About Great Wolf Lodge Cincinnati, OH 

We Bring Joy to Families

Since opening our first lodge in Wisconsin Dells in 1997, Great Wolf Lodge has grown to 23 locations - and we're still expanding. We are proud to be North America's largest family of indoor water park hotel resorts. Our over 12,000 employees (we call ourselves Pack Members) are dedicated to our mission: Bringing Joy to Families. Every attraction, every experience, and every interaction is designed to create memories families will carry with them long after their visit.

Great Wolf Lodge Mason at a Glance

• Opened: December 14, 2006, the eighth location to join the Great Wolf Lodge family; renovated in 2013
• Address: 2501 Great Wolf Drive, Mason, OH 45040, right next to Kings Island amusement park
• Suites: 401 suites in 13 suite types, from 448 to 896 square feet, including standard, themed, and premium suites
• Largest suite: the Deluxe Wolf Den Suite, which sleeps up to 12 guests in 896 square feet
• Guest elevators: 4
• In every suite: mini-fridge, coffee maker, and hair dryer; an iron and ironing board are available by request
• Microwaves: a microwave in every suite
• Check-in and check-out: check-in at 4:00 pm, check-out before 11:00 am
• Water park: 50,000 square feet, kept at 84°F year-round; open to overnight and Day Pass guests
• Features for young children: Cub Paw Pool and Whooping Hollow, with zero-depth entry and kid-sized slides
• Beyond the water park: MagiQuest, ShadowQuest, Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, Ten Paw Alley mini bowling, Oliver's Mining Sluice, Northern Lights Arcade, and Build-A-Bear Workshop
• Meeting space: 20,341 square feet, with 15 breakout rooms
• Fitness center: none at this lodge
• Wi-Fi: included throughout the lodge
• Pets: service animals only; other pets are not allowed

Our Story

Great Wolf Lodge originally started as Black Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin in 1997, and was one of the country's first indoor water park hotels. From here, we grew into a place where families could escape together, play together, and connect in a way that only a fully immersive resort experience makes possible.

Great Wolf Lodge Cincinnati / Mason sits at 2501 Great Wolf Drive in Mason, Ohio, near both the greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The lodge is directly next to Kings Island amusement park, with a walking path straight to the park, so it's easy to pair a day at the park with indoor water park fun. It opened on December 14, 2006, as the company's eighth location and was renovated in 2013. It is known as the first lodge to feature the River Racer slide.

When you're ready to explore, Cincinnati is a short 30-minute drive, about 21 miles, from the lodge. Favorites there include the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, the Cincinnati Museum Center, Newport Aquarium, and Great American Ball Park. Mason itself is home to Sonder Brewing and Pine Hill Lakes Park, and Dayton offers the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and Five Rivers MetroParks. See more things to do near the lodge.

As Great Wolf Lodge has evolved, we've continued to innovate:

2000s:

• Great Wolf Lodge opened its second location, in Sandusky, Ohio, originally called Great Bear Lodge, beginning the journey to becoming America's largest group of indoor water park resorts.
• Great Wolf Lodge goes international, opening its first location outside the United States in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.
• We added an interactive magical scavenger hunt game called MagiQuest at all lodges.

2010s:

• We added indoor adventure parks, complete with ropes courses, rock walls, and other attractions to complement our water parks.
• The GWL (Great Wolf Lodge) Scholarship was founded. To date, more than two million dollars has been distributed to Pack Members and their families to support their educational goals.
• Lodges began special seasonal activities and events that have included things like a life-size gingerbread house during our winter Snowland, giant spiders made from balloons during Howl-O-Ween, and duck racing down waterslides during the Summer Camp-In.

2020s:

• We launched The Great Wolf Pack, an exclusive animated series, featuring our beloved characters, including:
• Wiley Wolf – The adventurous, energetic leader of the pack. Wiley is curious, brave, and always ready to explore something new.
• Violet Wolf – Wiley's sister. She's creative, kind, and loves music, art, and helping friends solve problems.
• Brinley Bear – Friendly, thoughtful, and dependable. Brinley enjoys nature and often brings a calm, encouraging perspective to the group.
• Oliver Raccoon – The inventive tinkerer. Oliver loves building gadgets, experimenting, and figuring out clever solutions.
• Sammy Squirrel – Full of enthusiasm and optimism. Sammy is playful, energetic, and always excited to join the next adventure.
• We celebrated 25 years of making family memories.
• At Great Wolf Lodge Mason, the Lodge Wood Fired Grill features premium wood-fired steaks, freshly caught seafood, and lodge-smoked ribs to provide a delicious but relaxed sit-down dining option for guests.
• We rolled out private cabana rental options complete with covered seating, mini-fridge, safe, TV, towels, overhead fan, and space for up to eight guests at all water parks.
• We opened three new fourth-generation lodges in 10 months – our biggest expansion at one time.

Today, with 23 lodges across the United States and Canada, we're proud to welcome more than 10 million guests each year. As we've expanded, we've worked hard to make sure there's a Great Wolf Lodge a short drive away, no matter where you live.

