Great Wolf Lodge Brings Even More Family Fun to the Northeast With Grand Opening Of New Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. – (May 6, 2025) – Massachusetts native, longtime New England resident and mom of three, Mindy Kaling, joined Great Wolf Resorts Chief Executive Officer, John Murphy, this morning to celebrate the grand opening of the new Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket, adjacent to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The company’s first resort in Connecticut and third in the Northeast region, Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket is filled with immersive thematic elements, technological surprises, and an incredible range of family adventures. It represents the company’s “next generation” Great Wolf Lodge resort experience, which debuted last summer at new locations in Webster, Texas, and Naples, Florida. 

The 549-room Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket is the brand’s 23rd property in North America. It features an expansive 92,000 square-foot indoor water park, 61,000 square-foot adventure park, and a collection of eateries and retail offerings under one roof. As part of Great Wolf’s “next generation” resort experience, Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket features a new water-coaster slide element, a regional family raft adventure called Pequot Plunge, a new multi-level ropes course with an exhilarating zipline experience, and a new virtual reality attraction where families work together to unlock magical powers from the resort’s popular interactive MagiQuest game. 

“We’re excited to open our doors and start welcoming families to experience the multiple adventures our newest resort has to offer,” shared Murphy. “From our fun-filled attractions and fantastic eateries, to our lively resort entertainment and splash-tacular slides, pools and water features, our next generation resort will offer families across the Northeast a truly remarkable, close-to-home getaway.” He added, “This resort opening today is a result of our partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the tremendous support of our shareholders, Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners. We couldn’t be happier to be a part of this community, and through job creation and increased family visitors, we will do our part to help ensure its continued growth and prosperity.”

Funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate and Centerbridge Partners invested more than $300 million to make Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket a possibility. The investment has already created more than 500 full—and part-time jobs at the resort, which is expected to draw more than half a million families to the region annually. 

“This grand opening marks a monumental achievement in diversifying and strengthening our tribal economy,” said Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. “The Great Wolf Lodge at Mashantucket represents more than just a new attraction at our world-class entertainment destination—it embodies the spirit of innovation, perseverance, and strategic vision that complements who we are as a people. From concept to completion, this project has been about creating opportunity, inspiring joy, and strengthening the foundation of our economic future.” 

“Over the past five and a half years, Blackstone has seen firsthand the joy that Great Wolf Lodge resorts bring to families, the economic growth, and the hundreds of quality jobs they bring to communities. We are so proud to have invested over $300 million alongside Centerbridge Partners to bring Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket to life here in Connecticut,” said Scott Trebilco, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone. “If the demand we’ve seen at Great Wolf’s 22 other resorts across the country is any indication, we’re confident that this lodge will become a special destination for countless families in the years to come.” 

“The opening of Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket provides more than just an incredible new resort for families to enjoy in our great state; it catalyzes economic growth, job creation, and a renewed sense of energy,” said Governor Lamont. “I want to thank Great Wolf Lodge, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and Foxwoods Resort Casino for the bold vision that has brought this project to life.” 

As part of the grand opening celebration, Great Wolf Lodge presented a charitable challenge to beloved actor, writer, producer, and director, Mindy Kaling. The challenge was to test all the water slides at the indoor water park, and for each slide she conquered, Great Wolf offered to make a $4,000 donation to Make-A-Wish, a global nonprofit that grants life-changing wishes to children fighting critical illness.  Accompanied by Make-A-Wish kids, Kaling rode all 13 slides in the resort’s expansive indoor water park, resulting in a $52,000 donation to Make-A-Wish Connecticut.  

“I can’t think of a better way to spend the morning than riding water slides and supporting a fantastic organization like Make-A-Wish,” said Kaling. “Now, explaining to my kids why mommy was playing at Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket while they were stuck at home and school might be the real challenge, but this place is incredible, and we will return as a family.”  

Great Wolf Lodge has celebrated multiple resort openings this past year, donating over $160,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of America as part of its grand opening events.

The year-round family resort destination features attractions and amenities for all ages, including NEW elements that debuted as part of the “next generation” Great Wolf Lodge experience.  Some of the highlights include: 

• A 92,000-square-foot indoor water park, heated to a comfortable 84 degrees and featuring a variety of body slides, tube slides, raft rides, activity pools, and splash areas for every family member and level of thrill seeker. 

o NEW! Rapid Racer and Pequot Plunge. Rapid Racer is an exhilarating tube slide where riders race each other side-by-side and experience a thrilling water coaster element where high-velocity water forces the tube up a hill, immediately after riders plunge. Pequot Plunge is a family raft adventure unique to the Mashantucket resort, named by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. This up to five-person raft slide drops riders into a cone-shaped “tornado” where they slosh up one side and down the other before exiting into a 360-degree loop and plummeting into a giant bowl. 

• A 61,000-square-foot family entertainment center known as the Great Wolf Adventure Park. Here, families can scale a multi-level ropes course, play a round of miniature golf or step into the world of MagiQuest – Great Wolf Lodge’s exclusive live-action interactive fantasy adventure game where players use magic wands to enchant items, battle enemies and save the fantasy world of Vellara. 

o NEW! The Virtual Frontier offers families a collection of virtual reality adventure games where players can dive below the ocean or walk amongst dinosaurs. In one virtual quest, families can become immersed in the mystical world of Vellara from the resort’s popular MagiQuest game and work together to solve puzzles and unlock magical runes in a spirited adventure. 

o NEW! Families at Howler’s Peak will discover two aerial adventures – a Ropes Course where climbers can traverse rope bridges, elevated passes, and other obstacles, and an Adventure Trail where guests can freely explore a harness-free climbing adventure through a tree fort. The Ropes Course features an element new to Great Wolf Lodge – an indoor Sky Rail™- a set of two modern zipline experiences that stretches more than 200 feet in length and allows participants to soar over the entire Adventure Park. 

