream from Wood’s End Creamery.

Wolf Pass ($79.99) includes one MagiQuest game with choice of classic or color wand, standard topper or Magi belt, one Great Wolf Lodge Candy Shop candy cup, one game of bowling at Ten Paw Alley, one Paw Points game card for Northern Lights Arcade ($5), one all stay admission to Howler's Peak Ropes Course, one single scoop of ice cream from Wood’s End Creamery, and one admission to Moonstone Mine.

Pricing for Adventure Park is as follows:

Moonstone Mine:

Single Admission ($10.99)

Moonstone Mine Family up to six guests ($49.99) - includes two mining bags

Howlers Peak Ropes Course:

Single Climb ($14.99+tax)

All Day Climb ($24.99+tax)

Ten Paw Alley: Single Game ($7+tax)

MagiQuest: Game time & wand ($29.99) - basic wand & topper

Build-A-Bear: Starting at $34.99 - clothes sold separately 


Great Wolf Lodge Northern California features 500 suites designed to accommodate families and groups of all sizes.  Comfortable cozy suites to relax and recharge after a fun day of water park play.

Nine different suite types: 

Standard Suites offer families cozy accommodations to unwind in a private Northwoods-inspired room.

Family Suites can sleep six in two queen-sized beds and a pull-out full sofa sleeper.  

Deluxe Queen Suites can sleep five in two queen-sized beds and a pull-out twin sofa sleeper.

Themed Suites offer a unique family-friendly configuration including a separate, themed sleeping area for the kids complete with bunk beds, wall murals, and more.

KidCabin Suite features a log cabin-themed sleeping area with three twin beds, a queen bed, and a full sofa sleeper to sleep seven.

Wolf Den Suite includes a queen bed, an in-suite cave-themed sleeping area as well as a living area with a full-size sofa sleeper to sleep six.

Premium Suites offer spacious accommodations for the whole family.

Grizzly Bear Suite features a king bed in a master bedroom, two queens in a second bedroom and a full-size sofa sleeper in the main area to sleep eight.

Deluxe KidCabin Suite includes a private bedroom with two queen beds, an in-suite log cabin with bunk beds and a daybed, one queen bed, a full-size sofa sleeper, and two bathrooms to sleep 13.

Deluxe KidCabin Queen Suite includes two bathrooms, an in-suite cabin sleeping area with bunk beds, a queen bed, full-size sleeper, and a private bedroom with two additional queen beds to sleep 12.

Deluxe Wolf Den Suite includes an in-suite cave-themed sleeping area with a queen-sized bed, a private bedroom with two queen beds and two bathrooms to sleep 12.

Deluxe Wolf Den Queen Suite features two queens, a twin sofa sleeper in one room, and one queen, a full sofa sleeper, set of bunk beds in another room to sleep 11.





You can reserve ahead of time a poolside cabana both indoor near the Chinook Cove area as well as at the outdoor pool. When we went outside to check out the outdoor pool, I was surprised at how quiet it was, it was nice to go outside and soak up the sun too.  Here is a photo of the indoor cabanas. There are also lockers available to rent to keep your belongings secure, the lockers are located at the back of the wave pool, near the restrooms and showers. 



When you enter the water park area, they measure the kids and depending on height, they are given a color coded wristband so lifeguards know what attractions are safe for your child.  In the water park area, they have life vests available. As I walked around and observed, I felt the life guards were attentive and keeping an eye on the kids. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me or send me a DM on social media, I would be happy to help. 


Check out the Official Grand Opening Press Release below. 

Families across Northern California will have something fun to howl about this summer as Great Wolf Resorts, Inc., North America’s largest family of indoor water  park resorts, officially opened their newest lodge: Great Wolf Lodge Northern California in Manteca,  Calif.  

Great Wolf Lodge Northern California is the family-friendly brand of indoor water park resorts’ 19th lodge in North America, and its location in Manteca provides a close, convenient, and fun-filled  getaway for families across the Bay Area, Central Valley, and many other Northern California  communities. 

“The highly anticipated opening of our resort provides families with the opportunity to venture out  and get back to having fun,” said Murray Hennessy, chief executive officer for Great Wolf Resorts.  “Our resort was purpose-built for families and brings a new level of immersive entertainment to  Northern California, while also stimulating the local economy with hundreds of new jobs and bringing  an influx of new visitors to the area. We appreciate the support of the community, as well as our  shareholders, Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners, in helping to make this resort a reality.” 

The 500-room lodge boasts an expansive 95,000-square-foot indoor water park heated to a  comfortable 84 degrees year-round with water slides, raft rides, pools and water-play areas for  families with children of every age. Aside from the water park, guests can also discover the 45,000- square-foot Great Wolf Adventure Park with an array of indoor attractions including a ropes course,  miniature golf, arcade, and a high-tech, newly imagined version of the brand’s exclusive MagiQuest  interactive adventure game. The resort also features a number of eateries that range from elevated  dining to sweet ice cream treats, spacious and well-appointed guest suites, as well as a massive  outdoor resort-style pool to relax and soak up the California sunshine. 