Rooms Built for Families

At Great Wolf Lodge Mason, our guest suites are designed with families in mind. Unlike a standard hotel room, our suites are built for families, with layouts that sleep four to 12 guests, so families can be together with enough space to relax after a day of fun.

Each lodge is a little different, but they all feature themed suites which embrace the Northwoods feel, including a separate kids' sleeping area with bunk beds built right into the room, turning bedtime into part of the adventure. Unlike a standard hotel, we love to embrace the fun of a weekend get-away with kids.

At Great Wolf Lodge Mason, there are 401 suites across 13 suite types, from 448 to 896 square feet. Our Family Suites offer 448 square feet, with two queen beds, a full sleeper sofa, and a balcony or patio for up to six guests. The Family Fireplace Suite adds a fireplace in 544 square feet, and smaller packs can choose the Luxury King Suite, with a king bed and a full sleeper sofa for up to four. To make it easy to get to and from your room, the lodge has four guest elevators.

Themed suites put kids' fun front and center. The KidCabin Suite has a queen bed, a bunk bed, and a twin bed, plus a full sleeper sofa, for up to seven guests in 544 square feet. The KidKamp Suite and the Wolf Den Suite each pair a queen bed with a bunk bed and a full sleeper sofa for up to six. The Whirlpool Fireplace Suite combines a king bed, a whirlpool, a fireplace, and a full sleeper sofa for up to four guests.

Premium suites have room for extended families and groups traveling together. The Grizzly Bear Suite offers 896 square feet, with two bedrooms, three queen beds, a full sleeper sofa, a fireplace, and two full baths for up to eight guests. The Loft Fireplace Suite and the Majestic Bear Suite also sleep up to eight, and the Majestic Bear Suite adds a breakfast bar. The Deluxe Wolf Den Suite sleeps up to 12 with three queen beds, a bunk bed, two full sleeper sofas, two fridges, and two full baths in 896 square feet. Accessible versions of many suite types are available, and our accessibility page lists the lodge's accessible features.

Every suite comes with a mini-fridge, a coffee maker, and a hair dryer, with an iron and ironing board available on request, and every suite has its own microwave. Our spacious suites give families more time to make memories together and less time stressing about logistics.

Free Daily Events

Every lodge offers free daily activities for everyone who is staying overnight or visiting with a Day Pass. All these events are family-friendly and include things like morning family yoga, story time, character appearances, arts & crafts, games, and our signature nightly family dance parties.

Character appearances feature the Great Wolf Pack cast — Wiley Wolf, Violet Wolf, and their friends — which we know are meaningful for younger guests. We pay special attention to all the details to make sure our music is fun (and PG rated) and all activities work for every age group and ability level.

At the Mason lodge, the daily lineup includes Yoga Tails, Meet the Great Wolf Pack, Arts & Crafts, Epic Story Time, the MagiQuest Ceremony, and our Family Dance Party.

Attractions

Beyond the water park, Great Wolf Lodge Mason is full of indoor attractions for every age. Play nine glow-in-the-dark holes in a nature-themed forest at Howl at the Moon Glow Golf, or roll a few frames on the shorter lanes of Ten Paw Alley. At Oliver's Mining Sluice, kids pan for gemstones and take their finds home in a keepsake burlap gem bag. For a bigger challenge, ShadowQuest sends players to battle the Shadowlord and collect runes, with secrets and clues in the ShadowQuest guidebook. Northern Lights Arcade and Build-A-Bear Workshop round out the fun.

MagiQuest is one of the attractions outside the water park that sets Great Wolf Lodge apart from other water park resorts. It turns the lodge into a live-action interactive fantasy adventure game where guests are the star. Players choose a magic wand, top it with extra powers, and set off on a quest throughout the lodge.

Every day, the MagiQuest Ceremony welcomes our newest members into the order of the Magi.

Water Park

Water Park Attractions

The indoor water park is the heart of every Great Wolf Lodge: a massive, climate-controlled space kept at a comfortable 84°F year-round, regardless of the weather outside. Inside the water park, expect pools, slides, toddler areas, a giant water-tipping bucket, and much more.

At Great Wolf Lodge Mason, the indoor water park covers 50,000 square feet. Start with the River Racer: Great Wolf Lodge Mason was the first lodge to feature this slide, with a flying saucer flume that mimics the feeling of downhill skiing. Adventure seekers head for The Triple Twist, a tube slide with drops into three successive funnels, and Coyote Cannon, a 40-foot drop that plunges four stories into a water-jet-fueled vortex. Alberta Falls races tandem tubes through four stories of banking turns, outside the building and back in again, and River Canyon Run takes the whole family down a winding raft ride together.

