At new Garden Grove lodge: family suites, Dunkin’ Donuts and an indoor water park

The area is now gravel and dirt with a foundation sprouting up in the middle, but by early next year, the site on Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove is expected to be transformed into a luxury resort with a very special attraction.

Great Wolf Lodge will feature a 105,000-square-foot, family-friendly water park for resort guests.

When the lodge opens — February is the projection — it will be the Wisconsin resort operator’s 13th location and the first in Southern California.

“We are a global leader in family destination travel, and we chose Southern California as an ideal location for our 13th Great Wolf Lodge, because it’s a perfect complement to what goes on in this world-class destination location,” said Great Wolf CEO Kim Schaefer during a preview tour for the media Wednesday.

The hotel, which is being constructed near Disneyland, will have three main levels, 603 suites and seven dining options, including two full-service restaurants, as well as Garden Grove’s first Dunkin’ Donuts location.

What sets Great Wolf apart from other resorts, Schaefer said, is its family-friendly suites. Each suite, ranging in price from $260 to $500 a night, will accommodate four to eight people.

During Wednesday’s tour, Great Wolf staff walked visitors through three of the seven types of suites that will be available, also noting that reservations are being taken for March through December 2016.

While each room is its own unique experience, families with children are likely to favor the Wolf Den, a kids-theme room with a bunk bed, queen bed and full sofa sleeper. Company officials said children will have fun using wands to control animatronics in the room and throughout the hotel in a game called MagiQuest. During play, they will follow scavenger hunt clues to rescue a princess from a dragon.

Wands will also be available to rent for children not staying in a Wolf Den suite so they can participate in the game.

Larger rooms, like the Grizzly Bear Suite and Grand Bear Suite, will house groups of up to eight guests, which makes them ideal for large families, company officials said. Each of those suites will feature at least one private bedroom, two bathrooms and multiple beds.

The entire resort is aimed at being family-friendly, with activities like a bowling alley, mini-golf course, arcade and manicure station planned.

One of the biggest highlights is the indoor water park, which will offer 16 attractions and rides.

Mindful of the California drought, the operation will be largely using reclaimed water.

Jason Arthur, regional director of aquatics at Great Wolf, said the water park will use about 565,000 gallons of water, which is less than one Olympic-size swimming pool.

“We’re very efficient,” Arthur said. “We’re able to reclaim, refilter and reuse 85 (percent) to 90 percent of that 565,000 gallons of water. Most pools, when you filter them out, do not even come close to reusing and recirculating that much water.”

For instance, he said, the Fort Mackenzie play structure — a multistory, interactive treehouse with suspension bridges, swinging cargo nets and multiple water effects — will recirculate 21,619 gallons of water every 30 minutes.

Chad McWhinney, CEO of real estate developer group McWhinney, which is overseeing the Great Wolf development, said the resort will generate more than 8 percent of Garden Grove’s general fund revenue.

City Manager Scott C. Stiles predicts that the resort will attract people from all over to Garden Grove.

“It’s going to be a ‘wow’ factor for anyone who’s here,” he said. “Everyone should experience this at least once, and they’re going to want to come back.”