Great Wolf Lodge will open its newest resort in Naples, Florida, on Sept. 25, 2026, marking the chain’s first property in South Florida and a $250 million investment in the region, according to a report from the Naples Press. The resort includes 500 suites and a 92,000-square-foot indoor water park under one roof.
Key Points
- The Naples property opens Sept. 25, 2026, as Great Wolf Lodge’s first South Florida location, per the Naples Press.
- The project represents a $250 million investment, with 500 guest suites on site.
- Its indoor water park spans 92,000 square feet, operating year-round regardless of outdoor weather.
- The development is expected to create more than 600 jobs in the Naples area.
- Great Wolf Lodge’s existing footprint is concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast, so a Southwest Florida location is a departure from the brand’s usual map.
If you’ve ever driven past a Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells or the Poconos, you already know the pitch: a self-contained resort where the water slides, wave pools, and arcade are indoors, so a Midwest snowstorm or a Northeast cold snap never cancels the trip. That’s the model the company is now testing in a state where outdoor pools already run twelve months a year, which makes the Naples opening a genuine strategic bet rather than a simple copy-paste expansion.
The scale of the investment signals how seriously the company is treating the Southern market. A $250 million build with 500 suites puts the Naples location among the larger properties in the Great Wolf portfolio, and the 92,000-square-foot water park gives families a reason to book a stay even when it’s warm enough outside for the beach.
For Naples and greater Collier County, the more than 600 jobs tied to the opening extend beyond lifeguards and front-desk staff to food service, maintenance, and hospitality management roles that typically come with a resort of this size. Local tourism officials have leaned on hotel and resort development in recent years to diversify an economy long anchored by beach tourism and golf…