Volume 3, No. 3. February 14, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
interactive play!
Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, announces the arrival of Wiley’s
Woods, February 7, 2003. Measurements: 20,000 square feet (1,858 square
meters), four stories high, 65 interactive electronic game stations, four slides,
six air guns, 25,000 foam “berries,” birthday party room, food stand
with Pizza Hut franchise, and a 20-unit arcade area. Delivered by Creative Kingdoms
and SCS Interactive.
When it comes to competition among the resort lodges in the Wisconsin Dells,
operators use two strategies: outdistance your rivals or create a whole new
race. Great Wolf did a bit of both with Wiley’s Woods, the second
resort in the area to install a foam ball play center in the past year, but
the first to give foam ball play an interactive game format. Lodge General Manager
Curtis Brown describes it as “a 20,000-square-foot live video game, and
you’re the Mario inside the video game.”
This is the second installation of such an interactive game concept created
by Creative Kingdoms and SCS after Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, Georgia,
debuted the concept with The Barn (THE
LOOP, November 30, 2001). This version has more interactivity in its game
stations, uses a tree as its centerpiece and, rather than varieties of fruit,
depicts the foam balls as berries (red, purple, blue, green, orange and yellow).
Players with electronic score-keeping wrist bands move from station to station
accomplishing tasks to earn points. The higher the players go—physically,
in this case—the greater the value of the play stations. Along the way
they must withstand the distractions of balls dumping every 15 minutes from
a basket hanging in the tree above the central play area, and other players
firing balls from air guns. “(Players) get hit and that diverts them from
the game because they have to retaliate,” Brown said.
Scores are posted on a scoreboard placed on the wall of the tree house and also
are broadcast on the resort’s in-room televisions. “You can imagine
little Michael getting in at night, seeing the scores and saying, ‘Who’s
this Kevin that beat my score?’ and going back the next day to play again,”
Brown said. For lodge guests, who can play in Wiley’s Woods at no additional
charge, the new play area has served as a happy supplement to Great Wolf’s
indoor waterpark. “Certain times of the day you don’t want to go into
the waterpark, like the two hours before dinner,” Brown said, relating
guest comments he’s received since the Woods’ opening. “This
is a great alternative.”
The new center also represents an alternative revenue source—and marketing
mechanism—for the lodge itself. Great Wolf, departing from its traditional
posture, is opening Wiley’s Woods to the general public, charging
from $5.95 to $8.95 per person for admission. “We saw the opportunity for
exposure,” Brown said. “Guests (at other resorts) come over to see
it and will say, ‘Next time we need to stay here.’”
Great Wolf prompted plenty of exposure with the grand opening of Wiley’s
Woods. For the Friday ribbon cutting, the state’s secretary of tourism
was on hand along with about 150 invited VIPs and about 200 children from local
schools, who served as the inaugural players. Press coverage is ongoing: several
local network affiliates are scheduling live broadcasts from Wiley’s
Woods for their morning shows, and a couple of radio stations already have
broadcast from the play center.
“The uniqueness of it,” Brown said as explanation of the media’s
interests. “And, as it was told to me by a guest, we truly found the meaning
of family fun.”
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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