PHOENIX — Get ready for a splashing good time. Arizona’s first indoor water park and resort is opening sooner than expected.

The Great Wolf Lodge is opening Sept. 27, about three weeks earlier than originally planned. It’s being built just outside Scottsdale adjacent to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near the Loop 101 and Talking Stick Way.

“It’s our 18th lodge and what we’ve done is taken the learnings from all of our other lodges, combined them, taken the best of the best, and put them here in Arizona,” said Murray Hennessy, Great Wolf Resorts CEO.

The resort will have 350 rooms and an 85,000-square-foot indoor water park that will be heated to 84 degrees year round. The park will have several water slides for kids of all ages, a wave pool and a lazy river.

Among the biggest attractions will be a first-of-its-kind raft ride called the Diamondback Drop.

“It’s a four-person tube ride,” Hennessy said. “It starts with some great curves and then 360 degree serpentine swirls – I call them – and then it drops you into what we call the belly of the snake.”

In addition to the indoor water park, there will also be a pool outdoors for families looking to relax under the Arizona sunshine.

The Great Wolf Lodge will also have a 27,000-square-foot family entertainment center called the Great Wolf Adventure Park. It includes a ropes course, a climbing wall, mini golf, bowling and a live-action game called MagiQuest.

At night, families will be able to gather in the lobby for story time and a dance party to culminate the day.

The Great Wolf Lodge will have a variety of themed suite options, including one with bunk beds for the kids and wall murals. It will also have several dining options.

Reservations are now being accepted. Book before July 1 using the promo code “GRAND” to get a 30% discount.

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