Photo by: Great Wolf

Photo by: Great Wolf

To celebrate the grand opening, Hennessy invited Jennifer Stolo, president and CEO of the  Northeastern & Central California and Northern Nevada chapter of Make-A-Wish, to test all the slides  in the water park. Great Wolf Lodge agreed to grant $1,500 for each slide Stolo experienced, resulting  in a $25,000 donation to help support Make-A-Wish’s mission to grant life-changing wishes to children battling critical illnesses. 

“We’re proud to be a national Make-A-Wish partner,” shared Hennessy. “Our purpose is to bring joy  to families, and we’re thrilled to support an organization like Make-A-Wish that brings memorable,  life-changing wishes to very special children and their families.” 

Great Wolf Lodge Northern California is a year-round family destination filled with attractions and  amenities for all ages. The lodge offers an exceptional value for families with admission to the water  park and much of the family entertainment activities in the Grand Lobby included as part of the guest stay.

Highlights include: A 95,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, heated to a comfortable 84 degrees and featuring a  variety of body slides, tube slides, raft rides, the Crooked Creek (lazy river), Slap Tail Pond  (wave pool) and Fort Mackenzie, Great Wolf Lodge’s signature, multi-level water play  structure with a 1,000-gallon tipping bucket! Making its Great Wolf Lodge debut is Sequoia  Splash, a multi-person raft slide that starts by sending riders down a steep drop into a giant  funnel, where the raft's momentum sends it careening up one side of the funnel to the next. 

A 45,000-square-foot family entertainment center known as the Great Wolf Adventure Park.  Here, families can scale new heights on a multi-level ropes course, play a round of miniature  golf, compete for prizes at the arcade, or bowl a strike at Ten Paw Alley. 

The fantasy world of MagiQuest – Great Wolf Lodge’s exclusive live-action adventure game – encourages players to use an interactive magic wand to uncover relics and runes needed to  complete a quest. This all-new, completely reimagined version of the game includes a new  storyline, updated gameplay, graphics and music, along with new characters to meet and new  enemies to battle.  

An animated storytelling experience in the lobby called the Northwoods Friends Show, which  offers interactive fun for the whole family by inviting everyone to clap and sing along while  projection-mapping technology visually immerses guests into the world of the Great Wolf  Lodge characters. 

Photo by: Great Wolf

A collection of complimentary family events and activities including Yoga Tails, a program that  combines tales of the Northwoods creatures with yoga poses, and Great Wolf Lodge’s  signature Story Time event, where children gather around for a bedtime tale and an end-of night meet-and-greet with one of the Great Wolf Lodge characters. 

Photo by: Great Wolf

Nine dining options, including a collection of eateries inside the Great Wolf Adventure Park, a  Dunkin’, and an ice cream parlor called the Wood’s End Creamery. The resort also features Barnwood, a full-service elevated dining experience with a delectable array of dishes and  variety of craft cocktails. 

Photo by: Great Wolf


Family friendly suites in a variety of categories and styles including themed suites featuring separate sleeping quarters for kids complete with bunk beds and Great Wolf Kids character  theming, as well as multiple bedroom suites that can sleep up to 13 guests for large families  or multi-generational groups.  

Great Wolf Lodge Northern California is located off Highway 120 west of the Interstate 5 interchange  in Manteca with room rates starting at $199 per night. The lodge opens with elements from the  company’s Paw Pledge program, a health and safety initiative that focuses on keeping families healthy  and safe. 

Photo by: Great Wolf

In celebration of the official grand opening, Great Wolf Lodge Northern California is offering a special  promotion deal of up to a 30 percent discount off standard room rates. To get this offer, use  promotional code “NOWOPEN” (one word) and book before July 2 for a stay before December 16,  2021. Post Labor Day room rates with this discount code start as low as $139.99 per night.

To make a reservation, please visit GreatWolf.com/northern-california. For more information  about Great Wolf Resorts or the Paw Pledge health and safety initiative, please visit  GreatWolf.com. 


About Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. 

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. is North America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts, and through  its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand.  Great Wolf Resorts is a fully integrated resort company with locations in: Wisconsin Dells, Wis.;  Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Williamsburg, Va.; Pocono Mountains, Pa.;  Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, Texas; Grand Mound, Wash., Fitchburg, Mass.,  Charlotte, N.C.; Garden Grove, Calif., Colorado Springs, Colo., Bloomington, Minn., LaGrange, Ga.,  Gurnee, Ill.; and Scottsdale, Ariz. The newest resort opened in Manteca, Calif. in June 2021. Additional  information may be found on the company’s online media center. 


About Make-A-Wish® 

Make-A-Wish® creates life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses and is on a quest to  bring every eligible local child’s wish to life. Research has shown that a wish is an integral part of a  child’s treatment journey. For more information about Make-A-Wish, visit wish.org.