Water parks flow in
First of two opens on Canadian side amid efforts to promote Falls as 'a year-round destination'


NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - The city skipped right over spring and jumped into summer Thursday with the opening of a $210 million resort and indoor water park, the Great Wolf Lodge.
The year-round destination is one of two multimillion-dollar indoor water parks opening this month on the Canadian side of the falls, a much closer drive for those in the Buffalo Niagara region than a popular spot for indoor splashing in Erie, Pa.

Fallsview Indoor Water Park, the other new water attraction, will be connected to three hotels at the foot of Clifton Hill, near the Rainbow Bridge. It is scheduled to open April 28.

"The water parks are just the beginning of a concerted move toward making Niagara Falls a year-round destination," said Mayor R.T. "Ted" Salci. "We're telling people that you can come here in the middle of winter and be warm."

Both water parks are designed to boost hotel occupancy in the Falls. Stays at the attached hotels are required for use of the water parks.

Salci said the Great Wolf Lodge, along the Niagara Parkway near the Whirlpool Bridge, is part of a brownfield redevelopment in a less-traveled part of the city. Entrance from the United States on the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge is restricted to holders of NEXUS passes, but the lodge is just a short drive north from the Rainbow Bridge.

The Fallsview, next to Casino Niagara, will be connected to the Brock Plaza, Sheraton at the Falls and Skyline Inn hotels in the heart of the Falls tourist district.

Michael DiCienzo is vice president of design and development for the company that owns the three hotels and the new water park. He said hotels with water parks draw twice as many guests as those without. Walking between these hotels and the casino on covered walkways can be done without outerwear year-round.

There are 520 employees at the Great Wolf Lodge, a four-story, log-sided hotel that general manager Keith Simmonds says provides an experience similar to a cruise ship.

"You don't ever have to leave for food and fun," Simmonds said.

The cost for a family to stay in one of the 406 suites runs between roughly $275 and $430 (U.S.). Suites contain refrigerators, stoves, coffee makers and flat-screen televisions. The water park is a "guest amenity," as are buffet meals. The resort also has conference rooms, spa memberships and birthday party packages, Simmonds said.

Each guest is issued a bracelet that can be used for cash and as room key. Parents can load specific amounts on their children's bracelets for use in the arcade.

The Great Wolf Lodge lagoon has 13 water slides, 10 pools and a four-story treehouse in its 103,000-square-foot water park.

Splash Park in Erie, Pa., is 90,000 square feet. Day passes are available at this park for $39.95. Hotel rooms, which include water park passes, cost $209 to $259 a night to stay in an economy room.

Fallsview boasts of a 125,000-square-foot facility.

Ripley Entertainment, which runs a Believe-It-or-Not Museum in Niagara Falls, owns the Great Wolf Lodge. Bob Masterson, president of Ripley Entertainment, said the company chose to build here because the city can weather all economic storms, such as the rising dollar and gas prices.

"We've been here since 1959 and have seen it rebound quicker than other markets," Masterson said.

He said the company plans to build an aquarium next to the new hotel and water park.

"This will be one of the best aquariums in the world," Masterson said. "It will be 120,000 square feet, the biggest aquarium between the Atlantic and Chicago."

The company plans to open the aquarium by the end of 2007 or early 2008, he said, and intends to start heavily marketing the Great Wolf Lodge in the United States next month.

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