• NEW! Families can gather in the Grand Lobby every evening just before bedtime for a multi-sensory, immersive storytelling experience. During the Legend of Luna show, the lobby magically transforms, using projection technology and special effects to tell an enchanting fable about a young wolf who longs to find her place in the world. 
• A collection of complimentary family events and activities, including Yoga Tails, a program that combines tales of the Northwoods creatures with yoga poses, themed arts and craft projects, and Great Wolf Lodge’s signature nightly dance parties.
• Several dining options that will appeal to a variety of culinary styles, ranging from pizza and burgers, to the full-service, elevated dining experience at Fireside, to the premium ice cream and confectionery treats at Wood’s End Creamery, and breakfast delights at Dunkin’. 
• There are 549 family-friendly suites featuring a new, contemporary design. They are available in a variety of categories and styles, including themed suites, which feature separate sleeping quarters for kids complete with bunk beds and Great Wolf Kids character theming. 

NEW! Great Geyser Suite. This premium two-bedroom suite includes a separate bedroom for parents with a King-sized bed and an additional themed bedroom with bunk beds for the kids. The room also features a living room with an additional sleeper sofa. 

An overnight stay at Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket includes two days of indoor water park fun. Access to the water park starts after 1 p.m. on check-in day. Standard rates start at $199.99 per night. 

To celebrate the official grand opening, Great Wolf Lodge is offering a special discount of up to 40 percent off standard rates for stays through August 28, 2025. To qualify for the offer, guests must reserve their suite using promo code NOWOPEN on or before May 11, 2025. Guests can get more information or book a stay by visiting greatwolf.com or calling 1-888-983-WOLF (9653). 

About Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. 
Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. owns and operates North America’s most prominent family of indoor water park resorts. Great Wolf Lodge offers a fully integrated resort experience designed specifically for families, with an expansive indoor water park, family-friendly attractions, fun-filled entertainment, delectable eateries, and more under one roof. The company has 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.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Manteca, Calif. and Perryville, Md. The company celebrated the grand opening of new resorts in Webster, Texas, in August 2024, Naples, Florida, in Sept 2024, and Mashantucket, Connecticut, in May 2025. 

About Mindy Kaling 
Mindy Kaling is an Emmy-nominated writer, Tony Award-winning producer, New York Times best-selling author, director, and actor. In 2023, Kaling received the National Medal of Arts, the highest civilian honor given to artists by the United States government, and the Producers Guild of America’s prestigious Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television. Kaling was a writer and actor in NBC’s The Office, and was nominated for an Emmy—the first for a woman of color in any writing category. Kaling is the creator, star, and executive producer of The Mindy Project, and the co-creator and executive producer of The Sex Lives of College Girls, which had the biggest premiere of any comedy on Max in 2021. Kaling is also co-creator, producer, and writer for a new Netflix series “Running Point,” which held #1 TV Show in the U.S. for two weeks, including over a billion minutes viewed in the first week following release. Kaling also has two New York Times bestselling comedic memoirs: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me?, and recently launched her imprint Mindy’s Book Studio for Amazon Publishing, with the mission of publishing titles from new and emerging diverse voices. 

About Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation
The Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized Indian tribe located at one of America’s oldest Indian reservations, Mashantucket, in Southeastern Connecticut. As leaders of the Indian Gaming casino industry, the history of the Mashantucket Pequots reveals one of America’s greatest comeback stories, featured at the Tribe’s world-renowned Mashantucket Pequot Museum. Today, the Tribe owns and operates one of the largest Integrated Resort Casino destinations in North America, Foxwoods Resort Casino, along with a variety of complementary businesses, including a world-class golf course, luxury spa, Pequot Pharmaceutical Network, and Pequot Plus Health Benefit Services. As one of Connecticut’s highest revenue contributors and largest employers, the Mashantucket Pequots have provided the state more than $4 billion in slot revenue through a first-of-its-kind agreement, established in 1993. Likewise, the Tribe has contributed hundreds of millions in donations and sponsorships to benefit communities and tribes in need, locally and throughout the U.S. 

About Make-A-Wish® Connecticut 
Make-A-Wish® Connecticut creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We seek to bring every eligible child’s wish to life because every child deserves a childhood. Research shows children who have wishes granted can build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight their illnesses. Together, generous donors, supporters, staff, and volunteers unite to deliver hope to wish kids and their families when they need it most. Make-A-Wish Connecticut has granted more than 4300 wishes to local children. For more information about Make-A-Wish Connecticut, visit wish.org/ct. 

* Offer valid at Great Wolf Lodge Mashantucket on the above dates. Valid per night for single or multiple-night stays, promotion code must be mentioned at time of reservation, and based on 2025 standard rates. A limited number of rooms are available for each date. May not be valid during holiday and blackout periods or combined with any other discount or promotional offers—limited suite style availability on select dates. Discount may vary by date. The offer is based on four guests per room and may be terminated without notice. One individual must be 21 or older and stay in each room. The offer is not redeemable for cash.