From Niagara This Week:
After a year and a half of construction, Canada’s first Great Wolf Lodge has arrived.
All 406 rooms of the $130 million resort were filled for its official opening Friday, giving the head wolf a sheepish grin.
“The best part is watching the kids’ faces when they walk in the door,” said Great Wolf Lodge general manager Keith Simmonds. “It lets you know you did it right.”
“They stop in their tracks, their eyes pop open and then they run to the nearest animal or feature. We had one little girl stand in the lobby she was frozen in her tracks and she said, ‘Mummy, feel my heart.'”
Three years of planning and construction finally paid off for Jim Pattison, the Vancouver billionaire who owns the massive new attraction on the corner of River Road and Victoria Avenue. Reporters and camera crews followed his every step during a media sneak peak of the facility Thursday.
“It exceeded my expectations,” he said. “It turned out better than I thought it would.”