Great Wolf Lodge Construction at Foxwoods Ahead of Schedule

Posted on: June 14, 2024, 01:37h. 

Last updated on: June 14, 2024, 01:37h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Great Wolf Lodge at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut is slated to open on June 15, 2024, but officials with the tribal destination are hoping to open the indoor waterpark before then.

Great Wolf Lodge Foxwoods Connecticut
A rendering of the Great Wolf Lodge that will open in 2025 next to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. Construction on the $300 million project is running ahead of schedule, and the planned June 2025 opening could be moved up. (Image: Great Wolf Resorts)

Great Wolf Resorts and Foxwoods reps held a ceremonial “topping out” event this week at the amusement park and 549-room lodge. The family-oriented amenity is being built just south of the casino resort on sovereign land that’s owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation.

Secretly, we’re hoping to move that [June 15] date up,” Steve Jacobsen, vice president of development at Great Wolf Resorts, said not-so-secretly.

Once finished, the first Great Wolf Lodge in Connecticut will feature a 91,000-square-foot indoor waterpark and 61,000 square feet of arcade and family-focused entertainment. Great Wolf Resorts says the Foxwoods lodge will be its 23rd property in North America

Resort Expansion 

Foxwoods opened as a bingo hall in 1986 and has since undergone numerous expansions to today where it’s among the country’s largest casino destinations. After reaching a Class III gaming compact with Connecticut, Foxwoods brought Las Vegas-style slot machines and live dealer table games to the Native American reservation when it opened its first casino space in February 1992.

To commemorate Foxwoods’ 30th anniversary of casino gambling, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in 2022 announced a $385 million expansion. The project included the opening of another casino — the Pequot Woodlands Casino — which brought 50,000 square feet of additional gaming space to the destination.

Foxwoods today has four distinct casinos with over 2,900 slots, 250 tables, and a 12,000-square-foot DraftKings Sportsbook. The expansion brought new restaurants to Foxwoods, including Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, which opened in March 2023.

The bulk of the $385 million investment, however, was directed to the Great Wolf Lodge attraction. The family resort is expected to cost around $300 million to open.

Structure Complete

The building of Foxwoods’ Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark and hotel is complete. Construction leads say work will now move inside, just in time as the hot summer months arrive.

Great Wolf Resorts is leasing the land where the lodge is being built from the tribe. The partnership will share in the attraction’s revenues and is projected to bring a new guest demographic to the casino-focused destination.

It’s a perfect fit between Boston and New York,” Jason Guyot, president and chief executive officer at Foxwoods, said Wednesday. It gives families options they’ve never had before.”

Connecticut residents no longer have to drive to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun to gamble legally on a slot or table game, as iGaming went live in Connecticut in October 2021. The tribes possess exclusive privileges to online casino games, though the Connecticut Lottery also runs online sports betting.

Great Wolf Resorts was founded in 1997 in Wisconsin. The company today is publicly traded on the Nasdaq.

One of Great Wolf Resorts’ largest shareholders is Blackstone, the private equity giant that owns Australia’s Crown Resorts and the physical assets of the Bellagio, The Cosmopolitan, Aria, and Vdara on the Las Vegas Strip.