GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — After an economically devastating year in which hotel bed tax plummeted, the mayor of Garden Grove hopes the reopening of The Great Wolf Lodge Anaheim/Garden Grove can kick start the city's economic recovery.
The massive hotel and indoor water park resort have been closed since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But just a couple of weeks ago, Great Wolf officials said its Southern California location is finally ready to reopen on May 22.
"I'm super excited for this reopening," Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones said to Spectrum News, adding that he'll be touring the site to check out the resort's safety precautions in the next week or so. "We've had several stellar years, and they've surpassed all of our expectations with hotel and sales tax. It's been phenomenal until the COVID-19 [pandemic] took them out not just as a hotel but also as a theme park and an indoor large gathering place."
"We're excited to see things turn the corner," Jones said.
As more people get vaccinated, coronavirus cases decrease, and the state slowly reopens, financially strapped cities across Orange County are welcoming the reopening of their major tourist attractions and economic generators.
A few weeks ago, Anaheim welcomed the reopening of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Both theme parks have since attracted tens of thousands of in-state residents to the parks. Knott's Berry Farm reopened to season pass holders last week and is slated to reopen to the general public on May 21 in Buena Park. Knott's Soak City is also reopening later this month.
The Great Wolf is the last major theme park operator to reopen in Southern California.
Like its neighbor, Anaheim, Garden Grove has been financially hit hard by the economic downturn created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With major tourist attractions closed for all last year, leisure and hospitality activities were down by more than 70%, Garden Grove officials said.
The city's transient occupancy tax, or bed tax, which had gone up every year since 2011, fell about 30% from $26.2 million in 2019 to $18.2 million in 2020, city financial records show.
Along with other hotels in the city's hotel district, Great Wolf Lodge is a significant source of those revenues, Jones said.
The city contributed more than $100 million in taxpayer funds to help get the resort built, expecting $8 million in transient occupancy tax a year.
"It's been a rough year," Jones said. "The pandemic has been devastating for our economy. We've had a complete loss in hotel tax. The hotel developments and redevelopment along Harbor Boulevard is our core economic engine for the city. When they were shut down, it led to a lot of other issues."
Opened in 2016, the Wisconsin-based Great Wolf Lodge is one of the city's largest employer with 700 employees. The $250 million resort is located three miles south of Disneyland along Harbor Boulevard. It is a popular destination for families who get the best of both worlds - staying at a hotel with an indoor water park and close enough for a trip to Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm.
With 19 locations, Great Wolf's resorts are somewhat unique. It's not a traditional hotel, nor is it a typical water park. It's a combination of both.
The Great Wolf in Garden Grove is the largest of the company's hotels, featuring a 603-room hotel, a 105,000 square foot indoor water park, arcade, and other attractions. The resort, which has an anthropomorphic mascot named Wiley the Wolf walking around, caters primarily to families with young children.
Access to the indoor water park was exclusively for hotel guests, but in 2019, Great Wolf changed its policy and began offering day passes to the general public. When it reopens, the park will only be open to hotel guests, and the lodge won't be offering day passes anymore, a Great Wolf spokeswoman told Spectrum News 1.
"We're excited to get families back to having fun, with confidence, because of the new safeguards we have in place across our resorts," said Murray Hennessy, chief executive officer for Great Wolf Resorts in a news release.
Hennessy said the company sought guidance from health authorities, medical experts, and public officials in making their resort safe. New safety precautions include enhanced cleaning, social distancing, limiting capacity, and requiring visitors to wear a face mask in public areas except while dining or at the water park.
For Jones, who was active in bringing Great Wolf to the city more than a decade ago, he is looking forward to the resort reopening and attracting visitors back to Garden Grove.
"We are reopening with vigor," he said. "More people are getting vaccinated. It just feels like all systems are a go. Hopefully, we don't have any false starts in the fall, but we're expecting a solid recovery in the next several months."
EDITOR’S NOTE: We updated this story with a response from Great Wolf Lodge. (May 12, 2021)
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Great Wolf Lodge is Garden Grove’s largest employer. The error has been corrected. (May 14, 2021)