For a slower pace, float the Crooked Creek lazy river, catch the swells at Slap Tail Pond, our wave pool, or shoot hoops at Chinook Cove. The four-story Fort Mackenzie treehouse is filled with interactive water toys and body slides, and Totem Towers offers gentle slides sized for small and tall alike. Our youngest guests have their own spaces: Cub Paw Pool welcomes toddlers with geysers, tiny kiddie slides, and rainbow-colored jet skis with water cannons on the way to an 18-inch "deep" end. Whooping Hollow has smaller slides with gentle slopes just right for little ones. Big Foot Pass invites little ones and adults to cross its floating lily pads with the help of cargo nets.

The outdoor Raccoon Lagoon pool, open seasonally, offers a three-foot, six-inch deep play area with plenty of poolside seating. Two hot springs offer a warm break: South Hot Springs is open to guests of all ages, and North Hot Springs is reserved for adults. The water park is included with every overnight stay, and Day Passes, including Half Day Passes from 4:00 pm to close, are available for families visiting for the day.

Safety

At Great Wolf Lodge we take safety seriously. We are proud to have a partnership with Ellis & Associates, the global leader in aquatic safety and risk management. Every lifeguard at our facility is trained through the International Lifeguard Training Program™ (ILTP®). This training includes advanced water rescue techniques and emergency care. Lifeguards must pass both written and practical evaluations and maintain proficiency through regular testing and certification renewals.

We also use the Ellis Aquatic Vigilance System (EAVS) which uses high-definition analytic cameras to help monitor every body of water in our lodges. We combine our diligent and well-trained on-deck lifeguards with the live feeds monitored by a certified lifeguard in the onsite control room to provide even more attention to safety.

Local Events

Each August, tennis fans head to the Association of Tennis Professionals' Cincinnati Open, held directly across the highway at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Many athletes, officials, and fans choose to stay at Great Wolf Lodge Mason during the event. No matter when you visit, the Cincinnati and Dayton areas have plenty to explore on your way to or from the lodge.

Our Values

We take our company values seriously and incorporate them into how we treat each other and guests.

• We Are One Pack: We help every Pack Member feel they belong. We assume positive intent, and listen with empathy and curiosity.
• We Improve Every Day: We always reach for more. We value feedback as fuel for growth and stay adaptable in the face of change.
• We Get It Done With Care: We're creative in finding solutions, take pride and ownership in our work, and we celebrate the wins — big and small.

Accessibility

To support our mission of Bringing Joy to Families, we want all kids to feel welcome and supported in our lodges.

Sensory Accessibility

We have partnered with the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES), an organization that specializes in autism and neurodiversity training. You'll find sensory guidelines to help evaluate all water slides, pools, attractions, arcade, shows, and activities. Each item is rated and described for expected sound, lighting, touch, smell and movement. This allows families to plan activities based on their child's sensory preferences before arriving at the lodge. We know, with many kids, a little planning goes a long way.

As part of the IBCCES partnership, Pack Members receive training designed to help them better support autistic guests, sensory-sensitive children, and neurodivergent families.

Physical Accessibility

For guests with physical disabilities, we work hard to ensure guests can experience as many attractions as possible. We offer ADA-compliant guest rooms, accessible entrances and parking, pool lifts, sloped entries, or transfer systems (depending on the attraction), and closed captioning or transcripts for certain entertainment experiences, including MagiQuest content where applicable.

Service animals

Great Wolf Lodge permits trained service animals throughout the resort, including most public areas. Because of health regulations, service animals are not allowed in or immediately adjacent to pools, but they are welcome in other accessible areas of the water park.

Our Leadership

Great Wolf Resorts is led by a team of experienced hospitality professionals united by a shared passion for families, team members, and operational excellence. We are proud that many of our lodge General Managers and Assistant General Managers start as front-line Pack Members. Supporting Pack Members and providing training and professional development is part of how we Improve Every Day both at lodges and at our corporate support center, in Chicago, Illinois.

The General Manager of the Mason, Ohio lodge is Kevin Eldridge, supported by an experienced and professional staff leading Aquatics, Attractions and Retail, Engineering, Entertainment, Finance, Food and Beverage, Group Sales, Guest Services, Housekeeping, Human Resources, Security, and Technology. There is always a manager on duty to support guests with anything they may need during their stay.

Recognition

Great Wolf Lodge has been recognized repeatedly as one of the best family resort destinations in North America, including:

• 10 Best Indoor Water Parks — USA Today (2026)
• Best Family-Friendly Waterpark — WhereverFamily (2025)
• Best Play-filled Water Park - Good Housekeeping Family Travel (2025)
• 24 Best Water Parks in the U.S. - U.S. News & World Report (2025)
• National Family Travel Award – Parents Family Travel Awards (2023)

Great Wolf Lodge is a great place to work, and was cited by Newsweek as one of "America's Greatest Workplaces" for diversity, for women, and for Gen Z!

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Wolf Out With Us

With 23 lodges across the United States and Canada, you are probably just a short drive away from a great adventure for your pack. Each Great Wolf Lodge features our signature indoor water park, themed accommodations, restaurants, a full arcade, and free daily events and activities designed for every member of the family, from toddlers to grandparents.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. Chicago, Illinois www.greatwolf.com

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. is owned by Blackstone.