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https://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/real-estate/2026/02/13/great-wolf-lodge-mason-new-hotel/88607127007/?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=698ef62aa9dfda0001d59006&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZnRzaAP8KV1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeHLaKMZHHb7VjgWaozVdz12P0ygmcHGUnPRb1vKXjeI5s7vrLDpinIQp4Bi0_aem_2sxGtvF45YnGNUEw4imqjw This story seems to be on-and-off paywalled but the TL;DR is that Mason City Council recently approved the construction of a six story tower addition to Great Wolf Lodge.

Maybe because Walt is frozen himself?

Not a construction update but Kings Island just released this Phantom Theater Opening Nightmare Valentine on their Facebook page! 😀

"A new six-story hotel tower in front of the current hotel building, facing Kings Island Drive. The hotel will have 24 three-bedroom suites and be connected to the existing hotel. The hotel will be 75 feet tall, as tall as the waterpark, and will be visible from Kings Island Drive. Removal of 55 parking spaces to make room for the new tower."

It's mainly geared towards families with kids, so if you don't have kids or aren't part of a group that includes kids, you may not get much enjoyment out of it. I've been to the one in Sandusky once (with my sister, brother-in-law and nieces back in 2020 - the girls were 2 and 4 at the time so they got a lot out of it) and the one in Mason several times (once or twice with family again, and a few times with other KIC members as we used to do holiday get togethers there)

I stayed there last month with a group I was with. The thing I like most about the GWLs I've stayed at (Mason and Sandusky) is that the rooms are quite large and nice. The waterpark itself is fine, though it isn't really that big so it can get quite crowded in there. Apparently there used to be a water coaster there, but it seems it was removed due to maintenance issues and I wasn't really impressed by the slide they replaced it with. (Weirdly enough, it's named River Racer, though it opened before Kings Island's River Racers) The food there is also okay, but it is overpriced. There is MagiQuest there, though I personally didn't do it. Personally, I do think the GWL in Mason is better than the one in Sandusky since it has a slightly larger water park. The thing with GWL is that they have a lot of locations across the country, but I find their waterparks to just be okay. There are better resorts out there that give GWL a run for their money, like with Kalahari and the Wilderness Resort. However, those you have to go out of your way to travel to, whereas GWL is a lot more accessible, especially since it's right across the street from Kings Island.

Too much time has passed for whatever might eventually go in that spot to be a Vortex replacement. There wasn’t a plan for that spot when Vortex was retired in 2019 like there was with other rides. If Kings Island could go back in time, they wouldn’t have retired Vortex. They would have done what Busch Gardens VA did with Loch Ness Monster and put the money into it to preserve the ride for future generations to enjoy.

Is GWL typically a nice and/or fun place? I've never been in there, though I think they used to have some kind of MagiQuest (or similar) attraction as well. My childhood experience with a different MQ location was very fun, but I don't know what all goes on in GWL overall. Good on them for adding capacity. I assume the location was chosen because of the connection to the rest of the actual hotel parts. A connection on the south side would require relocating the road onto KI property or down a steep hill, while a connection on the north side would require guests to move through the convention center to get to the rest of the hotel. Connecting through the back of the indoor waterpark probably isn't desirable either. All three options would also likely disturb the retention pond between GWL and Columbia Road. The orange box is where I think the new wing is supposed to go.

I think you're right about unpredictable changes with the new leadership. If the company continues to "focus on their core parks" then we will see a new coaster come in once one is ready to leave — even if that means keeping the 3-5 year timeline for coaster additions. Kings Island is often lauded as one of the best regional parks in the country, so I think we'll continue to see regular investment as long as it maintains that status. Why has The Vortex plot sat empty for 7 years now? The reasoning is probably spread between pre-planned investments/more-pressing timelines, investments at other parks, and general struggles with the merger and the economy. The drone pad and fly zone are probably benefiting from the lack of a coaster as well. The real question is how long Six Flags will last in their current state. They might go through the same process of raising standards at the Legacy Six Flags parks as they did with the Paramount Parks, and then we'll have to reassess again in 2035 when that's done. If the company doesn't last then who knows what will happen.

I could honestly see The Vortex replacement in 2028 followed by a parking lot coaster (Invertigo/Congo/TW area) along with a renovated entry plaza in 2032 for the 60th anniversary (which is crazy to think we are getting close to the halfway point to that year as the 50th year feels like yesterday). Assuming we don't run into another major financial disruption (ie another pandemic or major recession or even bankruptcy).

You are probably right, but with a new CEO, we might see some unpredictable changes?

Paywall for me, is it for additional rooms or a waterpark expansion?

So it seems like the new tower is going in the parking lot somewhere in front of the current building. Interesting they chose there instead of right behind the waterpark where there is some open land there between the outdoor pool and columbia rd.

Google to the rescue. https://darkridedatabase.com/rides/action-theater-3/ Funhouse Express, 2005 and 2006.

Are you familiar with the "fast, cheap, good - pick two" axiom? The idea is that a project/product can be any two at the expense of the third: It can be done fast and cheap, but it won't be good. It can be done cheap and good, but it won't be fast. It can be done fast and good, but it won't be cheap. Obviously the park cannot sacrifice the "good" component, so you're left with options 2 or 3. And considering park installations are meant to provide entertainment value for decades, it's hard to justify spending significant sums of money to achieve "fast", when all that really means is opening a few weeks earlier for a product that is expected to operate, say, 400 weeks over its lifetime. Does it make fiscal sense to increase a budget by several percent to achieve an additional <1% of operating weeks? Parks seem to have settled on "no" for that answer, which makes sense. I don't recall the announcement. Was AlpenFury ever announced to be opening on the park's opening day? Or was it announced to be opening "this summer" or whatever? Because if it's the latter, it makes no difference what pass holders expected. They were provide what the park announced - a new coaster that opened in the summer.

My guess is that people are going to come either way and/or they don't want people to hold off on coming (especially early in the season) to have $$ coming in early. Just my guess.